Information or personal?

I was speaking to a prospective client about Twitter. He recently unfollowed a bunch of folks because he thought they filled his page with random useless information, from inner thoughts to constant life updates. He doesn't see the value in this exchange, but rather prefers to follow people that share information about the world, technology, or his field. That got me thinking. I actually like a blend of the two. Sometimes I enjoy the personal flavor of Twitter, hearing about how people feel about Thursday mornings, or what motivates them to eat a cheese and bacon sandwich, and of course I discover all sorts of interesting information that I wouldn't find anywhere else. Twitter helps organize and flag some of the most interesting topics, discussions, events going on both off and online. But I still like the medicine cabinet feel of Twitter as well.

Another conversation with someone in the Advertising industry was quite different, although this related to blogging. He basically expressed blog fatigue when it came to people pontificating about how much they know, a type of web-posturing I suppose. He loved the personal life-story element of blogging, and felt turned off by cold peacock parade of knowledge.

I spoke to my partner about this. I suppose I was wondering if I had something valuable to add, or how to achieve the balance between sharing info and sharing bits about my life (but hey I really may not be that interesting;). He responded that I blogged to share, not just to enter a one-way dialogue (otherwise why put it out there?). Perhaps whether someone reads it or not is another story. I need to build my connections, comment on people's blogs, refine my own writing, my own stories, my own information. To strike the right balance between the informative and personal (which can border on the mundane).

What do you think? Why do you blog?