(answering this question from Tumblr Ask)
Mostly I start my day with Techmeme, Hacker News and Slashdot. I also keep a tightly controlled bunch of folks I happily & proudly follow on Twitter. It’s about 300+ folks. Many share links to their favorite posts or their own posts. I can handle more at this point so I’m probably going to up it to 400 soon.
I’ve been thinking about personal blogs of late. Many of my favorite personal blogs (vs pro blogs) are ones where I get a full picture of the person. Often I get their insight on professional matters but also a window into their personal experiences, tastes and opinions. It’s a combination of variety and fullness.
In my job, I receive resumes all the time. It’s typical for someone to includes a small thing at the bottom called “Interests” or “Hobbies”. But it’s actually not a small thing. I always go right to the bottom because you can often learn a lot about people in that section in addition to their polished work experience.
And that last part is the part I like seeing in blogs or at least my favorite ones in any case. I think its one reason I love Tumblr. The people I follow on Tumblr often share everything in a highly curated way. They aren’t commenting on Techmeme every day. They aren’t creating a blog that’s just to show how smart they are. People are proud of their blogs and take good care of them. Or at least that’s the case of the people I check out frequently.
I’m sure there are plenty of people that would prefer to only read my “work” related posts or just my “personal” posts. But I can cut myself into pieces. On my blog you get the whole thing.
So this is turning into a long answer to your short question.
I’ll bring it home with a request and a suggestion: I’d love to see more people create and keep their own blog. Start with your passion and let it rip.
It’s changed my life.