I often engage players in chat, yes absolutely. If they are being mean, I try to "push their buttons" a bit. If they are being nice, I give them the courtesy of a similarly nice response.
But I know I'm different from the average poker player, in the sense that I am not playing this game to "get rich" like most others are... I am playing poker for enjoyment, for entertainment, and for the challenge of trying to win a very competitive game.
So I really don't care if I give away information about myself when I chat. I don't worry about it even tho I certainly realize my best choice is to remain silent and not let anyone possibly get a read on me and how I think at the table and what my personality or attitude may be. I just don't care, because I don't care about money and I never will care about it.
I always tell people that "Poker is a social game", it is not a game played by robots (well, some are robots, yes of course, but that's not what I mean)... online players don't recognize the social aspect of the game of poker, but live players realize this fact every time they play. It's why the online players are wearing hoodies and sunglasses when they play at a live
poker game, its because online players have no conception of the fact that poker is a game played by real people, and real humans are social creatures. The online players are much more like robots, they think hiding themselves behind a wall is the best way to play the game. I couldn't disagree more with that, but that's just me.