BLOB or VARBINARY to store simple Strings that are converted into byte[ ]?

I've read that In MySQL, BLOBs are often used to store image files, file path pointers, video & audio files, and any other big data objects. But can BLOBs be used for simple Strings that are converted into byte[] (like names, address, etc.) or would VARBINARY suffice? Or does it not really impact the database size and query performance?