Using  instead of other tag types (, , etc) Is it considered bad style to always use &lt;div&gt; instead of using, say, &lt;span&gt;? I know that using specific tags like span better convey the purpose of the node, but is it actually frowned upon to always use div instead?

For example, if I were to have an inline style:

&lt;div class="hello"&gt;Hello, my name is &lt;div class="name-div"&gt;John Doe&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div class="hello"&gt;Hello, my name is &lt;span class="name-span"&gt;John Doe&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

Where the name-div class would have display: inline set. Is either way considered fine or is there a commonly accepted preference?

Edit: 

Here is an actual example so that maybe this won't be off-topic:

&lt;div class="online"&gt;You have been online for &lt;span class="time"&gt;30&lt;/span&gt; days.&lt;/div&gt;

Where the desired output is something like:

You have been online for 30 days.

(i.e. the 30 has some special styling).

In this case, is it really considered "bad" to use a div with inline styling rather than span? I feel that arguments can be made either way in that span is obviously more accurately describing the function of that node, but you could also say it's preferable to minimize the variety of tags for the sake of consistency across browsers (and choose not to use things like em or strong in lieu of special styling on a div).
The div element, short for division, is a block element mostly used to group larger chunks of HTML, to create CSS-styled layouts.

On the other hand, the span element is an inline element, mostly used to group and stylize text/images. It makes it easy to apply custom styles without changing the general layout.

Also, a div element takes all available width while the span only takes as much width as necessary.

It is certainly not illegal (since HTML5) what you're doing, but to follow semantics I'd use span for what you are trying to achieve.