Almost 60% of the Romanian internet users aged over 16 read blogs, according to a recent study by iSense Solutions. The young people are the most loyal readers, as blogs help them stay informed and influence their opinions on products or social issues.

Most Romanians read mainstream blogs (16%), but they also like food blogs (11%) and those about fashion/lifestyle/beauty (10%).

However, the categories of favorite blogs depend on the readers’ age and sex. For example, women are more interested in culinary blogs (17%) and fashion/lifestyle/beauty blogs (17%), the figure in the case of men being much smaller – 5% and 2% respectively. The things are different when it comes to journalists’ blogs (13% of men read those blogs, compared to 6% of women), and IT blogs (8% of men and 2% of women).

“Also, teenagers aged between 16 and 24 prefer blogs about fashion, lifestyle and beauty (29%), while people aged over 45 (10%) and pensioners (14%) read political blogs,” said Traian Nastase, Managing Partner iSense Solutions.

Some 62% of people with higher education read blogs, the study shows. However, only 16% of the blog readers totally agree that the articles they read are of good quality. However, 40% of the young people aged between 16 and 24 see blogs as a means of information. Moreover, they admit that bloggers influence their opinion on products or brands (23%) or on certain social phenomena (24%).

“It should be noted that blog readers from the west part of the country – Arad, Timis, and Caras-Severin - reject bloggers’ influence on social phenomena in a higher percentage than the total number of readers (27% vs. 12%),” said Andrei Canda, Managing Partner iSense Solutions.

Also, 46% of women see thru when a blogger tries to promote a product or a brand, compared to 35% of men.

iSense Solutions conducted the study on a sample of more than 1,000 people, and the data are representative for people aged over 16, from urban areas.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com