Social Networking in Russia Posted by Jenya on Jun 24, 2015 in Culture, News, Russian life, Soviet Union, when in Russia
The age of the “Social Network” is upon us. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others, have popped up over the last ten years or so and dramatically changed our lives. These sites have greatly impacted our lives and they have been responsible for many things such as: increase in narcissistic behavior (i.e. selfies), entertainment, sharing photos and experiences with friends/family, overthrowing governments, and so on. The point is this: social networking is powerful, here to stay, and flourishing everywhere. It is interesting to note that the same social networking sites that flourish in one country may be obsolete in another. This post is about the social networking sites that are popular right now in Russia.
I recently “Googled” which social networking sites are popular in Russia right now and the results were interesting enough to inspire me to write about them. One particularly interesting fact was that Facebook was number four in terms of users per month. I will briefly describe four three most popular sites – you likely already know what Facebook and Twitter so I’ll leave them out.
It is worth mentioning that the data used for this blog came from www.pro-smm.com and slideshare.net
1.VKontakte (VK) is currently the most popular social networking site in Russia with just around 53 million users. VKontakte is the largest social network in Europe and it allows its users to send messages, create groups, share photos/audio/video, and so on. Nearly 25 percent of its members are under the age of 18. The odd resemblance to Facebook makes me wonder about who is really behind this project :-)…
The second most popular site is 2.Odnoklassniki (classmates). This site deals with helping current and former classmates and friends connect with one another. What I found interesting about this site was that you had to be at least seven years old to have an account.
3.Moi Mir (My World) is next on the list. It is run by mail.ru and attracts older people. Like Odnoklassniki, people go there to socialize. Nearly 70 percent of its members are women and over 50 percent are over the age of 45.
4.Facebook is phenomenal on the world’s stage, however, in Russia it is still climbing to the top. It does well in terms of number of subscribers but not in terms of activity. For that matter, 5.Twitter averages a great deal more posts per month than Facebook – Twitter averages about 12 times more posts per user per month.
Rutube is Russia’s version of Youtube and it is immensely popular. For those learning to speak Russian, you might really enjoy all of the videos on every topic imaginable. You must be able to read a bit to navigate the site but it is well worth it.
Although there are so many social media sites to visit in your own country, it can be fascinating to check out those in another. For those of you that grew up in another country and emigrated, these sites can really help you when you are homesick or just trying to reconnect with people. You might agree that there has never been an easier time to connect with people – the world is getting smaller by the second 🙂
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About the Author: Jenya
Born in Russia, I spent the first twenty years of my life in Orenburg, Russia and Mogilev, Belarus. For the last eleven years, I've lived in New Hampshire and Michigan, US. While I continue to absorb and adapt to American culture, I am always thrilled to share my Russian heritage with those who find it interesting. Travel, photography and art play a special part in my life. Twitter: @iamnx2u
Comments:
Ekaterina:
Jenya, thank you for mentioning my blog pro-smm.com 🙂
I’d add my 50 cents if you don’t mind.
Instagram is getting increasingly popular in Russia. This year the amount of active Instagram users grew by 42% in comparison with 2014.
It is hard to predict the development of Facebook in Russia but Instagram is going to be really big. At the same time, Ok and Moi Mir are loosing their positions due to the fact that foreign social networks offer a better user experience. Same goes for Vk but at a much slower rate. It’s going to be very interesting to see what the situation will be in, let’s say, two years.
Jenya:
@Ekaterina Katerina, спасибо за Ваши 50 cents :-). I guess, Facebook wins either way since it owns Instagram (unless something better appears on the horizon). We’ll just have to wait and see.
Mohammed:
Your comment is awaiting moderation
So Russia will decide if its willing to allow open expression of ideas
Roberto Murillo:
Now that Facebook and Israel has joined forces for censure-ship I believe it is time to move to 100% Russian social networking in English and not to have any ties with the USA government; hence has to be located in Russia.
In Europe lots of people are doing it for the same reasons as in the USA and other countries. Journalism has to be 100% free from censure-ship. Bye bye Facebook!
Roberto Murillo:
Now that Facebook and Israel has joined forces for censure-ship I believe it is time to move to a 100% Russian social networking in English and not to have any ties with the USA government; hence has to be located in Russia.
In Europe lots of people are doing it for the same reasons as in the USA and other countries. Journalism has to be 100% free from censure-ship. Bye bye Facebook!