Normally, when we think of social media, we think of Facebook. After all, Facebook is linked with everything from Uber rides to voice/video calls and even money transfers. However, when you live in Russia, you’re far more likely to think of the Russian social media website vk.com.
There is very little published about VK in English, and so the site can seem like a bit of a mystery. Yet, Learning a little bit more about this social media phenomenon may help you to reach audiences in Russia or Ukraine, open your eyes to social media platforms in other parts of the world, and understand a different approach to gaining an audience for a social media platform.
If you’ve never heard of VK before, or just want to learn more about it, these are the ten facts about VK that you need to know!
1. VK is the Most Popular Social Media Website in Russia
With Facebook coming in at #4 (behind other popular social media sites Odnoklassniki and Mail.ru), VK is the second most popular website overall, with only Yandex (a popular Russian search engine) placing ahead. VK receives over 50.2 million unique visitors per month and is also very popular in Belarus, Kazakstan, and Ukraine.
2. VK Lets You Stream and Share Media Files
VK not only lets you share your personal photos and videos, but also third-party music and videos. Naturally, this kind of free file sharing is considered to be illegal, but no significant steps have been taken against these functions at this point in time. This is part of what initially set VK apart from other sites like Facebook at a time when Facebook was mostly focused on profile pages and status updates. VK was essentially functioning as a Facebook-Spotify hybrid!
3. Russian Users Believe VK is Better than Facebook
It is not just that VK is more commonly used in Russia according to a study done at Germany’s Heinrich Heine University, VK users consider it to be the superior social media platform overall! A survey conducted on people who used both VK and Facebook found that VK was considered to be more fun, easier to use, and more trustworthy overall.
4. VK’s Website Design Rarely Changes
In fact, looking at VK’s current website design, you might think you were on Facebook a few years ago. While new Facebook updates are constantly occurring in an effort to keep up
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