Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Peoples'Friendship University of Russia
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
We're constantly competing for audiences and engagement ratings on social media. But how well do we know who's behind these numbers? Reality holds surprises: for example, grandparents spend almost as much time on social media as students. To understand the new digital reality and find the key to managing it, leading media industry experts gathered at RUDN University. The Faculty of Economics hosted a roundtable discussion, "Social Media in Russia: Strategic Challenges and Benchmarks," which served as a platform for dialogue between market professionals and future specialists.
Did you know that grandparents aged 65 spend only 5 percent less time on social media than students, but devote much more attention to such resources than, for example, the average Russian in their early 40s?
Viktor Pinchuk, Deputy General Director of the leading Russian research company Mediascope, spoke about this paradox.
True, these "younger" and "older" demographics rarely overlap on social media because they choose different online platforms. According to a Mediascope study of audience media preferences, while the very young are addicted to TikTok, as they age, the audience migrates to VK, while the gray-haired public finds pleasure in Zen.
Meanwhile, video content appeals to all ages. Gazprom-Media Holding Research Director Daria Pugacheva spoke about the development of the Russian video hosting site RUTUBE.
"Since 2021, the video hosting site's monthly audience has increased 26-fold, and over the past two years, the number of users has grown from 40 to 80 million," noted Daria. "Today, RUTUBE is a major video hosting site with 18.5 million daily viewers, and this audience continues to grow rapidly. The number of channels on the platform has already exceeded 4.5 million."
However, all these changes also pose challenges. While attitudes toward social media and its effects may vary, from a professional perspective, it's undeniable that working with social media is a crucial area of work for modern PR specialists and marketers.
As Elena Apasova, Vice Rector for Strategic Communications at RUDN University, noted, "A single social media post can have a greater impact than a front-page publication in the most widely cited media outlet. Social media is a space for a strategically complex game of chess. It's the arena where audience manipulation occurs. The higher the quality of the audience, the more difficult it is to manipulate. The more demanding the audience, the more challenging it is to generate creative ideas."
Engaging more than 85 percent of the Russian audience over 12 years old in social media requires careful attention from the state as a regulator and driver of change.
According to Nikolai Vasiliev, head of the Analytical Center of the Russian Advertising Industry (ACRI), which works closely with the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia, "social media today has transformed from a communication channel into an infrastructure for shaping identity and behavior. Around the world, social media is viewed as a matter of national security. In Russia, the state should not be an observer, but a creator of rules and content based on our values and the country's long-term interests. And here, the professional assistance of the communications industry is needed in this matter."
The round table participants also gave their assessment of what was happening.
"For the industry, regulatory changes are not so much a restriction as a new framework within which businesses are learning to be flexible. We are seeing brands gradually adapting to the requirements of local platforms, growing interest in their own ecosystems, and exploring new ways to engage with audiences. The market is becoming more mature, with an emphasis on transparency, responsibility, and quality of communication," says Ekaterina Arkhangelskaya, Managing Director of RQ Agency.
The discussion, in which students actively participated alongside experts, inevitably touched on the changes associated with the emergence of new Russian platforms and the introduction of transformative technologies into social media. The future of this sphere is difficult to predict, but it must be prepared now, because the media world must remain manageable.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.