MOSCOW, 18 April 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a study on the most popular social media and messengers used by Russians.
The most popular social networks and messengers among Russians are WhatsApp (87%), YouTube (75%), VKontakte (62%), Telegram (55%) and Odnoklassniki (42%).
The list of the most popular social media platforms has not changed much since 2021. As before, the three leaders are WhatsApp, YouTube and Vkontakte; remarkably, the Vkontakte daily audience has increased by 5 p.p. over six months.
Instagram* has moved from the fourth to the eighth position giving place to Telegram. Whereas the share of the Instagram* users (banned in Russia) in this period reduced by half (from 53% to 25%), Telegram shows a growth in audience size (+13 p.p. by IX.2021). These platforms also experienced changes in daily users: the number of Instagram* daily users has decreased from 33% to 9%; the number of Telegram daily users has increased from 22% to 35%. In a six-month period Odnoklassniki reached the seventh place and rounded up the top five leaders.
Viber and TikTok are popular with 37% (−5 p.p. by IX.2021) and 35% respectively. Less popular Facebook* and Twitter have faced a loss of audience, similarly to Instagram, (from 21% to 11% and from 11% to 7%, respectively).
* On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow banned Facebook and Instagram (owned by Meta declared extremist and banned in Russia) in Russia.
Russian nationwide telephone VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted April 10, 2022. A total of 1,600 of Russians aged 18 and older took part in the survey. Results are based on telephone interviews. Stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of Russian landline and mobile phone numbers was used. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
Do you use or not use the following social media platforms, messengers? If you do, how often do you use them? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of online users) | ||||||
|
| Almost every day | Several times a week | Several times a month | Occasionally, but at least once every six months | Never |
10.IV.2022 | 67 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 13 | |
20. IX.2021 | 63 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 17 | |
YouTube | 10.IV.2022 | 43 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 25 |
20. IX.2021 | 39 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 25 | |
VKontakte | 10.IV.2022 | 35 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 38 |
20. IX.2021 | 30 | 19 | 6 | 6 | 39 | |
Telegram | 10.IV.2022 | 35 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 45 |
20. IX.2021 | 22 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 58 | |
Odnoklassniki | 10.IV.2022 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 58 |
20. IX.2021 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 60 | |
Viber | 10.IV.2022 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 63 |
20. IX.2021 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 58 | |
TikTok | 10.IV.2022 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 65 |
20. IX.2021 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 68 | |
Instagram* | 10.IV.2022 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 75 |
20. IX.2021 | 33 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 47 | |
Facebook* | 10.IV.2022 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 89 |
20. IX.2021 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 79 | |
10.IV.2022 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 93 | |
20. IX.2021 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 89 | |
* On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow banned Facebook and Instagram (owned by Meta declared extremist and banned in Russia) in Russia.