MOSCOW, 10 August 2023. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey on the use of social media platforms and messengers in Russia.

Time spent on social media…

Eighty-six percent of the Russians who use at least one social media platform or messenger* spend time there almost every day; the share of daily users among young persons aged 18-24 is close to the absolute value (92% of the18-24-year-olds; 94% of the 25-34-year-olds). Options related to communication and content watching are more popular than common everyday practices such as TV (50%), walks (48%), books (27%) or sports (15%).

Those who use social media and messengers with communication functions (VKontakte, WhatsApp, Telegram, Odnoklassniki, etc.) spend an average of 272 minutes (or 4.5 hours) a day**. This percentage is higher among young Russians aged 18-24: they spend an average of 493 minutes (or more than 8 hours) a day messaging, reading news feed, making calls and doing other activities.

VKontakte users spend most of the time online***– 129 minutes a day. This is followed by TikTok and Telegram – 125 and 123 minutes, respectively.

…and what kind of content we consume

News communities are at the top of the subscription list among Russian social media users (77%). This is followed by, with a huge gap, communities related to education (41%), humor (35%), entertainment (33%) and science (30%). A quarter of the respondents are subscribed to the communities about travelling (24%); every fifth, to the groups related to nature and pets (20%, each). The same percentage of users are fond of psychology and medicine (22% and 20% respectively).

Social media subscriptions are gender specific. Men are more interested in news (81% vs. 74% of women), science (41% vs. 22% of women) and sports (21% vs. 11% of women), whereas women tend to be interested in self-care (30% vs. 2% of men), psychology (30% vs. 12% of men), medicine (26% vs. 11% of men), pets (25% vs. 12% of men), child-rearing (18% vs. 5% of men), fashion and style (17% vs. 3%).

A messenger you know is worth two you don't know

Despite high popularity of social media and messengers, Russians have a cautious attitude towards new platforms: almost half of the respondents start using them as a last resort – for work and /or if recommended by relatives (51%). About a quarter of the Russians wait for the reviews from friends and public persons to be ready to register an account (28%). Most of them are young respondents (34% of the 18-24-year-olds; 35% of those aged 25-34 vs. 22-27% of those aged 35+).

The least numerous are those who are cautious and not ready to sign up with a new social media network under any circumstances (6%), as well as those who are open to anything new and curious about new platforms – they sign up without hesitation (5%). The findings reveal that the latter mainly belong to the youngest age cohort – respondents aged 18-24 (10%).

*Target audience is Russians who use at least one social network or messenger (app for messaging/calls).

** Average daily time spent on social media network/ messenger is based on a median value of a specific time period and the share of users who chose this time period. In minutes. Respondents were asked a question about regular use of 15 social media platforms and messengers with communication functions (VKontakte, WhatsApp, Telegram, Odnoklassniki, etc.) in advance.

*** Average daily time spent on social media network/ messenger is based on a median value of a specific time period and the share of users who chose this time period. In minutes.

VCIOM-Online all-Russian online survey was conducted 22-24 July, 2023. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and overtook part in the survey. Respondents selected through stratified random sample based on a probabilistic panel filled in an online questionnaire. Probabilistic panel participants are recruited in the course of Sputnik daily telephone survey (CATI method) based on a random sample of mobile telephone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-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.