During the New Year holidays, VKontakte users flocked to VK Clips in record numbers, marking a significant surge in short video consumption on the platform. A press release shared by the company, as reported by lenta.ru, confirms the milestone of two billion views each day, underscoring the growing popularity of short-form video content among the VKontakte community. This spike in viewership reflects a broader trend where festive moments drive engagement across social networks, turning New Year clips into the centerpiece of online activity during the holiday season.
The company notes that January 3 stood out as the peak day for VK Clips, with many clips filmed and published on New Year’s Eve drawing the largest audiences. When comparing the end of December 2022 to the opening days of 2023, the platform recorded a 41% rise in new broadcasts of short videos. This uptick demonstrates not only heightened viewer interest but also a sustained momentum in creators posting festive content that resonates with users at the start of the year. The data suggest that creators timed their releases to capitalize on the celebratory mood, while viewers sought to share and revisit holiday moments in real time.
Beyond video content, the first week of the new year brought a notable lift in VK Dating activity, with user engagement increasing by about 50% year over year. This surge points to a broader pattern of heightened social interaction across VK’s ecosystem as people reconnect after the holidays, explore new connections, and engage with a wider range of services offered within the platform. The return to normal routines often coincides with a renewed appetite for social discovery, chat features, and personalized recommendations that keep users engaged during the winter season.
Messaging activity on VK Messenger also climbed, with citizens sending roughly 39% more messages compared with the previous year. Video messages followed suit, rising by approximately 53%. The combination of expanded messaging and richer video communication indicates a shift toward more expressive conversations, where users leverage multimedia to convey tone, emotion, and intent in a digital-first world. This trend aligns with the platform’s broader push to integrate immersive communication tools that enhance everyday interactions during peak social periods.
Among the top five VK Clips released for New Year’s Eve, themes such as digital Christmas trees and New Year greetings gained prominent traction. These festive motifs spurred shares, comments, and continued engagement as users celebrated the season online. The prominence of themed clips highlights how event-based content can drive visibility and participation when audiences look to capture and exchange holiday spirit in a shareable format.
Earlier in the year, VK joined forces with Zen to launch the Culture under a Fur Coat project, a collaboration aimed at expanding cultural content and creative storytelling on the platform. Such initiatives demonstrate VK’s commitment to enriching the social experience with varied formats, from short videos to curated cultural programming, and to supporting creators who contribute to a diverse content landscape. This alignment with cultural programming complements the surge in user activity during the holidays, offering audiences a mix of entertainment, information, and celebration that keeps them engaged.
With these developments, VKontakte underscores the vitality of short videos, interactive messaging, and cross-service engagement during the festive season and beyond. The company’s quarterly highlights reveal a pattern of rapid content creation, expanded social interactions, and a lively exchange of multimedia messages that together shape how communities connect online in the early days of the new year. The numbers illustrate a moment when digital social life pulses at a higher cadence, driven by holiday cheer, creative expression, and the ongoing evolution of VK’s interconnected services, including Clips, Messenger, Dating, and cultural collaborations.
Attribution: Company press release reported by lenta.ru, summarizing platform metrics for the holiday period and early January. Citations reflect observed user behavior and feature adoption across VKontakte’s services during this time frame.