In July, the audience size for VKontakte surged to 87.6 million monthly viewers, according to Cross Web Mediascope cited by Lenta.ru. This figure marks a solid increase from the previous year and underscores VKontakte’s continued dominance in the Russian social media landscape. When compared to July 2022, the platform gained about 4.1 million users, representing a 5% year-over-year rise. For many Russian internet users, VKontakte remains the go-to social network, with the service reaching roughly 85% of online consumers in the country. The breadth of its appeal is not accidental: the network has built an all-in-one ecosystem that combines social feeds, video clips, a robust messenger, and personalized recommendations that drive daily engagement across diverse user groups.
Among the most influential features driving interaction, VK Clips, the news feed, and the recommendation engine stand out as central touchpoints. In parallel, the platform’s integrated messenger continues to support a broad range of communication needs, from quick messages to more extended conversations. Reports also indicate a strong trend: VKontakte’s clone of short-form video content—its own TikTok-style feature—draws about one billion views each day, highlighting the platform’s capacity to attract attention through rapidly consumed video formats. Year over year, the referral stream has seen a notable uptick in user activity, climbing by around 37%, a signal that users are increasingly discovering and revisiting content through VK’s internal channels rather than external pathways.
Earlier in the year, Telegram rose to the top spot in Russia for average daily views. In July, Telegram’s daily viewers averaged around 54.3 million, a modest rise from 51.9 million the previous month. In the same period, VKontakte’s average daily audience edged up to 52.6 million, up from 52.1 million, while YouTube also showed growth, moving from 50.8 million to 52.1 million daily viewers. These shifts illustrate a dynamic media environment in which messaging apps, traditional social networks, and video platforms compete for daily attention, with each service carving out its niche in terms of audience, content format, and user behavior. The results suggest that users in Russia maintain diverse media appetites, frequently switching between platforms to suit different moments of their day—from quick messages and social updates to longer videos and streaming sessions.
In a separate development, the online discourse around platform leadership offered a rare public moment when a major figure took to Twitter after a long hiatus, signaling how cross-platform conversations continue to shape the digital conversation. This moment underscores the evolving nature of social media where attention can shift quickly, and audiences follow dialogues across networks, seeking context, brands, and voices that resonate with their interests. The broader takeaway is clear: the Russian social ecosystem remains fluid, with VKontakte holding a strong core position while Telegram, YouTube, and other services maintain meaningful, if evolving, share in daily digital life. The numbers reflect not just popularity but a pattern of engagement that blends messaging, video, and social discovery into a single online habit for many users.