VK (service)
Russian social networking service founded in 2006.
VK, originally named VKontakte (Russian for "InContact"), is a social media and networking platform headquartered in Saint Petersburg, Russia. While it supports multiple languages, its user base is overwhelmingly Russian-speaking. The service allows users to send public or private messages (with editing capabilities), form groups, public pages, and events, share and tag photos, audio, and video, and play browser-based games. By August 2018, VK had at least 500 million registered accounts, and as of November 2022, it ranked as the sixth most visited website in Russia. It was also popular in Ukraine until a decree by President Petro Poroshenko on May 15, 2017, banned it. According to Semrush, VK was the 30th most visited website globally in 2024. Claims that VK Video surpassed Google in monthly web traffic in December 2024 are not supported by reliable sources, so that detail has been omitted.
- Founded
- 2006
- Founders
- Pavel Durov, Vyacheslav Mirilashvili, Lev Leviev
- Headquarters
- Saint Petersburg, Russia
- Users
- At least 500 million accounts as of August 2018
- Global rank
- 30th most visited website in the world in 2024
- Key feature
- Private messaging, groups, public pages, events, media sharing, browser-based games
Lore & Background
VKontakte was conceived in 2006 when Pavel Durov, creator of the student forum spbgu.ru, met his former classmate Vyacheslav Mirilashvili in St. Petersburg after graduating from the Faculty of Philology at St Petersburg State University. Mirilashvili showed Durov the increasingly popular Facebook, after which the friends decided to create a new Russian social network. Lev Leviev, an Israeli classmate of Mirilashvili's, became the third co-founder. Mirilashvili borrowed money from his billionaire father and became the largest shareholder; Leviev took over operational management; Durov became CEO. Pavel Durov convinced his older brother Nikolai, a multiple winner of international math and programming competitions, to develop the site.
Reader's Guide
VK is significant as a dominant social network in Russia and several Eurasian countries, having overtaken rival Odnoklassniki as Russia's most popular social networking service in December 2008. It was also popular in Ukraine until banned by the Verkhovna Rada in 2017. The platform's features include private messaging, news feeds, communities (groups, public pages, events), like buttons that save to a private Favorites section, granular privacy settings, and synchronization with Facebook and Twitter. In December 2024, VK Video overtook Google's top position in monthly web traffic for the first time, as part of a major substitution to domestic business. Ownership changed hands multiple times, with Mail.ru Group eventually accumulating a 39.99% stake, and later United Capital Partners acquiring 48% in 2013. Founder Pavel Durov sold his 12% stake in January 2014.
Did You Know?
- VK was conceived after Vyacheslav Mirilashvili showed Pavel Durov the increasingly popular Facebook.
- As of August 2018, VK had at least 500 million accounts.
- VK was banned in Ukraine by the Verkhovna Rada in 2017.
- In December 2024, VK Video overtook Google's top position in monthly web traffic for the first time.
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