Instagram provoked the intensity of emotions: where bloggers after the blocking the social network may yield

The poignant Stories of bloggers “how will I be without you, my beloved Instagrammer?”, on the one hand, and the gloating “we don’t need your foreign Instagram”, on the other.

Maya Pakulova

Bloggers were offered the domestic platform Vkontakte, but there is no mass relocation. Against the backdrop of events, the first children of Lieutenant Schmidt appeared, offering to invest in projects to replace Instagram in Russia.

There were 80 million of them!

The Instagram audience is at least 80 million Russian users, according to the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri.

Instagram in Russia is not just a social network, but a business center, a fashion department and a creative workshop at the same time. The eco-system consisted of small businesses and bloggers. Someone brought millions, and someone gave a chance to earn extra money.

As a marketplace, Instagram was a haven for all kinds of hand-made, apparel-shoes, beauty and tech services. According to marketing experts, up to 73.6% of purchases on Instagram are cheaper than 10,000 rubles, another 20.9% - up to 30,000 rubles. Almost 45% of Instagram sales are clothing and footwear. Another 37% - gifts, almost the same - services and personal care.

Author's products, new collections, replicas of brands and used ones - each buyer found his customers. Instagram has become a shopping mall for small and micro businesses online.

The other side of Instagram is the life of secular characters, show business and sports stars. The Russian segment of Instagram had more than 1,000 millionaire bloggers, more than 18.5 thousand bloggers had from 100,000 to 1 million subscribers, 255 thousand bloggers - from 10 to 100 thousand. Millions of followers happily immersed themselves in the daily reports of their heroes, beautiful photos and conclusions about life. For the attention of the audience, Instagram celebrities received good money, and advertising agencies started working with bloggers. The cost of an advertising post or story on Instagram varies by blogger, customer, and topic. Only the official income of bloggers for 2021 is more than 18 billion rubles.

The leader in earnings on blogging is Ksenia Sobchak and her declared 107 million rubles. in 2021. A post on Instagram by Nastya Ivleva (18.9 million subscribers) cost up to 1.5 million, and by Olga Buzova (23.3 million subscribers) - up to 0.8 million rubles.

Instagram blocking took everyone by surprise

Part of the population of Insta began to install VPNs, the domestic network Vkontakte offered bloggers chocolate conditions for advertising and tools for switching to the platform, craftsmen immediately appeared offering a transition to some kind of Russian Instagram.

It turned out that most Instagram users do not know very well what a VPN is, and that you can go to your favorite Instagram by installing a small application that allows you to bypass the blocking. Since February 24 alone, popular VPN apps from Russia have been downloaded more than 5 million times: 1.6 million via the App Store and 3.7 million via Google Play.

The semi-legal nature of VPNs in Russia forced some Instagram users to look at the offers of the domestic social network Vkontakte. The network is proud of the influx of new 4 million users, and ex-Instagrammers find it difficult to navigate the complex structure and unusual interface. Despite the similarity of functions and algorithms, sales and promotion on Vkontakte are built on different principles, and the adaptation process is not easy for many.

RA Texterra recommends: “Brands often ask now what content to publish on Vkontakte. As always, up-to-date information is important for people: how your company works right now, are there any changes in logistics/work schedule/communications. Even if nothing has changed for you, it is not obvious to the audience: tell us about your format of work at the moment. Avoid emotional triggers, keep your tone neutral."

Vladimir Lotsmanov , Follow U Studio SMM agencies: “We recommend that most clients go to VK - there are the most optimal tools for business. The only difficulty will be immersion, as the social network has become complex and confusing for many. Some now don’t even know how a personal page differs from a community page, and even more so, many don’t know about the existence of funnels in mailing lists and that the Stories format doesn’t work at all.

While advertising agencies hastily reshape developed strategies and reassure customers, scammers of all stripes have perked up. The modern “children of Lieutenant Schmidt” also take advantage of the situation of chaos and confusion”.

RossGram seizes the initiative

A sad smile was caused by the characters who announced the Russian Instagram named RossGram. Within 2 days, the company created accounts in social networks and instant messengers, and several media outlets reprinted the good news about the Russian replacement for Instagram. It was reported that the project will be launched on March 28. First for sponsors and investors, and for ordinary users - in April 2022. The organizers of the initiative are a certain Alexander Zobov and Kirill Filimonov.

Zobov calls himself a fellow student of Pavel Durov, a PR director and a digital marketer. Where exactly Zobov was a fellow student of the author of Telegram and Vkontakte - the physics and mathematics department of the gymnasium or the philological faculty of the university - is not specified.

Filimonov calls himself a serial entrepreneur, commercial director and CEO of Russian Italy LLC. Judging by the SPARK data, the company is engaged in tourism, and has not shown any financial success in the industry for 10 years.

According to the whois service, the rossgram.ru website was registered on March 13, 2022, and is a template 2-page page with a non-working Partnership button.

This whole idea with Rossgram smacks of a desire to cash in on the gullible public of Instagram blocked in Russia.

Most Insta-people preferred to wait until the actions in the political arena end with the hope of the return of Instagram and the former quiet life.