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VK (service)

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VK
Logo "VKontakte"
Type of site
Social networking service
Available in70 languages
OwnerDoraview Limited
Created byPavel Durov
URLvk.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOpen to everyone with a cell phone
Users290 million
LaunchedSeptember 2006
Current statusOnline

[VK] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (Originally VKontakte, Russian: ВКонтакте[2]) is a European social network service popular among Russian-speaking users around the world. It is especially popular in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus, Israel, USA. VK offers a striking similarity in design and functionality to Facebook, so no wonder it has been described as a "Facebook clone."[3]. VK allows users to message contacts publicly or privately, create groups, public pages and events, make notes, share and tag images, audio and video, and play browser-based games[4].

As of March 2012, VK has 118.8 million accounts[5] but has acknowledged that it has a major spam problem,[6] and no longer advertises user numbers on its homepage. VK is ranked 34 in Alexa's global Top 500 sites and is the second most visited website in Russia.[7] In January 2012 vkontakte.ru was visited by 25.4 million people from Russia (58.7% aged 12–54) and vk.com by 21.5 million (49.6% aged 12–54).[8]

"В Контакте" ([V Kontákte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) translates to English as "In Contact" or "In Touch".

History

Founder Pavel Durov launched VKontakte for beta testing in September 2006, having just graduated from St Petersburg State University. Next month the domain name vkontakte.ru was registered. User registration was initially limited to within university circles exclusively by invitation, but the site still grew quickly. In February 2007 the site reached a user base of over 100,000 and was recognized as the second largest player in Russia's nascent social network market. In the same month the site was subjected to a severe DDoS attack, which briefly put it offline. The user base reached 1 million in July 2007, and 10 million in April 2008. In December 2008 VK overtook rival Odnoklassniki as Russia's most popular social networking service.

On 6 October 2009 the site was launched in 20 other languages. In December 2009 the site had a user base of 50 million, and by November 2010 that number had risen to 100 million. On 11 February 2011 VK reverted to user registration by SMS-invitation only. Open registration has been resumed in spring 2011. Since then all new accounts have to be linked to a mobile phone and require activation via free text message. In February 2012 VK had a user base of over 150 million.

Company

"LLC V Kontakte" was incorporated on 19 January 2007 with shareholders Vyacheslav Mirilashvili (60%), Pavel Durov (20%), Mikhail Mirilashvili (10%), and Lev Leviyev (10%).[9]

The company is now completely owned by offshore firm Doraview Limited, based in the British Virgin Islands.[9] The full current ownership is not in the public domain, although Mail.ru Group (formerly Digital Sky Technologies) has publicly acknowledged a stake of 39.99%.[10]

The company is controlled by Pavel Durov, founder and CEO. On 29 May 2012 Mail.ru Group announced that it has decided to yield control of the company to Durov by offering him the voting rights on its shares. Combined with Durov's personal 12% stake, this gives him 52% of the votes.[11][12]

VK canceled their IPO plans, citing unsatisfactory market conditions after Facebook's IPO blunder.[12][13]

Website

Functionality

Pavel Durov, the founder of VKontakte.ru, on his 26th birthday, 10 October 2010.

The site's functionality includes personalized and public pages, easy access to friends' pages and news, photo and video hosting, a simple messaging system and chat system, groups that users can participate in, and notes. Because almost all of the information provided by users is subject to easy search, people are able to look for those from the same school or with similar interests, place of birth, etc. New features are added to the website from time to time, such as the ability to host audio files within groups and personal pages; upload video files; share text documents; and "Applications", which contain Flash API based games, tools, chat rooms, etc.

VK, like many other major social networks, uses the XMPP protocol as a basis for its chat and presence service.

Privacy

File:Vkontakte.ru main on apple ipad.JPG
Login page on an iPad

Users have the ability to control the availability of their content. Users can hide or reveal pictures, videos, and entire pages. Users can also choose who can invite them to join groups, write personal messages, write on their wall, and so forth.

Languages

In September 2009 VK launched vk.com and translated the site into twelve other languages in an effort to expand the site's user base beyond Russia and the former Soviet Union.[14] The site now has 67 languages available, including one novelty language dubbed "V Soyuze," which uses Soviet-era language and had a red interface branded with the Soviet hammer and sickle.

Controversy

DDOS attacks on other sites

VK performed DDOS attacks on certain sites, making user's browser send multiple requests to the target site without user's consent. Targets were Runet Prize voting page in 2008[15] and CAPTCHA-breaking service antigate.com in 2012[16][17].

Media content available to users is often claimed as illegal by most major labels.[18] Furthermore, with appropriate web-browser plug-in installed, one may download the file directly from the site. However, somehow administration of the service manages to keep this content free for its users.

Phishing

On July 30, 2009, the media reported that a text file, containing the data of 135,000 users, had spread across the Internet. Experts commented that the file contained passwords stolen from victims who had input their data at the phisher's website. Later, antivirus software company Kaspersky Lab said that the user list was collected by the Trojan Trojan.Win32.VkHost.an.[19][20]

Popularity

According to Alexa.com VK is one of the most visited websites in Russia and Ukraine. It holds the 2nd position in Russia[21] and Ukraine,[22] 6th in Belarus,[23] 10th in Kazakhstan,[24] 13th position in Moldova.[25] and 14th in Uzbekistan.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Vk.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  2. ^ "Vkontakte to launch vk.com site in 12 languages". Tatar-inform. Kazan: Tatmedia. 8 September 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
  3. ^ Copycats: Top 10 International Facebook Clones
  4. ^ Social Gaming Revenue in Russia: Statistics and Forecast, SuperData, 2011.
  5. ^ VK internal search: returning result of 63.6 males and 55.2 females, accessed 8 March 2012
  6. ^ "Спамеры закрыли "ВКонтакте"". Gazeta.ru. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  7. ^ "Vk.com Traffic details". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2012-09-013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ "TNS Media Runet 2012 January report". TNS Media. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
  9. ^ a b "Кто в контакте" (in Russian). Vedomosti. 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  10. ^ "Exercise of Option". Mail.ru Group. 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
  11. ^ "Shareholder Mail.ru Group yields control to founder". ewdn.com. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
  12. ^ a b Bowker, John (29 May 2012). "Russia's VKontakte delays IPO after Facebook debacle". Moscow: Reuters. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  13. ^ Lunden, Ingrid. "More FB IPO Fallout? Russia's Leading Social Network Vkontakte's IPO 'Postponed Indefinitely'". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  14. ^ Амзин, Александр (7 сентября 2009). "Не наши "В контакте"". Lenta.ru. Retrieved 2009-09-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ http://habrahabr.ru/post/43171
  16. ^ http://www.securitylab.ru/news/423743.php
  17. ^ http://habrahabr.ru/post/142836
  18. ^ "Recording company wins copyright case against Vkontakte social network". Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  19. ^ "Пароли к "ВКонтакте" оказались в общем доступе" (in Russian). WebPlaneta. 2009-07-30. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  20. ^ "В открытый доступ попали тысячи логинов и паролей от аккаунтов сети "ВКонтакте"" (in Russian). WebPlaneta. 2009-07-30. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  21. ^ "Alexa - top sites in Russia". Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  22. ^ "Alexa - top sites in Ukraine". Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  23. ^ "Alexa - top sites in Belarus". Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  24. ^ "Alexa - top sites in Kazakhstan". Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  25. ^ "Alexa - top sites in Moldova". Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  26. ^ "Alexa - top sites in Uzbekistan". Retrieved 2012-02-16.

Notes

ak:VKontakte

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