Odnoklassniki (Russian:Одноклассники,lit.'Classmates'code: rus promoted to code: ru), abbreviated asOK orOK.ru, is asocial networking service andonline video sharing website primarily inRussia andformer Soviet Republics.[1] The site was launched on March 4, 2006, by Albert Popkov and is currently owned byVK.[2]
The website currently has more than 200 million registered users and 45 million daily unique visitors. Odnoklassniki also currently has anAlexa Internet traffic ranking of 56 worldwide and 7 for Russia. Odnoklassniki is the second most popular social network in Russia, behindVK (VKontakte) but ahead ofFacebook, which is in 3rd place.[3]
Odnoklassniki was launched on March 26, 2006,[4] by Albert Popkov, a telecommunications professional residing inLondon. Having previously been involved in similar projects in other European countries, Popkov initially developed Odnoklassniki as ahobby project from March to November 2006. During this period, it was only mentioned commercially within a friendly advertising agency as anadvertising platform.
However, due to a significant increase in userbase, Popkov established a separate legal entity for the service. By July 2007, Odnoklassniki had grown its audience to 3 million users. In November 2009, the British companyI-CD accused Popkov ofcopyright infringement, alleging that he used proprietary information to create a site similar to I-CD's social network Passado. Popkov was previously employed by I-CD but had resigned in November 2005. Popkov denied these allegations,[5] but was eventually dismissed as managing director of Odnoklassniki.[6] In November 2009, after the first day of trial in theRoyal Courts of Justice,[7] I-CD dropped all charges against Popkov and Odnoklassniki[8] after they agreed to pay an undisclosed amount assettlement.
In September 2008, Popkov sold a controlling interest in Odnoklassniki toDigital Sky Technologies (DST), the owner ofMail.ru. DST and its subsidiary,Forticom, acquired a 58% stake in the network.[9] Paid registration was introduced in Odnoklassniki in 2008, but this led to a decline in popularity as users began migrating to the main competitor, VKontakte.[10] As a result, Odnoklassniki reverted to a free model and discontinued user registration fees by August 2010.[11]
On January 23, 2009, a service was launched which allows a user to clear their personal page of uninvited guests by removing them from the list of views as well as allowing the blocking access from all users that they are not "friends" with on the service.
In early April 2010beta testing games became available on the site, developed byi-Jet, and on December 24, 2010, users of Odnoklassniki publicly released a beta version ofvideo chat. Regular updates between 2011 and 2019 saw additional features added, such as the ability to divide friends into groups, a music section where users could upload MP3 files, and detailed customizable user themes.[10][12] Odnoklassniki reached 40 million users per day in 2013[13] and in 2022, following the block ofInstagram byRoskomnadzor, about 4% of the former Instagram users polled byZarplata.ru said they had switched to Odnoklassniki.[14]
Additionally, Odnoklassniki introduced advertising formats, launched its messenger called OK Messages, included live broadcasts in communities, and developed a video app called OK Video for Smart TV. The social network also faced challenges, such as being blocked by the Ukrainian government in retaliation for theannexation of Crimea and dealing with technical issues that temporarily affected site availability.[citation needed]
In recent years, Odnoklassniki has continued to add features such as the "recommendations" service, new emoticons beyond the "Class" button, a video feed on the mobile app, and an ad account for small businesses and content creators.[citation needed]
In May 2017, Ukrainian PresidentPetro Poroshenko signed a decree imposing a ban on Mail.ru and its social networks, includingVKontakte and Odnoklassniki, as part of its continuedsanctions on Russia for itsannexation of Crimea and involvement in theWar in Donbas.[15][16] The move was widely criticized ascensorship, andReporters Without Borders condemned the ban, calling it a "disproportionate measure that seriously undermines the Ukrainian people's right to information andfreedom of expression."[17][18] Respondents in an online poll on theUNIAN site declared that 66% were "categorically against" the ban of Russian sites and another 11% said it would be easier to "ban the whole internet,like in North Korea".[19]
According to theUkrainian Internet Association, the share of Ukrainian Internet users who visit Odnoklassniki daily had fallen from 35% in September 2016 to 10% in September 2019.[20]
In October 2008, Odnoklassniki began requiring new users to pay a fee via SMS to activate their accounts and unlock many core features, including creating posts, uploading or rating photos, leaving comments in forums, or visiting other users' pages. Odnoklassniki claimed the measure was necessary to maintain order in the network and protect users from spam.[21] The site also offered a number of other, separate paid services: deleting ratings of their photos, disabling the user online status, and providing a wide range of emojis.[21]
By August 2010, Odnoklassniki canceled paid registration, claiming that new effective ways to combatspammers had been developed.[11]
In February 2016, the social network, together with its partner bankVTB 24, introduced the ability to makemoney transfers between users of the network. Transfers are made betweenMasterCard,Maestro, andVisa payment cards issued by Russian banks and linked to user profiles.[22]
2006 –Runet Award in the Health and Recreation category.[23][24]
2006 – 4th place in the People's Ten of theRunet Prize.[25]
2007 –Runet Award in the category "Culture and Mass Communications".[26][27]
2007 – 3rd place in the "People's Ten" Runet Prize.[28][29]
2007 is the "project of the year" in the ROTOR ++ network competition.[30]
2007 – the first Russian annual nationwide award in the entertainment industry "Russian Entertainment Awards" in the nomination "Website of the Year".[31]
2008 – Grand Prix in the nomination "Impact on offline" in the network professional competition of the Russian Online TOP (ROTOR) 2008 and ROTOR ++.[32]
2008 – 1st place in the People's Ten of the Runet Prize.[33]
2008 – Grand Prix in the Master of Brandbuilding competition.[34]
2009 – "Disappointment of the year" in the ROTOR network competition.[35][36]
2011 – 3rd place in the Technology and Innovation Runet Prize.[37]
2012 – Venture Village named the site as among "The Top 10 Russian Internet Brands Out to Conquer the World".[38]
(in Russian)
