Axial shift

The Russian network is changing rapidly and dramatically. Dry numbers: in 1996 there were from 100 to 300 thousand Russian users, and now, according to various estimates, from 2.5 to 6 million; In 1996, there were about five hundred Russian-language servers; now their number is approaching 80 thousand (and the number of unique pages is 17 million). Every day approximately 200 new sites appear on the RuNet. While we are far behind the West in absolute numbers, we are ahead of it in growth rates.

But much more important than quantitative changes are qualitative shifts.


(Photo: East News)

Runet in 1997
In May 1997, in the fifth issue of the network Zhurnal.Ru, a note appeared signed by the American Nick Wright, who decided to express his impressions of the Russian Network. Having quickly gone through the English-language sites of the Russian Internet (they then made up a fair share of the Runet) and search engines (Rambler, Russian Search Engine, etc.), the author moved on to consider the most popular resources. And here a cultural shock awaited him. The first most visited site was not “some Russian twin of CNN or ESPN”, but the site “Anecdotes from Russia”! The inquisitive American researcher immediately went to generalizations: “While the American web is more about news and entertainment, the Russian web is all jokes, literature and a little news!” And, by the way, he was absolutely right.

Another striking difference is the then absence of erotic resources on the Russian Web (“Don’t go there for naked Russian ladies - they don’t live in the web of their country. There is not a single adult site in the category of adult sites - just zero!”). And finally, the most important: “The real kings of the Russian web are the columnists: Anton Nosik, Ivan Paravozov and Mai Mukhin. What do they review if there is no news and entertainment there? It’s not all about the news - it’s about the party, pronounced tooth-of -car (tooth of the car). Does “tooth of the car” make sense to anyone? Party will not make any sense to someone who is not familiar with Russian realities. This slang word means talking about everything and nothing in particular."
The observant American hit the nail on the head. “Talk about everything and nothing,” “get-togethers,” “their narrow circle,” and the notorious “enthusiasm” are the main features of the era of initial web construction and web reviews. What has changed since that already prehistoric time?

Three years have passed...
The most fashionable theme is "Waiting for golden rain." This is about investment. Out of nowhere, mysterious funds appeared that began to buy up successful or at least promising projects (for more details, see page 42), buying them cheap by Western standards, but with the confidence that they could be resold for much more. This year, investments in the Russian Network, according to experts, will reach $100 million.

The quantitative growth of Internet users has led to a qualitative change in its demographic composition (for example, there are many more women and relatively fewer young people) and, accordingly, to a redistribution of user interests. The network is becoming more and more “popular”, and therefore more attractive to the general public. “Self-expressing marginals,” meanwhile, have moved to the virtual outskirts, turning into “living legends” uninteresting to neophytes.

Politics, news and the dollar have finally dethroned jokes from the top of the attendance charts. The Internet is becoming a legitimate source of information for “traditional media.” Any self-respecting politician has his own website, or even more than one. And now everything is fine with erotica on the RuNet. There are a sea of ​​sites of varying degrees of decency; They even have their own online ratings and catalogs of the corresponding focus. If you wish, you can find a prostitute via the Internet, having previously carried out a cross-sampling using photos and descriptions of “articles”. New services are rapidly developing: free servers, free email, mailing lists on thousands of topics. Online stores and online auctions are flourishing. Trade in books, CDs, computer hardware and tour packages is especially brisk. People still prefer to buy cars and apartments the old fashioned way, but searching for options and comparing prices is increasingly being done online.

Of course, it is still premature to talk about the serious impact of the Internet on the life of the country as a whole. But things are getting there. Even despite the fact that a computer still remains a luxury for many (in Russia at the moment there are no more than seven million computers), that the monthly cost of unlimited access from an average provider is equal to two minimum wages, that the purchasing power of the population remains extremely low, that in different regions - different access options (about half of all Internet users are Muscovites).

There are problems, but they are being solved, or at least being worked around. No home Internet access? You can go online from your office, college, or public library. Don't have a credit card? No problem, you can order courier delivery or cash on delivery.
What then?

If events unfold according to an optimistic scenario, then, as the population gets used to the Internet, we should expect further adaptation of the Internet to its, the population's, real needs.

This means that the service sector will be in demand primarily - from banking (electronic non-cash payment of utility bills, tickets, purchases in online stores, etc.) to information (reference information, press, electronic libraries) and entertainment (online games, lotteries and casinos).

Further, the social composition of the current Runet will inevitably change, in which the share of specialists with higher education, students and students is now at least two-thirds. A massive rush to the Network of workers, pensioners, schoolchildren and housewives has begun, so information and entertainment portals of an average intellectual level, as well as narrowly themed special resources, will gain the most popularity.

The Internet will become one of the widest markets for skilled labor, as it will require more and more professionals of various profiles - managers, journalists, designers, programmers, etc.

Finally, the nature of investments in the Network will change - they will become more systematic and meaningful. It is quite possible that it will no longer be investors who select projects to invest money, but, on the contrary, project owners will look through stacks of competing investment proposals before making their choice. However, this is entirely good wishes. Things can only come to a fight between investors over projects when, apart from the Internet, everything is fine in Russia: when money is quickly transferred, orders are delivered on time, and officials modestly do their jobs. That is, not soon. But have we ever been seriously hindered by our shortcomings?