August 31, 2020

Russia's Instamamas


Russia's Instamamas
Instagram is popular all over the world. Image by Ian Spalter, Joy-Vincent Niemantsverdriet, Eric Goud, Robert Padbury via Wikimedia Commons

Last year, Forbes released a list of the 15 highest-earning Instagram bloggers in Russia. This year, the list has changed, with six new figures entering the top 15 earners, including several “Instamamas.”

The top-ranking Instagram blogger this year is yet again Ksenia Sobchak. Over the past year, Sobchak got remarried, launched a show on Pervyi Kanal, and really built up her audience. She advertises a wide range of brands, from Bork appliances to Mixit cosmetics. Sobchak at one point also had a deal with Audi, but after she made critical comments about Black Lives Matter on Instagram, Audi canceled her contract. In second place on the ranking is the singer Polina Gagarina, who uses her account to share details of her daily life, photos of other artists, and to posts ads. Gagarina replaced Regina Todorenko in second place from last year’s list.

Additional changes include the addition of “Instamamas,” bloggers who post about their life with children. For example, in third place, replacing last year’s Olga Buzova, is blogger Ida Galich. Last year Galich launched a show for children and this year became the host of “Takie roditeli” (“Such Parents”), where she shares her experiences of raising a child with her husband. Newcomers to Forbes’ list who share this trend of motherhood include Valeria Chekalin and Alina Levda.

One thing that these bloggers have in common is a new type of sincerity – they attempt to be closer to their subscribers by not only showing the good side of life, but also posting non-photoshopped images and talking honestly about their lives. According to Mikhail Karpushin, Marketing Director of GetBlogger, “Instagram has ceased to be a social network where plastic people publish nonsensical posts, but strives to become a place where you can communicate with a popular person in the same way as a friend.”

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A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

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The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

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