Ukraininan social networks - the list of websites on we:

WE.UA is not only a social network

Let's immediately dot the "i", noting that WE.UA is a online platform that combines several different services: News aggregator, Weather, Bulletin board, Landing designer, Event aggregator and, of course,  Social network for exchanging messages, emotions and communication within the framework of the we.ua project Next, we will try to describe the phenomenon of Ukraine social networks in more detail.

The emergence of social networks and Web 2.0

The term "social network" has been around in the domestic Internet segment since the formation of such industry giants as Facebook and Twitter.

A number of very popular domestic sites (then it was called dating sites) had the functionality of social networks in the distant times of the development of Web 2.0, although the concept of a social network as a website appeared in Ukraine later. These include: Connect.ua and "Ukraintsi". It was Web 2.0 that changed the approach to information exchange and the attitude to mass media. Thanks to Web 2.0 and social networks, the users of these sites turned from consumers to valuable content authors, to a kind of "fifth force" that began to influence the information agenda. In the news, the phrases "the video shook the network" or "the post on [network_name] became wildly popular" began to appear more and more often. Mass media began to count with social networks and even get news from them "on the hot trail".

What is the problem?

Of course, many talented Ukrainians thought (and continue to think) "how are we worse?" and "Let's create our own Facebook!". This is how the epic of creating a "100% Ukrainian social network" was born. The epic situation lies in the fact that none of the Ukraine social networks has ever gained an audience of 1 million users and very often, after a rapid rise and a wave of popularity, faced a cruel fate and lost the interest of potential users.

Perhaps the problem is not only that the idea of ​​a local network "only for Ukrainians" is unprofitable, but also a number of internal and external factors.

Internal factors based on the proverb "Where there are two Ukrainians, there are three hetmans" can be considered: inability to compromise, inability to rally and unite to achieve common benefits and defend common values, inability to fight together in the information field and, probably, lion's share a share of adventurism. Only the thirst for adventure can push developers to the next rake "our social network will not be like others, it will be better than all, it will be 1000% local based and only for Ukrainians". Russia's Odnoklassniki, Vkontakte and all the evil of the MailRU Group concern played a colossal influence on domestic efforts to create their own social network. The colossal convergence of the average citizen of "Runet" (and we still considered ourselves part of the CIS for a long time and communicated on the "Pa-Russian" Network) was constantly correlated with the narrative "Why do you need your own, if there is Vkontakte." Persistent developers who tried to move their social web sites looked at least weird and their product could not compete with the creations "over the ledge".

Changes after the Revolution of Dignity

But everything was changed by the Revolution of Dignity, our Euromaidan in 2013. Ukrainians have shown the whole world that we differ from Russians in a different system of values, we have declared to the whole world that we want a better life and we are not on the road to USSR2.0. The Ukrainian Internet reacted immediately, thousands of users began to refuse everything Russian, including and from Russian social networks, search engines, postal services and the crooked mirror of the Russian mass media. The idea of ​​the social network "On the Square" was born in a group of enthusiasts. Next in 2014 (chronologically, but not "as a result") was the implementation of a pre-planned military intervention in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Ukrainian Donbas. The Russian-Ukrainian war began. Ukrainians understood that "we will never be brothers" and the gap in the worldview gap with the sad neighbors increased hundreds of thousands of times and increases with each bell for the fallen, with each bad news from the Front.

Since 2014, ideas were born about an independent corner of the Internet with our truth, with our brothers and sisters, with our ideas, where "everyone is one" and without a single damned Muscovite. The weua.INFO and UkrOpen networks appeared, in which they were proud to be Ukrainians and dreamed of a bright future.

Vkontakte blocking

But not all users of the usual Russian networks understood the threats and colossal (as it turned out) capabilities of the enemy and his presence in almost every phone, almost every computer. OSINT-investigation and data collection took place on both sides, and the threat of potential Ukrainian losses in the information war was decisive. As a result, in 2017, a number of unpopular steps were taken to block Vkontakte, Yandex and the entire Mail.ru Group product. It seemed that the best and most cherished times had come to create the most massive and 100% Ukraine social network. Ts.UKR, Nimses, Druzi.net, Ukrainians.co and several other lesser-known networks appeared.

The lack of a unified information policy and the desire of the leaders of the industry to "take matters into their own hands" intensified infighting between domestic social networks, there was no merger and unification around the common problem of keeping Ukrainians in a single information field. Some lacked informational support and advertising, some lacked experience and a team to create competitive functionality. As a result, all the content of the Ukrainian segment of Vkontakte moved to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and later - to Instagram.

Even after the "great migration of people to Facebook" and the appearance of the Ukrainian language interface, Ukrainians still used Vkontakte via VPN. New social networks continued to appear under the influence of trends: FaceUkr, Yachudo, FamalyUA, SІЧ.УКР, CIMBOR, еСвое, sl8 and others.

Ubiquitous Telegram

After successfully building the social time bomb of the Vkontakte network, the Russian Durov brothers are working on a new platform and what they say is an innovative way of communication. Durov's brainchild, promoting anonymity and data security (an oxymoron of the century), initially looked rather empty and poor, offering only a chat service in the form of text messages in exchange for users' mobile numbers and their geolocation. Later, in 2015, "channels" appeared in Telegram - news feeds with blog elements that can be administered by several participants, including anonymously And information poured out, for which no one is responsible, for which there is simply no one to complain about, which is not confirmed by anything, except for the instant wow effect from the appearance of thousands and tens of thousands of smartphones throughout Ukraine. Mass media, which previously had "high standards of journalism" are increasingly referring to "Telegram sources". For many Ukrainians, Telegram has become the most popular communication and messaging channel on the Internet. The mass media have opened Pandora's boxes under the guise of "own news channels" in order to grab the attention of readers. And from almost every screen and in almost every article the mantras "Read us in Telegram", "Subscribe to our channel in Telegram" rang out. Local self-government bodies have started massively creating "Official Telegram channels" to inform the population about important news in cities and communities.

Kawoon's native messenger

As an alternative to Telegram, on the horizon of domestic applications, in 2021, the project of a domestic messenger and social network in the phone - kawoon.app,  attracted more than $100,000 of private investment . As of 2023, the application does not work, the fate of the project is unknown. #1155cc ;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;font-family:'Arial';font-style:normal;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;">

Changes after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation

The full-scale military invasion of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine in 2022 changed the approaches and requirements for Internet data security. Cybersecurity experts do not advise installing Telegram on the phones of military personnel, volunteers and activists. Messengers Signal and WhatsApp began to gain more popularity (compared to 2021), but all the same, the "great migration of people from Telegram" is still ahead. Hopefully, users will understand the need for such sacrifices, and domestic developers will be able to offer worthy alternatives. Also, Telegram's competitors are not sleeping and can boast of killer features, such as WhatsApp Channels.

In any case, the Russian-Ukrainian war had such a colossal impact on several generations of Ukrainians that, hopefully, they will have the sense not to use the software products of a murderous and terrorist country, but to promote and develop their own solutions. Maybe it's time for the developers to unite and find compromises for the sake of survival and reconstruction of their own country.

List of social networks from Ukraine

Below is a table with all known social networks from Ukraine, arranged in chronological order by year of foundation. We will be grateful for additions and comments.

Conclusions based on other people's achievements and mistakes

Practically every project of the social network declared the following:

1. This network is the first, the only, and all-Ukrainian.
2. "Unification" of Ukrainians for the sake of regular communication, which has already been established through existing communication channels, or for the sake of achieving ephemeral goals.
3. Exploitation of patriotic sentiments of society ("without Muscovites", "Ukrainian for Ukrainians", etc.).
4. Unique and unique features of standard functionality.
5. Killer features in the spirit of the era (mobile applications, blockchain, cryptocurrency, E2EE, etc.).
6. "We will be like Facebook/VK/Twitter, only better."

What users once said about each of the social networks:

1. It is not at all like Facebook/VK/Twitter.
2. It is too similar to Facebook/VK/Twitter, or "the topic has been licked".
3. There is no one there.
4. There is no music like VK or videos like YouTube/Instagram.
5. Any other phrase from Krashebgenerator  http://krasche.a3.kyiv.ua/ .

At first glance, it may seem that domestic social networks have invested too little in advertising and "no one has heard of them". But it is not so. Let's consider the most famous (most advertised) representatives:

• WeUa.INFO [not to be confused with we.ua (2014, >250,000 members [according to the team], founder - Bohdan Oliyarchuk) - wide coverage on IT-related sites, numerous announcements and a press conference in the Lviv office ZIK, mentions are still present on archive pages and in Google search.
• Ukrainians (2017, >400,000 members [according to the team], founder - Oleksandra Strumchynska) - wide media coverage, still many results with mentions in Google;
• eSvoe (2017, founders: Vitaly Oleniychuk and Oleksandra Strumchynska) - extensive media coverage with announcements of the start, Dzidzio concert program and a tour of Ukraine, with extensive advertising on national television, still has a number of links from various sources.

Were such information measures sufficient? It would seem that it is quite and even more than enough.

But were Ukrainians ready for their unique social networks? Did domestic products meet the needs of Ukrainians in communication and access to current content? How did Ukraine social networks plan to meet the needs of users in the basic functionality offered by Facebook or Instagram?

It seems that these questions are rhetorical, because competing with industry giants is a futile matter. Also, maybe "competing with Facebook" shouldn't be the main task. You should find your niche and solve at least one of the problems of "old" social networks.

At one time, "Social network for mothers" turned out to be a wonderful niche solution. In this network, women shared their experience and support, and the direction of targeted contextual advertising developed in parallel.

Another innovative example is the crypto-network Slate (sl8.online), which offers a very interesting approach in generating its own "currency" instead of "likes". Personal traits of participants and personal desires for benefits are used to attract new customers through referral links. More referrals mean more profit. The SSLX cryptocurrency token is quite real, it can be traded on exchanges, and as the number of owners of SSLX wallets grows, the popularity and value of this digital currency grows. We will remind you that the cryptocurrency initiatives of industry giants (Facebook, Telegram) were not successful at the time. We can only sincerely support Slate and wish them rich investors and prosperity.

Problems with large social networks

Let's outline our vision of the problems of modern popular social networks:

• The content does not belong to the conditional Zuckerberg or Musk. You have the right to dispose of your own content and store it in any other convenient location. All your photos, videos, text posts, priceless snarky comments and likes are your digital footprint, your time and the evolution of your worldview.
• Colossal impact on the emotional state . You make decisions under the influence of emotions. It is under the influence of emotions that you are shown "relevant" advertising.
• Zero responsibility for distorted, incomplete or inaccurate information. Often - even advertising fakes and anti-Ukraine disinformation.
• Visibility of your goods and services only in the network bubble. The ad system is designed to squeeze as much money as possible from the advertiser with relatively low efficiency.
• Sending advertising . It should not be so much. Advertising affects your emotional state and general well-being. Content authors receive meager dividends compared to the excess profits of companies.
• "Smart" algorithms in the feeds , which decide for you what and when you should watch. You no longer control your news feed, they have already decided for you what you like.

Having formed the problems of domestic and other popular social networks, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the information about our social network in the WE.UA Platform in more detail :

Ukrainian social network from WE.UA