Seventy percent of Russians aged 18 and over like taking photographs but 82% do not like being photographed.
MOSCOW, August 21, 2019. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey devoted to how Russian perceive photographing, how often they take pictures and post them on social media.
Do Russians love photos?
Sixteen percent of Russians say they like photographs. They are mainly women (19%), young Russians aged 18-24 (34%) and 25-34 (20%). Photos are also positively perceived by respondents who use the Internet on a daily basis (19%), and those living in million cities (24%). Respondents in these groups not only love photos but they also actively take pictures, especially young people (34% of the 18-24-year-olds and 19% of the 25-34-years-olds do it on a weekly basis). Thirteen percent of active Internet users take pictures at least once a week (13% of metropolitan inhabitants; 12% of those living in million cities; 12% of women).
At the same time, 82% recognize that they do no like being photographed; they are those who are aged over 60 (88%), those who never use the Internet (88%), as well as rural area inhabitants (87%).
Respondents in these groups are also most likely to say that they do not take pictures at all. They are mainly persons aged 60 and over (45%), those who do not use the Internet (52%), and rural residents (38%).
Smartphone vs photo camera: an obvious choice
Most of Russians who like taking photos predominantly use mobile phone and smartphone cameras (82%). Digital cameras are only used by 15% of respondents; film cameras are almost never used.
At the same time, 45% of Russians who take photos usually like the photos they take. They are mainly female respondents (49%) and young Russians aged 18-24 (66%) and 25-34 (57%).
About half of respondents who take pictures say they do not like the way they look in the photos (47%). The dissatisfied persons are mainly women (52%) and those aged 45- 59 (52%) and over 60 (55%).
The majority also do not have the photos printed; 67% of Russians have not done that over the recent two years. However one-third of Russians still love photo printing (22%).
Vkontakte or Instagram?
As it was noticed, Internet users are the most active photo enthusiasts. Importantly, most of them use social networking sites (89%) to post the photos online. Internet users tend to post a new picture at least once every half a year on social media platforms (41%); they are basically respondents aged 25-34 (47%). About one-third of respondents say they do not post their photos on social media at all (28%). They are mostly respondents aged 60 and over (41%). Twenty percent of Russians who use the Internet upload new photos on their social media pages several times a week or a month; they are manly respondents aged 18-24 (57%).
The most popular social media websites to post pictures on are Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki and Instagram. As to Odnoklassniki, this network is largely favored by those aged 45 -59 (64%) and 60 and over (92%). Younger respondents aged 18-24 and 25-34 prefer Vkontakte and Instagram (84% and 83% respectively; 72% and 49% respectively).
VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on August 16, 2019. The survey involved 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over. The survey was telephone-based and carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory.