Over the past few years, Internet users have been amazed by some videos from China. Most of them are filmed according to the same pattern - dozens of identically dressed people stand in front of ring lamps and synchronously rehearse the TikTok dance. Commentators were divided in their opinions: some said that the overall action resembled a real dystopia, while others thought that since the blogging profession is in demand, why not learn it in a team.
This is far from trash blogging, as some might think. The video featured wanhongs. This is what they call influencer bloggers in China who sell products from various online stores.
There are reasons for this: high penetration of the Internet and smartphones (as of 2022, more than 96% of the Chinese population has a smartphone), the rapid spread of social networks – almost 65% of Chinese residents (930 million people) actively use them, a developed nationwide logistics system – hence fast deliveries gadgets at low costs.
Today users rely on the bloggers’ opinion to choose almost everything: movies, gadgets, cosmetics. Sales through blogging in Russia are still only gaining momentum. However, even schools where young people are taught how to edit and work on camera have only recently appeared in our country. Before that, many people had to master blogging themselves.
“I remember the first time I went on YouTube back in 2007. I couldn't get through one of the puzzles in a Star Wars game, and the text walkthroughs didn't help me figure it out. I went to the site and started looking for the right video, but I didn't even click on it. I was interested in another video, an animation on the game that was drawn by a fan.”
Now Alexey Kudryashov is 28 years old. He works as an editing director for the federal media. According to him, as a child he dreamed of becoming a translator – English was very easy for him. However, he says that after watching that video, he thought only one thing – “I want to do the same.”
At first, Alexei really had to rely only on himself. At the end of the 2000s, there were no specialized schools in Russia where children could be taught how to work with a camera and edit. He obtained his qualifications much later than his first videos shot on on a point-and-shoot camera. This happened when he enrolled in the first video and audio editing courses that appeared in his town.
Alexey's case is more an exception than a rule. In the 2000s, few schoolchildren, when asked “What do you want to become in the future,” would answer that they would be a blogger. However, now everything has changed.
According to the MTS Research survey, which was conducted in the summer of 2023, modern schoolchildren consider professions in the media business to be the most prestigious. For example, within movie production or blogging. Why? The answer lies in the structure of such work. Creative industry allows you to realize your interests and talents in work and at the same time achieve material success.
However, often desire alone is not enough to get people interested in what you create. It seems that you can just go and shoot content that will sooner or later hook someone. But, as in many other professions, everything is much more serious. A blogger needs to be able to captivate an audience, grab their attention and talk about things in a way that is interesting even to the casual viewer.
And now children's interests have been noticed. Schools and courses have opened all over Russia that are ready to teach not only how to work with a camera, but also how to edit video and generate ideas for content.
Dima Malyshev is now learning to develop his blog on YouTube in the network of the federal school of bloggers "Faces". After the child's interest was noticed by his mother, she suggested that he not only watch videos, but also create his own.
“I am quite a loyal mom and follow the principle "If you can't forbid it, lead it". I can't and don't want to give up life on social networks myself, so I don't plan to forbid my children to sit on TikTok. But at the same time, I want them not only to look at others, but also to learn something themselves”.
Training is provided by bloggers, radio and television presenters and actors, as well as social media promotion specialists. Children are taught video editing, photo processing, and public speaking. For practical training, students attend various events, which they then cover with clips in class.
In addition, school participants are provided with professional equipment for working "in the field" - photo and video cameras, and, if necessary, a computer where they can compile the content itself from the received material. The entire training course lasts about 4 months.
“Blogging liberates children. Nowadays it is no longer fashionable to be beautiful or rich. It's fashionable to be yourself. And blogging in social networks provides this opportunity for everyone. My son really likes it. I see that he has started to show interest in maintaining and developing his YouTube channel”.
By the way, a separate bloggers’ category are young parents. 35-year-old Marina Petrova says that she and her husband started a video blog after the birth of their youngest son. The boy was diagnosed with a rare genetic defect which requires close attention to his health.
“When I was told the results of the screening, it took me a long time to accept the situation. But my son needed all my attention and love. My husband suggested that I start a channel and shoot videos there - for my son in the future. And then we started to communicate with other mothers and whole families, to talk about the peculiarities of the health of such children”.
Marina says that initially she did not take her husband's proposal seriously - even without the blog, there were a lot of high-priority things to do. At first, he did everything himself. When the first reactions and comments appeared, the girl was inspired and began to perceive the channel as a source of moral support. Even found time to take online training on editing and blogging. There are not many subscribers, but Marina wants to make quality content - she hopes that their story will help others not to despair.
However, you shouldn’t think that blogging is exclusively for young people. The “Active age” Sberbank project offers small free courses for pensioners. They are taught not only how to create their own blog, but also shown examples of other older bloggers who managed to start making money from their creativity.
Pensioner Alexander Pronin says that he became a blogger “by accident during a pandemic”: his daughter persuaded him to open an account on one of the popular social networks in order to receive at least some communication from the outside. It was contraindicated for Alexander Mikhailovich and his wife Galina Vasilievna to leave the house.
“I resisted for a long time but eventually gave up. I started posting me building a bathhouse, planting flowers and all that. It even seemed like an interesting activity, especially when the first comments from relatives came along. Then we made an ironic video about how we abandoned the construction of a bathhouse with this new activity. And then posted it on an account that we created to watch our granddaughter and give her “hearts”. We did not plan to develop in any way in this area, simply posted a video so that the account would not be empty. The next day we woke up famous as they say. The video received 120,000 views overnight. From that moment on we decided not to stop.”
Now the couple has almost half a million subscribers and several social networks channels. They manage to cultivate six acres of vegetable garden, babysit their grandchildren and shoot videos about it.
And 67-year-old Larisa Morozova runs a popular telegram channel about investments and dividends. She became interested in this area immediately after the global financial crisis of 2008. Then she began investing in stocks and sharing her experience on various trading forums and websites. In her line of work, it's always important to keep abreast. It was then that Larisa discovered Telegram, which also became a platform for her to earn extra money. Now Larisa has more than 90 thousand subscribers and a good increase in pension in the form of her favorite activity.
“To receive dividends you need to follow relevant news. And it is important to save such information so that it is convenient to return to it. Telegram turned out to be the ideal platform for this. I named the channel “Dividends Forever” and started putting the necessary news there for myself, like in a notebook.”
You can learn blogging outside our country. The School of young journalists and Bloggers has been operating on the basis of the Russian House in Dushanbe for several years. The courses can be attended by anyone from 13 to 20 years old. In addition, it is free for everyone.
The school will teach you not only how to work with text and how to behave on camera, but also how to deliver a speech correctly and to write interview questions. Classes are taught not only by journalists, but also by major bloggers like Artemy Lebedev and Karina Cross, who already visited students.
In addition, the mandatory educational program of the School of young journalists and bloggers of the Russian House in Dushanbe includes educational press tours. This is a real practical work for the students, where they learn to record interviews, do photography and video shootings hands on.
This is also a great opportunity for children to explore the country. School students regularly participate in various youth projects and attend many events. Beacause of that school student Maria Chebonenko visited the All-Russian children's centers "Artek", "Orlyonok" and "Smena" in 2023. The girl also worked as a volunteer at “Scarlet Sails” in St. Petersburg. And recently Maria became the winner of the “Bolshaya Peremena” project and received the opportunity to enter any Russian university without competition.
“I used to think that I wanted to be an actress, a musician, or a designer, but when I came to the School of young journalists, I realized that the journalism is my thing. I understood that I can realize myself in this. All the competitions in which I participated were related to media. So I think it's closer to my heart. Television is the closest thing to me. I like talking and performing on camera, I like working on record.”