Материалдары

In 2014 Kazcontent JSC conducted surveys among populations in16 regions in Kazakhstan. According to this research over 57% of the respondents in Kazakhstan use Internet on daily basis, 18.7% - often, 12.6% - rarely and 11.7% - never used.The survey identified the most popular internet media and the use Internet of their audience [16].

There are many worldwide social networks users in Kazakhstan. Also there are some domestic networks, like: ct.kz, kiwi.kz, nur.kz, yvision.kz, jnet.kz. But Kazakhstan networks are not popular when compared with others. It is partially explained by the short period of time since their introduction and difficulties encountered in implementation. According to the study of the Яндекс.Новости (news.yandex.ru) the most popular social network sites in Kazakhstan are Russian or from the US (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. List of Popular Websites

According to data listed in the table it is clear that:

- First place in the ranking of popularity is the social network "Classmates" (1,610,086 queries in Yandex for last month), a multilingual project enabling usersto find former classmates, acquaintances and communicate with them at any time.

- Second place in the popular ranking is the video sharing site“YouTube”which takes 1,471,227 queries in Yandex, which allows participants to network, to add, annotate, view and share videos with friends.

- The third line of a rating of popularity of social networking resource belongs to the “My World” in Kazakhstan, in which 839,140 queries in the system Yandex for last month was made. This Russian-language service, which combines the user's actions on the main page of the portals Mail.Ru,.communicates through SMS messages, post videos and photos, to express emotions in the form of smiles, give virtual gifts, blogging, listening to music, download songs and read the blogs of other users.Outsider’s popularity rating among social networking sites in Kazakhstan were:

- "Flickr",

- "Myspace",

- "AlterGeo",

- "Hyde Park",

- "Friendster".

The fact that mostly young people use social networks showing that 66% of Facebook users in Kazakhstan are 18-34 years old. Kazakhstan leads in terms of Facebook users and in terms of daily unique visits to Facebook.com and youtube.com. Kazakhstan internet users are very active on social media sites covered to generate any figures. Russian social media has a big influence on Kazakhstani social media. VK (Originally VKontakte) is the largest European Social Media Network; Mail.ru; Odnoklassniki (Одноклассники in Russian, Classmates). According to the study of the Яндекс.Новости (news.yandex.ru) In the Central Asia countries Facebook Users - Kyrgyzstan-75,380, Kazakhstan-452,200, Uzbekistan-128,780, Tajikistan – 34,600, Turkmenistan – 5,860* (*blocked in country) [17].

Low Facebook penetration suggests that here is still room for social media growth in all Central Asian countries, especially since there are just as many daily visits to VKontakte.ru (Russian keep-in-touch website) as Facebook in Kazakhstan. Although many of the social media figures appear low it has been reported anecdotally that more and more Central Asian Internet users are turning to Facebook because of the flexibility and the way it can connect like-minded people. As with many other countries, political issues have begun to encourage the use of social media sites like Facebook in Central Asia and increasing numbers are expected in the coming months and years.

New media in Kazakhstan shows trends that are manifested in a sharp increase of information flows, the emergence of new independent media, media organizations, new members of the information process, the emergence of electronic newspapers, and Web-publications in the formation of new information markets and services. The information market in Kazakhstan is experiencing rapid growth in the development of communication technology. The rate of growth of a new communication mass media shows the great demand for information services.

Although new media in Kazakhstan are successful,the social media market in Kazakhstan is dominated by Russian or foreign media. The significant challenge for Kazakh new media is to develop a uniquely Kazakh character that can promote Kazakh language and culture, and successfully attract a Kazakh audience.

1. John Pavlik (2001) (p. 8).

2. Harper, C. (2005). Journalism in a digital age. Health, 34(27), 29. Retrieved March 3, 2015,from http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/papers/harper.html.

3. Salwen, Garrison, & Driscoll (2005), (p. 147)

4. https://en.wikipedia.org

5. Abramov V. “Mass Media of Kazakhstan: Key Players, Opportunities, Needs and Risks” (2009).

6. Media Sustainability Index of IREX (MSI), ( 2013, p.247)

7. The future of social media. Yvision.kz

8. https://en.wikipedia.org

9. According to statistics from the International Telecommunications Union, http//www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/index.html.