Runet – Russian Internet
The Russian-language segment of the internet is considered to be such a world in itself – at least by the Russian themselves – that it has even gotten its own name – “Runet” – which stands for “RUssian InterNET.” Most Russians prefer spending their online time there. Not only because their foreign language skills are often regretfully meager, but mainly because there is so much to do and to discover there.
Treasures of Runet
It’s indeed a good idea to learn Russian and explore the Russian internet. Russians firmly believe in free file-sharing and despise copyrights, so one can find vast amounts of various texts, music and movies in Runet – all free and accessible to everyone. Oops, let’s forget what we’ve just said: Copyright infringement is punishable, even in Russia.
Russians also love to discuss all sorts of topics online: On forums, social networks, in blog communities, their discussions are endless. One has to wonder how Russians manage to get any work done at all: Blogging and commenting seem to take up a major part of their working hours. That makes Runet a great place to meet Russians and to talk to them without the ceremony of offline communication.
Yandex: Russian Search engine
And if you’re looking for something (in) Russian, Google should be your second choice: The Yandex search engine functions much better in Runet. Additionally, Yandex has many other related search services, like dictionaries, maps (e.g., subway or traffic jams), a catalogue of stores and a handy web-money service. Don’t neglect it while exploring Runet.
Useful links
Search engines:
Useful services:
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