Gofrag Ru — !!top!!

E. V. Petrova (e.petrova@msu.ru) Abstract Gofrag.ru is a rapidly emerging Russian‑language web platform that aggregates, curates, and disseminates short‑form multimedia fragments (e‑g., GIFs, short video loops, meme‑style images) while fostering an active community of creators and consumers. This paper provides a multi‑dimensional analysis of Gofrag.ru, focusing on its technical architecture, content moderation policies, user engagement mechanisms, and socio‑cultural impact within the Russian‑speaking internet (Runet). Using a mixed‑methods approach—combining web‑scraping of public data (January–June 2024), semi‑structured interviews with 28 frequent users, and a comparative policy review—we identify the platform’s distinctive features, its role in the diffusion of visual internet culture, and the challenges it faces concerning copyright compliance and disinformation mitigation. Findings suggest that Gofrag.ru occupies a niche between conventional social networks and dedicated meme‑sharing services, leveraging algorithmic recommendation and community‑driven curation to sustain high levels of user retention (average session duration: 12 min). Recommendations for platform designers, policymakers, and scholars are discussed.

Dr. Elena V. Petrova¹, Dr. Anton M. Sokolov², Dr. Irina L. Morozova³ gofrag ru

¹Department of Media Studies, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia ²Institute of Information Systems, Saint‑Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint‑Petersburg, Russia ³Center for Digital Culture, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia This paper provides a multi‑dimensional analysis of Gofrag