Facebook quietly launched “Russian” edition of its namesake web site this week. Firm’s representatives didn’t yet return an e-mail seeking comments. Particularly, regarding Facebook’s strategy. As well as about company’s probable partners in the Russian market.

Facebook.com is doubtlessly a legend of the present-day Web 2.0 hype. This web site was masterminded in a dorm room in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, at the time a 19-year-old student at Harvard. Facebook provides countless ways of communication between users (e.g., chit-chats, trading photos, videos and music records, polling, and so forth). Over the years the web service grew to a fantastic size, serving over 80 million users to date, and in April outpaced its arch rival, Rupert Murdoch’s MySpace. Last October Microsoft announced it will take a $240 million equity stake in Facebook, thus pumping company’s value to overwhelming $15 billion.

Nevertheless, Facebook is just a second of two elephantine global social networks who have started to serve Russian online market. MySpace kicked off the battle in late January this year. So far, entertainment-oriented MySpace hasn't become a big hit in the Russian-speaking realm. Alexa.com, online preferences tracker, ranks MySpace 48th among all Russian web sites, far behind major local online social networks, search engines, Google, Yahoo, a bunch of file sharing services and even dating sites. Up to date the greatest promotional success of MySpace in Russia was hiring of Oleg Kuvaev, a cartoonist, once-famous all over the country. Kuvaev’s cartoons featuring animated character Masyanya (invented by him n 2002; finally discontinued in 2006) now embellishes the home page of the Russian MySpace.

While the main point in the strategy of MySpace is in attracting celebrities, Facebook pursues another tactics: broadening its own services offer. Is such approach likely to be a smash in Russia? Presumably yes, if only Facebook was the pioneer in this market. The point is that these days Facebook has to fight for its place in the cool sun with its own clone. Meet VKontakte.ru (“In Touch”) – the Russian social networking utility boasting an impressive 13.6 million subscriber base. VKontakte.ru mimics Facebook up to the history of its own incorporation. Web site’s founder Pavel Durov is of the same age as Mark Zuckerberg. VKontakte.ru provides the same functionality as Facebook (including user-written applications) therewith giving its users much more freedom in hosting and distributing various contents (full-length movies as an example). By far, Russia seems to be a tough market for Facebook unless and until the company performs something more prominent than just its web site adoption -- like getting “in touch” with the local market star.