This content has been automatically translated from Ukrainian.
What is a public?
Public is an open page, community, or channel on a social network designed for publishing content and interacting with an audience. Most often, this term refers to thematic communities where news, memes, articles, videos, collections, or other content regularly appear.
The name comes from the English word public, which means “public” or “open”. That is why a public is usually called a community whose materials can be viewed by anyone or a large number of users.
For example:
- “Subscribe to our public about technology.”
- “New memes are published daily in this public.”
- “I found interesting information in a travel public.”
Today, the word public is used not only regarding a specific social network. It has become a general term for open thematic communities, regardless of where they are created.
The origin of the word “public”
The word public comes from the English public, which translates as “public”, “open”, or “accessible”.
In the Ukrainian language, it came not directly, but through internet slang. This term became especially popular in the early 2010s when social networks began to actively develop pages and open communities for content publication.
The word gained the most popularity thanks to the social network VKontakte, where there were two different formats of communities:
- group — more oriented towards communication among participants;
- public page (Public Page) — a format for news, publications, and working with a large audience.
It was the shortened name public that quickly transformed into “public”, and later began to be used much more broadly. Even after the decline in popularity of this platform, the word did not disappear and remained in everyday language.
Today, publics are often referred to as any large thematic pages or communities, regardless of which social network they operate on.
What do they publish in publics?
The theme of a public can be almost anything. Some communities are created for news, others for entertainment, education, or communication among people with similar interests.
Most often, publics publish:
- news;
- memes and humorous content;
- photos and videos;
- articles and collections;
- product reviews;
- event announcements;
- useful tips and instructions;
- surveys;
- author's content.
For example, there are publics about technology, cars, cooking, anime, travel, pets, books, or computer games. The main thing that unites them is the regular publication of materials for a specific audience.
How does a public differ from a group?
Although today these words are often used as synonyms, initially they meant different formats of communities.
Public is primarily intended for content publication. It is managed by one or several administrators, and most subscribers act as readers or viewers.
Group is more oriented towards communication among participants. In it, users can independently create posts, ask questions, discuss topics, and interact with each other.
Today, this difference is not as noticeable. Most modern platforms have gradually combined the capabilities of different types of communities, so the word public is often used simply as a general name for a popular thematic page.
Can a page on Telegram, Facebook, or Instagram be called a public?
Yes. Although historically the word is associated with the Public Page format, today its meaning has become much broader.
In everyday speech, a public can refer to:
- Telegram channel;
- Facebook page;
- thematic account on Instagram;
- community on Reddit;
- page on another social network if it regularly publishes content for a wide audience.
So now a public is rather not a technical format, but an informal name for any popular open community or page.
Other meanings of the word “public”
Although in the Ukrainian language the word public is almost always associated with social networks, it can sometimes be found in other contexts.
For example, in English, the word public means “the public”, “society”, or “the general public”. However, in this sense, the word public is practically not used in Ukrainian.
Sometimes it can also be heard as an abbreviation for the English public profile (“public profile”) or public page (“public page”), but that depends on the context and the specifics of a particular platform.
Therefore, if today someone talks about public, in the vast majority of cases, it refers specifically to an open thematic page or community on a social network.
