Captivating talk about national traditions and modern games: famous ethnoblogger at the RUSSIA EXPO

Her educational videos about the customs of the peoples of Russia are gaining millions of views. Margarita Lyange is the president of the Guild of Interethnic Journalism and a journalist with thirty years of experience. But the general public knows her as a popular blogger, and teenagers call her "the grandmother who knows how to play Dota 2".

Margarita Lyange, editor-in-chief of the "National Accent" multimedia project, talked to the guests of the RUSSIA EXPO, held a masterclass on ethnoblogging and made the participants the heroes of her future videos. The secret of Lyange's success is her sincere interest in her work. Her videos are impossible to "skip": that's how interesting and with great respect the author tells about traditions and customs of the peoples of Russia, national costumes, peculiarities of local dialects and dialects.

And most importantly - all information is presented briefly and concisely, in an easy form and with humor. This is probably why there are users of all ages among the subscribers of "National Accent". Including teenagers, who started to respect Margarita after her video with the analysis of the characters of the game Dota 2.

At the masterclass, the ethnoblogger told how to properly search for information for one's videos and create a story, what role costumes and scenery play. It turns out that you can shoot videos about culture from travels and festivals, as well as from an apartment or studio. The main thing is the dramaturgy. An example is one of the most popular videos on the channel about the differences between Russian and Tajik tea drinking, which has garnered more than 50 million views so far.

"We identified the problem - a slight offense of one of the protagonists and from the negative we go to the positive, we explain that no one wanted to offend anyone, that there is such a tradition not to pour a full mug to the guest, so that you can pour him tea more often, showing your respect," explained Lyange.

 The blogger reminded that you can easily take stories for your videos from life, literally walking along the streets of your city. You just need to pay attention to unusual names and signs, architectural landmarks and monuments. This is how a video about an Armenian street in Moscow came about. While filming it, Margarita almost incurred the wrath of a security guard because she climbed the fence. But luckily, the man turned out to be a fan of her blog and allowed to shoot the necessary content.

The blogger also suggested not to be afraid to tell more about unusual traditions, which can surprise and even cause some negativity in uninformed people. This helps to foster tolerance and be more open to the unknown. After all, people are often afraid of what they do not understand. For example, in her videos Margarita shared information about where and why it was customary for women to cover their heads, why Altai mothers kept their children's navels with them and why a girl with big feet was considered an enviable bride in some peoples of Dagestan.

At the end of the masterclass, the guests were invited to participate in the creation of educational content. Several people went on stage to talk about their nationality and share positive and negative stereotypes associated with it. In addition to the protagonists themselves, all they needed for the video was a phone, a microphone and a selfie stick. The guests were also able to take part in a small quiz on general knowledge of Russian culture and geography and receive prizes.