This study examines the phenomenon of social media segments functioning, focused on the presence of high-quality author's visual content in publications. It is the originality of the visual accompaniment of posts that becomes the basis for the popularity of the resource. It sets such a trend as the autonomous power of images in communication and giving a chance for the development of "pictorial" information exchange. The study analyzed the publication of the Russian popular science community

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... ucator" ("Ovrazovach") on the social network "VK". The main findings of the study is: 1) there is an autonomy of images and their independency in the process of creating interest to resource for audience; 2) the analysis of comments reveals a reduction of the content side of the popular science public; 3) user comments show the preservation of a high percentage of text messages, but this comments are related the picture, not on a scientific event. The authors believe that the phenomenon of autonomization of original images requires a detailed analysis on a wider number of examples.