How Do Blog Gardens Grow? Language Community Correlates with Network Diffusion and Adoption of Blogging Systems

Different language communities present in a multimedia blog and social network hosting system are contrasted. The disproportionate population of Chinese language speaking users is explored. Four stages of population growth and activity are examined: invitation, adoption, retention, and contribution. Using blog system logs we find that the Chinese language user population grew from just two invitations and demonstrates higher levels of invitation and retention which was highly correlated with contribution. Additional survey results confirm the difference between language communities on their attitudes and approaches to blogging systems. This suggests visible differences in the ways different cultures and language communities embrace and enact relationships through computer mediated publication.