“I signed up for Facebook to reconnect with friends, to learn about a new culture, to be open to new ideas and expressions,” said a 26-year-old university student, who has spent several years away from home studying at Coventry University in the UK, and at China’s University of Hong Kong since 2007.

Over the last several years, blogs and online journals have become increasingly popular as a way of examining Cambodian life as well as a source of local insights for people interested in Cambodian affairs and development. It’s only recently that veteran bloggers began to switch from blogging to Facebook, which is now the nation’s most popular social networking site. The walled garden now attracts more and more Cambodians for more than just to keep in touch with friends and colleagues.

However, in a blog post about Facebook’s predominance over blogging, a 29-year-old blogger expressed concern that social networking sites and micro-blogging sites such as Twitter are now predominant over Cambodian blogs. In an email he says:

“I work to promote youth participation in the democratic process in Cambodia. I find that technology could aid the voice of youth. I use FB as an experiment, the same way that I use other web 2.0 tools and social networking sites such as twitter. [I] always try to find things that could help youth to participate and influence the country’s future in a democratic process.”

Last month, prominent blogger Chak Sopheap’s blog post about Cambodian democracy in the digital age threw up an interesting discussion among her readers. Given that she has been blogging prolifically, it’s not surprising that like many others she’s also on FB. Currently in Niigata, Japan (according to her FB profile), the 24-year-old blogger says:

“FB is just a kind of social network that gets people communicating briefly, and somehow it is very unprofessional. It is not a specific-purpose site, but a general social network. A blog is specific and only people who are interested in an article will stay connected. Facebook has many useless applications like quizzes, games, or spam which I dislike. However, FB can be used to spread blog articles and get short comments or advice.”

“I use FB because of its popularity with my friends with whom I can keep in touch and know about their status. Also, it gives me a quick social response. I can get people to comment, give me ideas or information. Sometimes, I use FB to ask for references or ideas on academic or professional assignments. It helps me get positive results as people from different regions give me a quick reply. “