Ever since Facebook upended Friendster in 2009, many social media analysts and other commentators have sought to explain why the social network had such success in Southeast Asia and more limited uptake in East Asia. Some of these commentators have argued that the success can be attributed to general economic, political and cultural factors that apply to all Southeast Asian nations. A 2012 report by Accenture, for instance, attributed the popularity of social media in Southeast Asia to the region’s relatively young population and tight-knit community structures, which encourage communication and social sharing. Bernard Leong, a well-known Singaporean blogger and technology professional, wrote in a 2009 blog post that because many Southeast Asian countries are former Western colonies, they are more receptive to Western technologies and services than many of the countries of East Asia, which have historically been more resistant to direct and indirect control by Western powers and are therefore more inclined to use services created by their own peoples and tailored to their specific cultural attributes.