Last weekend Hong Kong celebrated 10 years of freedom. Chinese President Hu Jintao made an appearance, a speech and played some ping-pong. Meantime, demonstrators and the foreign media called for democracy.

Outside the mainstream media, cursory analysis of the blogosphere appears to show comparatively little interest (for which read enthusiasm?) in the celebrations.

From a technology perspective, this might seem surprising - Hong Kong has amongst the highest broadband and mobile phone penetration levels in the world. It boasts a free press and no discernable government online intervention. Yet, unlike across the border in China, in Hong Kong, a vigorous indigenous online culture appears not to have taken root.

Blogging, for instance, while popular on social networks such as Xanga, is limited to writing diaries and uploading photos. Political blogs or citizen journalism are almost non-existent (with the exception of the ongoing campaign against the demolition of the Star Ferry’s Queen’s Pier terminal in HK harbour, where online pressure groups have used the internet to mobilise opinion).

A saturated media environment may be one reason for the apparent lack of interest in digital communication. More fundamential may be the local custom of frequently visiting families and friends, easy to do in a small area. The latter may also help explain why businesses in HK pay little attention to online marketing - being around the corner, they are confident that locals will visit in person.

What then are the marketing opportunities?

Relevant, timely location-based mobile marketing may be one answer. Providing content in formats that are sufficiently brief and easily portable may be another, as the South China Morning Post has discovered through the success of its SCMP Today podcasts.