  Culture shapes people's behavior, both online and offline. Surprisingly,
there is sparse research on how cultural context affects network formation and
content consumption on social media. We analyzed the friendship networks and
dyadic relations between content producers and consumers across 73 countries
through a cultural lens in a closed-network setting. Closed networks allow for
intimate bonds and self-expression, providing a natural setting to study
cultural differences in behavior. We studied three theoretical frameworks of
culture - individualism, relational mobility, and tightness. We found that
friendship networks formed across different cultures differ in egocentricity,
meaning the connectedness between a user's friends. Individualism, mobility,
and looseness also significantly negatively impact how tie strength affects
content consumption. Our findings show how culture affects social media
behavior, and we outline how researchers can incorporate this in their work.
Our work has implications for content recommendations and can improve content
engagement.
