Abstract: 【Purpose/significance】Aiming at the new concept“metaverse”, this study analyzed its propagation pattern in time and
space, summarized the spatio-temporal characteristics of the diffusion of the new concept, and explored the geographical factors affect⁃ing its propagation, which could provide instruction for innovation diffusion【. Method/process】Collecting social media data, this study conducted time sequence analysis, spatial correlation analysis, regression analysis and factor correlation analysis based on innovation diffusion theory, time flow analysis and spatial econometric method for the communication heat of 34 provincial administrative regions in the process of“metaverse”concept dissemination.【Result/conclusion】The heat in different regions is consistent with the＂HeiheTengchong line＂. Beijing and coastal provinces are early disseminators, followed by central inland provinces and northeast regions,and Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and other regions follow slowly. Among them, the popularity of government propaganda and the popularity of netizens’discussion show significant regional aggregation, and the diffusion of the concept of neighboring regions shows a positive correlation to a low and medium degree, while media articles have no spatial correlation. The official concept publicity has a lag effect on the attention of netizens from 6 to 10 days. In addition, regional GDP, proportion of young and middle-aged population,proportion of college education and above, Internet penetration rate, number of enterprises, number of high-tech enterprises, number
of enterprises related to the meta-universe and other factors positively affect the diffusion of the concept.
【Innovation/limitation】The spreading law of emerging concepts from the dual perspectives of time and space was analyzed, but only the online public data was collected and lacked offline multi-channel samples. In addition, the analysis indicators should be added and refined.