Hispanic Social Networking Activities Continue to Thrive

Since the dawn of the digital age, people have been drawn to the immediate virtual interconnection of the internet, its functions and its products. Millions of people use the internet not only as a source of news, opinion, and entertainment, but specifically as a route to maintain friendships, relationships, and communities, which otherwise would be impossible due to long distances or other complications. In particular, the advent of the social networking website has led to the domination of interpersonal relationships by the intangible presented on the screen. What is the relationship between the US Hispanic population, and popular (or unpopular) social networking sites, how do they consume online information, and how will their participation in these sites likely continue?

First, a distinction must be made between English speaking Hispanics, and non-English speaking Hispanics. Though the majority of Spanish speaking nations have a balance of English and Spanish linguistic ability present in (especially) the youth culture, this duality is not without exception. Many English speaking Hispanics are of second generation immigrants to the United states, or perhaps those of a higher educational range. Most Latinos in the United States who cannot speak English are older, and subsequently less likely to adapt to new technologies.

The Florida State University Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication recently did a study on ethnic and cultural influence on social media participation, and found that of a group of 2500 test subjects, each divided into five groups of English Preferring Hispanics, Non-English Speaking Preferring Hispanics, Non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, and Asians, 36% of the English Preferring Hispanics reported visiting a social networking cite 2-3 times a month; this was the highest percentage featured out of all the ethnic subdivisions. Also, 46% of English Preferring Hispanics reported visiting Facebook or Myspace "regularly", again the highest percentage of the groups.

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These sites, Facebook and MySpace, along with Twitter, are the three largest social networking sites on the internet. Social networking sites, according to Time Magazine and Hitwise.com rank no. 1 in popularity of internet access in groups 18-24 years olds, with search engines coming in second, and then web-based email access and subsequently adult entertainment. Social networking sites are being accessed often by Hispanics in the United States and abroad, but why?

First, Hispanic culture, specifically native to South America, has a long history of community based organization. The individual is less important than the whole in Hispanic tradition, which has traveled through time and geography to hold true to Latinos in the United States today. Also, more Hispanics in the United States are younger than their non-Hispanic counterparts. According to the United States Census Bureau, the median age of the Hispanic population in the United States was 27.7 years in 2008. The median age for the general population, including all ethnic and cultural minorities as well as Whites, was 36.8 years old in 2008. This leads to the inference that there are more young Hispanics in the United States, and so more Hispanics may be able and/or willing to acclimatize to new technologies such as social networking sites. In addition, it is widely viewed that Hispanic cultures reinforce emotional rather than rational behavior, and thus are likely to participate in relationship building more easily than non-Hispanics.

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The Ethnicity and Ancestry Branch to Create “Hispanic in the United States” 2010 Census

Planning on releasing presentation in Spring 2011 using the 2010 Census

I, Sebastian Aroca, recently asked the Ethnicity and Ancestry Branch Chief Roberto Ramirez, if the branch was going to put together another “Hispanic in the United States” presentation for this upcoming U.S. Census Bureau and if the answer was yes, when do they suspect the PP to be created/released.

Chief Roberto Ramirez responded that his branch is certainly planning to update the PP using the 2010 Census. This is great news!

He also said that the PPT will be out sometime in spring of 2011 for it takes about 6 months to process all the data from the census. Wow, I didn’t know it takes that long!

For more information about the Ethnicity and Ancestry Branch, you can contact the branch Chief Roberto Ramirez (roberto.r.ramirez@census.gov) or call the branch at 301.763.2403.

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Understanding Your Hispanic Audience and Being Strategic

Latinos have become a large ethnic group in the United States. In fact, according to the last U.S. Census Bureau, there are now over 45 million Latinos in the U.S. with the numbers getting larger every year. The implications of this Latino population explosion are that American business owners must think of ways to sell their products to Latinos in the U.S. since the numbers of Latino consumers are growing each year. However, marketing products to Latinos is not as easy as it might seem. One reason that it is not easy is the language barrier. Many Latinos' first language is Spanish and not English. Thus, marketing ads that are in English which rely on understanding of English word usage and American humor may not be comprehensible to a Latino audience. There are other potential problems that are due to differences between Latino culture and mainstream American culture.

In order to sell products to Latinos or develop a successful social media strategy with a Hispanic audience, it is necessary to become more familiar with Latino culture and become more familiar with the wants and needs of Latinos in the U.S. There must be efforts made to read books and magazines that describe Latino culture and interests. In addition to that, there must be efforts to go to social networking sites and communicate with Latinos in order to find out what they are interested in and what they want. There must be efforts to understand the cultural motivations that are motivating your Hispanic audience in general and there must be efforts to understand the cultural motivations that specifically motivate your Hispanic audience towards social media.

For example, you must answer questions such as the following. What social networking sites are Latinos interested in predominantly? Are there any social networking sites that are totally in Spanish where large numbers of Latinos go in order to converse with each other? Are Latinos keeping in constant contact with their relatives who do not live in the U.S.? Are Latinos resentful because of having to speak English? Do they prefer to speak Spanish during times when they are not working at jobs which require English language? What social media strategies would make the most sense given what is known about Hispanic culture? You must ask these questions and many other questions in order to find out what is going on in the hearts and minds of your Hispanic audience.

Research, Plan and then, Strategize

Once you understand what is going on in the hearts and minds of your prospective Latino customers, then you will likely have a better chance at being successful when you join their conversations at social networking sites. In other words, starting conversations, engaging their interest and maintaining their interest takes careful research, planning and a sufficiently strategic approach. It is not something that can be done overnight. Establishing a successful social media strategy with a Hispanic audience requires a lot of learning and a lot of effort on the part of American businesses. But the efforts will be worth it for your business.

For more information about understanding the Hispanic population in the United States and how to connect with the right Hispanic audience, feel free to contact Hispanic Market Advisors.

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