Not only are they the fastest growing population in the United States, now Hispanics are also considered the earliest users of smart phones (according to experts) due to the increased number of Hispanic youth and because many simply cannot afford a computer. To take it a step further, 72 percent of Latino Internet users say they are on Social Media sites compared to 58 percent of all U.S. internet users, according to the Pew Research Hispanic Center. When it comes to Facebook, 54 percent of Hispanics regularly use the social network compared to only 43 percent of white Americans. Drawing from these findings and numbers, onlookers are lead to believe that Hispanic consumers’ use of smartphones, television, online video, and social networking make this group one of the most engaged and dynamic populations in the current digital space.
In the past year alone, activists say social media platforms have also been a gateway in boosting voter registration among Hispanics, who supported Barack Obama. Social Media has also brought attention to immigration reform and serves as a key resource for obtaining legal status through President Obama’s deferred action program. Below are a few influential events that were created via social media platforms by various Latino activists and brought to our attention via Politico.com.
iMarch – The March for Innovation
In an effort to promote immigration reform, Hispanics leveraged the recent social media surge to coordinate a virtual “iMarch” on Twitter, generating thousands of tweets (that landed more than a half billion times) that caused this to be among the largest of social media advocacy efforts. The political leverage was so impactful that Members of Congress found their Twitter accounts inundated with hundreds of messages and the push caused prominent supporters such as Obama, Condoleezza Rice, Bill Clinton, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Arnold Schwarzenegger to tweet support for reform to millions of their followers. The march also partnered with Obama’s OFA (Organizing for Action), which helped promote it and push traffic. The president tweeted a number of times to his 31 million followers – and at one point retweeted Jeb Bush.
Going forward, organizers for the “iMarch” will use the successful social template to put pressure on Congress and strive to push the controversial reform bill through the House and Senate.