The 43 million people who make up the U.S. Hispanic community are experiencing a web-usage gap, with just 56 percent saying they use the internet at all, compared to 71 percent of non-Hispanic whites, according to a report from the Pew Hispanic Center.
Among the key findings in the report, which was based on telephone interviews last summer with about 6,000 Latinos:
—78 percent of Latinos who are English-dominant and 76 percent of bilingual Latinos use the internet, compared with 32 percent of Spanish-dominant Hispanic adults.
—76 percent of U.S.-born Latinos go online, compared with 43 percent of those born outside the U.S. Some of this is related to language, but the analysis shows that being born outside of the 50 states is an independent factor that is associated with a decreased likelihood of going online.
—89 percent of Latinos who have a college degree, 70 percent of Latinos who completed high school, and 31 percent of Latinos who did not complete high school go online.
In its coverage of the Pew Center report, Mediaweek says that some surveys show that broadband penetration for younger Latinos is higher than for the general population, noting the relative popularity of broadband-video hubs such as Voy TV and Barrio305. The piece also claims that younger Latinos are gravitating to social networking and online video sites, namely QuePasa.com and MiGente.com, and particularly for mobile media in droves.
And while still relatively small, Mediaweek notes that the current sites that appeal to the population of younger Latinos offer a mix of Spanish- and English-language fare. Focusing in on the two-year old Barrio305, which reaches roughly 10,000 users a day with a mix of music videos and user profiles, the site’s core target is third-generation, English-dominant Latinos.
The changes within the Hispanic community appear to be more rapid and complex than even the Pew Center study suggests, all of which has served to make media buyers’ jobs more difficult. Fernando Espuelas, chairman and CEO of VoyTV, and founder of Spanish-language portal Starmedia: “This is the conundrum. Marketers say, ‘If Hispanics are consuming media in English, why use Hispanic sites?’ Yes, the demo is absolutely mainstream, but also appreciates being spoken to as Latino.” Pew Hispanic Center release. Complete report (pdf).