Posts Tagged: digital divide
The smart phone vs. the digital divide
![smart-phones smart-phones](http://ucanr.org/blogs/LatinoBriefs/blogfiles/7709.jpg)
But smart phones may be narrowing the gap. KQED’s MindShift education blog in San Francisco has highlighted a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California, which concludes:
…although Latinos are the group least likely to have a computer or Internet access at home, Latinos who use their cell phones to go online are twice as likely as whites (40% to 21%) to say that they mostly access the Internet this way.
It’s not the first research to find that Latinos put their smart phones to good use. In May, a report from The Nielsen Company concluded similarly:
Hispanics are very active on their smartphones, texting the most out of all races/ethnicities (943 texts per month) and employing a wide range of mobile activities, including mobile banking. Smartphone penetration has reached 45 percent, matching only Asian-American usage levels in popularity.
A divide persists in the use of computers, however. From a summary of the PPIC report:
Using a desktop to connect to the Internet is more common among whites (64%) and Asians (58%) than among blacks (49%) and Latinos (42%), as is use of a laptop to connect (65% Asians, 62% whites, 57% blacks, 38% Latinos). Use of a desktop or laptop computer to access the Internet increases with education and income.
But even there, it’s not all bad news. According to the report, while Latinos are still the least likely group to have home broadband access, the share of Latinos with a home broadband connection has doubled since 2007, from 28 percent to 55 percent.
Sources: NPR, The smart phone vs. the digital divide, by Leslie Berestein Rojas, June 24, 2011, and Policy Public Institute of California, More Latinos Using Cell Phones to Go Online, June 24, 2011.
Hispanics have highest tablet adoption
![Tablets eReaders Tablets eReaders](http://ucanr.org/blogs/LatinoBriefs/blogfiles/8096.jpg)
Pew Internet and American Life Project surveyed US consumers and found that, broken down into those three groups, more Hispanics were early adopters of tablets. In November 2010, 7 percent of Hispanics owned tablets, compared with 4 percent of blacks or whites. Just six months later, the percentage of usage among all three ethnic groups had about doubled, but the disparity remained.
For ereaders, the trajectory has been a bit different. In November, Pew reported fairly even ereader adoption across racial and ethnic lines. But Hispanics tripled ereader penetration between November and May, to 15 percent, while whites and blacks increased ownership at a slower pace.
Another survey, by the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University, found that US minorities—including blacks, Asians, Spanish-speaking Hispanics and English-speaking Hispanics—have higher levels of tablet and ereader ownership than non-Hispanic whites.
Among minorities, more Hispanics than blacks or Asians own or plan to own ereaders or tablets in the next year. The only exception was among Asians, who either own or plan to own a tablet in greater numbers than English-speaking Hispanics.
The trend of Hispanic early adopters may be attributed to the tremendous buying power of US Hispanics, which is projected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2015—a cumulative increase of around 25 percent, according to Packaged Facts.
impreMedia launches Club Digital to close the digital divide
To help close the Digital Divide that disproportionately affects Hispanic families in America, impreMedia is launching Club Digital, the nation's most comprehensive bilingual, multimedia Internet training program.
Club Digital's summer pilot program will reach nearly three million Hispanics in California. The program launches August 1st with an extensive 30-day multimedia Internet training program in select impreMedia publications, including La Opinion, La Opinion Contigo and El Mensajero, and a network of community-based partnerships. Club Digital will provide a free opportunity for Californians to learn basic Internet skills. The program also includes an interactive bilingual website, www.laopinion.com/clubdigital, updated daily throughout August with new training lessons.
![ClubDigital ClubDigital](http://ucanr.org/blogs/LatinoBriefs/blogfiles/8062.jpg)
While the adoption of broadband technology is steadily expanding across the nation and in California, and people increasingly use cell phones to go online, there are still vast differences among various ethnic and socio-economic groups, according to a 2011 statewide survey on Californians and Internet Technology by the Public Policy Institute of California.
The California pilot program is the first step in a nationwide campaign. Club Digital will expand nationally in January 2012, and will reach more than 9.4 million Hispanics across several major U.S. cities.
For more information about Club Digital, visit www.laopinion.com/clubdigital.
Source: PRNewswire, impreMedia launches Club Digital- Nation's Largest Bilingual Program to Close the Digital Divide, August 1, 2011.
Spanish-Language Media Grows, Engages Communities
The U.S. Census Bureau says the Hispanic population now tops 50 million. With the growth of this demographic comes the growth of Spanish-language media. Networks like Univision and Telemundo are seeing much higher ratings than some listeners may expect.
A story aired on NPR, indicates that while traditional American newspapers are struggling, Spanish-language media is experiencing growth in circulation and competition.
The scope and influence of Hispanics are at issue during this week's 29th annual convention by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). One of the event's speakers is Monica Lozano, CEO of ImpreMedia, which is America's largest Spanish-language newspaper company.
![SpanishMedia SpanishMedia](http://ucanr.org/blogs/LatinoBriefs/blogfiles/7590.jpg)
She notes that the digital divide is quickly disappearing as Latinos boast the fastest rate of social media usage. She says 60% of all Latinos are now online and 80% will be online in the next two years. Lozano sees an emergence of niche online communities that specifically relate to what Hispanics care about. That's in addition to the growth of large outlets like Univision and La Opinion.
But when it comes to English-language media, Lozano believes coverage of Hispanics is event-driven. She says these outlets look at dysfunctions like border violence — rather achievements like Hispanics' rapid rate of business startups.
Looking at the future, Lozano expects a greater reflection of the Latino community in English-language media. She also predicts the growth of customized platforms that connect to Latinos through both English and Spanish.
Source: National Public Radio, “Spanish-Language Media Grows, Engages Communities,” June 15, 2011.
Spanish-speaking Hispanics embrace online video
Hispanics are not online in the same numbers as non-Hispanics, but those who are show heightened levels of online video and social networking activity. A joint Google and Ipsos OTX MediaCT study found that Hispanic internet users—especially Spanish-dominant and bilingual Hispanics—are more involved with video and social networks than the overall population.
![HispanicsOnline1 HispanicsOnline1](http://ucanr.org/blogs/LatinoBriefs/blogfiles/6430.jpg)
Similar trends were found for social networking on various sites. Myspace, in particular, was more popular with Spanish-dominant and bilingual Hispanics. For most other sites, including Facebook, they showed roughly the same or higher usage rates than English-dominant Hispanics.
This data is noteworthy because Hispanics, especially the Spanish-dominant and foreign-born, are less likely to use the internet than other US ethnic or racial groups.
![HispanicsOnline3 HispanicsOnline3](http://ucanr.org/blogs/LatinoBriefs/blogfiles/6428.jpg)
A closer look at the “digital divide” reveals a split within the Hispanic population itself, rather than between Hispanics and other ethnic groups. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 56 percent of the US Hispanic population ages 16 and older is foreign-born. US-born (native) and English-speaking Hispanics have internet usage rates nearly indistinguishable from whites. Rates among foreign-born and Spanish-speaking Hispanics however, drop off.
![HispanicsOnline2 HispanicsOnline2](http://ucanr.org/blogs/LatinoBriefs/blogfiles/6429.jpg)
Source: eMarketer, Spanish-Speaking Hispanics embrace Online Video, March 15, 2011.