Latinos were doing social networking online long before the term was coined. For our culture, online technologies just broadened opportunities to stay connected to family and friends, and as connectivity became more affordable, more Latinos where doing more online. But this is old news, as it is too well known that we easily navigate English and Spanish content, on our mobiles or computers, very frequently.
In the marketing space, a lot of our colleagues have been on board with Twitter for a while. (Hello Dieste, Latinworks, Juan Tornoe, LatinaLista and many others.) But for those who argue whether Latino consumers are catching on, like they say in Spanish, para muestra un boton.
While catching up on Despierta America yesterday morning, it was great to hear that Twitter came up during a gossip segment with Piolin related to Paulina Rubio. Turns out the singer has been tweeting during the promo tour for her new CD, including a tweet on a burglary at her Miami home and about her appearance on the Piolin show—the leading radio show in L.A. and the U.S. Also interesting is the mix of Twittters she follows and who follow her as it provides a glimpse into her interests and circle of influence.
Ana Maria Canseco, one of Despierta America’s anchors, also is on Twitter and has more than 200 people following her… in Spanish. She talks about events she attends, musings and comments about daily events, and even brands she’s working with. Many more Latino celebs are also on, some more active than others: Ricardo Arjona, Juanes, etc. Among them, acts like Wisin y Yandel with a younger following, have a larger number of followers (4,000 plus), and Shakira, whose audience reaches far beyond Latinos, has more than 25,000. Univision and Telemundo also are on Twitter… and I am sure this list grows every day.
Ivette and others on our team are avid users…As for me, I do have an account but I use it to follow and learn about others, instead of tweeting about me 
Are you on? Drop me a line and you may just get a new follower.
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Yes, social networking works for us! I contend that Latinos generally look to engage in communicating at a deeper; or what I call a spiritual level. I have written a few articles on this subject on my blog (www.LatinoOpinion.com). In my latest post I explore why social networking works for Latinos. And you are most welcomed to follow me on Twitter – @RicardoALopez
Besides celebrities there is a huge presence of Latino professionals as well as Latinos from other countries in Latin America such, as Mexico, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (yes, I consider DR & PR Latin American as well as Caribbean), etc.
As Twitter and mirror technologies grow and become more popular we will see a another ‘revolution’ of sorts for faster push-demand media, similar to when blogs were all the rage.
@louispagan
Hola Maribel,
Thanks for your post. I have to disagree with your premise. I think those Twitter-follower numbers are extremely low, considering the amount of Latinos on Twitter/Social Media.
In the last five years we have undergone a shift where the US Hispanic consumer has gone from a passive participant in their media experience, to an active producer of User-Generated Content (UGC).
The entertainers and their networks represented in your post have low numbers b/c they have not embraced twitter and/or social media….
…And if they have not embraced twitter/social media, what does that say about them, from a digital perspective?! If your initial premise states that Latinos and social media have had a strong relationship for a very long time now, could we not agree that they are out of touch with their audience?!
What will be of more importance in the future, that Univision speaks about you on their TV network ad nauseum, or that you have hundreds of thousands of friends/followers/subscribers on multiple digital/mobile social networks, with direct access to them at any moment?!
The problem here, for the old model, and their entertainers, is that being strong on social media does not necessarily mean having a strong website-on the contrary, you can build just as strong a brand across social networks as you can on your own site. Some would even say more so, as the current trend indicates Latinos are spending just as much time, OR MORE, on their social networks, as on their email or stand-alone sites.
Moving forward, I think these entertainers and their networks/infrastructures will slowly lose the LEVEL of their popularity/influence unless they actively reach out to a Latino population that will become much more fragmented in the next 18 months due to UGC.
All you need are ten (10) strong US Hispanic independent sites/blogs/podcasts/video channels operating on the web (each one with tens of thousands of followers/subscribers/participants) to cause a major disruption to the US Hispanic media landscape.
Those sites are out there developing, and as it continually becomes easier and cheaper to produce high quality, high-definition content, the US Hispanic audience will produce and consume their own UGC content at the expense of the established US Hispanic media channels, IMHO.
Thanks again for a great post, my Twitter handle is @cabezas, look forward to connecting with you as well….
Thanks for a great blog. I tweeted about this earlier today (I think I posted on facebook, as well). You are welcome follow me at @_davidhenry_ ; and you can follow my company at @TeleNoticias_ .
I am definitely there @literanista