Those who closely follow what makes the Hispanic community cohere know this to be a truth: Spanish-language radio exerts a powerful influence over the Spanish-dominant Hispanic community. They spend more time with this media than with any other. It is on while they work, while they drive, while they play. It mobilizes them to act, to learn more, to speak out, to have fun.

But the Hispanic community is so dynamic and diverse that, once in a while, its use of media defies all that we know to be a truth intuitively and numerically. It has been widely reported, documented and discussed that Hispanics lag behind other groups when it comes to web usage. According to a recent report by the Pew Hispanic Center, Mexicans, the largest group of Hispanic in the U.S., are among the least likely to go online: 52% of Latinos of Mexican descent uses the internet. The report also points that socioeconomic, education and English-fluency factors play a significant role in explaining why Hispanics lag behind in web use. On the other hand, we know that Hispanics who do go online and speak Spanish, prefer Spanish-language websites.

Stats aside, the web can be in large part attributed with organizing and mobilizing Hispanics in the single most historical debate about immigration.

Recently, DJ Piolin—the voice of radio for million of Hispanics across the country– validated this truth beyond any doubt. In the airwaves for years, each morning Piolin brings cheer, laughter, rising to Hispanics from many walks of life who laugh easily from culturally charged jokes in Spanish, who know the stars of Mexican regional and other very Spanish-dominant genres. And you have to trust a person who makes you laugh and still brings about a sense of community—laughing together.

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