Latino Rebranded: Social Media and Latinos

Subtitle: It is not the people that should look to businesses, businesses should look to the people.

Our visions of where influence derives is skewed.  Professionals do not make influential changes, but only identify, define, and market them.

Trends

In his book “The Tipping Point,” Gladwell talks about Hush Puppies shoes and how they went from almost being discontinued to a hugely successful brand.  Hush Puppies became a fad in lower Manhattan not on purpose, not because of a campaign, not because of any professional efforts, but because a few “kids” decided they were cool and the shoes became trendy and hip with their peers. 

Let’s look at social media for a minute.  The true value of social media is not the communication platform, but what that communication brings to the table.  Social media enables a company to gain vital insight to where markets are going by talking with the public.

Companies and Social Media

Companies need to talk to their customers to see what they are thinking.  Companies are usually ‘out-of-the-loop’ when it comes to what is being said on the ’streets;’  social media provides insight and establishes a public ‘advisory board’ that leads executives and marketing professionals to decide what to bring to the market – or discontinue.

The Public

Unbeknownst to the average person, it is they that are the true content providers and definers.  With the help of social media, this is slowly being realized – more people are providing top-notch content and participating in global dialogues.

Profitability is where professionals come in.  Once the public figures out how to crack this threshold, it is at that moment that that industry becomes open to change and revolution.

Here’s a modified statement from a popular quote for the movie “V for Vendetta” – It is not the people that should look to businesses, businesses should look to the people. Oh, so true.

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Subtitle: Are there Latinas in social media? You betcha!

I am driven by We-media – content produced by the public – and am inspired when others share the same drive. A few of my online-cohorts are proposed speakers for a panel at the Blogher conference here in NYC.

Latinas are one of the fastest growing segment of bloggers. In this session, you can understand who we are, why we blog, where we are coming from and where we’re going…Our session will focus on Latinas as a group and how we are using social media to develop relationships and promote our businesses with a distinct flavor. Each of the panel speakers has effectively used social media to promote either her blog, home business, or herself as a brand.

Please take the time to go over and vote for their panel.

Hint: If you want to find engaged mommy bloggers, go follow #BlogHer on Twitter.

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As it turns out, they are everywhere that everyone else is and more.

Hispanics are going to websites that the rest of the world are using which are Yahoo, Google and Microsoft but at the same time there are niche websites that allow Hispanics to socialize within their own communities as well as to search for information such as news, sports and entertainment within Latin America.

Social media, in the same stride is a great place to find ‘real-time’ Hispanics.

Go over and read my friend Frankie’s blog – a contributing voice to the online Hispanic dialogue (the post is a few months old, but still relevant because people ask me this all the time).

Update: Related – Breakdown of Hispanics online.

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Subtitle:  Are you a Spanglish speaker or a bilingual text message sender?
(via @MauraHernandez)

My Blackberry is set to auto-check, because I’m infamously known for misspelling words.

Quite a few times, when tapping out an email I’ve noticed that spell check wants to change ‘gracias’ to Garcia.  I find it hilarious.  Yes, I can just ‘add’ it to the dictionary but what I’m really curious if 1) the word is ever going to be added to the dictionary, or 2) the software will ever be made ’smart’ enough to see that I use that term constantly and auto-add itself.

A fellow Twittero has experienced the same:

I’m curious if anyone else out there has any stories to share?

UPDATE:  We have some more…pretty funny, updates from @MauraHernandez:

Add yours!

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To continue on the Hispanic Media Conferences 2010 post, I’ve become aware of two more:

NAHJ, has ten multimedia journalism training sessions in Texas, Feb 20. Blogging, social media and content creation will rule these workshops.

Very innovative and keeping in pace of a trend in the Latino sphere – from their website: The New Generation Latino Consortium (NGLC), the only professional organization of its kind dedicated to the enhancement of the New Generation Latino audience, is proud to announce ‘The NGLC Media, Marketing & Entertainment Conference’ taking place in New York City on April 5, 2010.

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With the announcement of Google Buzz, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Comments feature in blogs.  I don’t want to say that Buzz is necessarily bad for blogs, but it can de-augment a very powerful pillar of blogging – the Comments section.

Let me back up a little.

In October, I talked about the importance of publishing your content on a blog that you own versus a social media site like Facebook or Twitter.  I subtitled the post as “Centralized Me,” to build on the concept of concentrating your content to one main platform.

The Comment’s section of a blog is the site’s social component, for without it a blog is only a new media site with a one way conversation void of reader interaction.

Google Buzz, in essence does to your blog’s comments what other social media sites does to your content – spreads it far and wide.  If readers use Buzz the exposure of your blog will be multiplied, which is every blogger’s dream.  But I have to ask, will those who use Buzz also comment on your blog?

Latino Rebranded integrates a button called TweetMeme and if you look, more people Tweet posts than actually comment.  On Facebook, my followers comment or “like” my blog posts, as well as Networked Blogs – a Facebook application that delivers new posts to people’s inbox and utilizes an RSS feed as well.   Now Buzz, can be added to the list.  (I just had the thought that an opportunity exists for a program to pool together all these outside conversations and dump them into one spot – the Comment section.  Maybe it already exists?)

Taking all of the above into consideration, the ‘push-button’ interaction that they all offer will subtly deter comments because in the mind of the reader they already have commented – in the form a tweet, a buzz or a ‘like’.

I’m not saying to not use any of these services, because they are great tools that leverage your blog’s exposure – and that’s what you want!  But, with the awareness of conversations happening outside your Comment section you can start thinking of ways to harness them for the benefit of your blog.

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While social media is undeniably hot, without evidence of burning out, many established organizations and businesses have been exceedingly slow in accepting social media as the new engagement platform.  In the face of prudence, speculation and convention, enthusiasts – evangelists – have pressed forward with a new and unpredictable, yet powerful and stable form of communication that has haulted an entire industry and forced it look over its shoulders.

In many ways, social media has just begun – 2010, will be its pivot.  Pre-2010 will be looked back as social media being considered only an addition to already established marketing tools, but post-2010 social media will be viewed as a major factor, even replacing traditional media.

Hispanic organizations will be on the far end of the tail, as Hispanics are mostly a conservative population.  To the older generation, social media represents…is, change.  However, the younger generation is embracing new media in droves.  Somewhere in the near future – post 2011? – there will be a huge explosion of Hispanic based industries and organizations in social media.

These are my observations, not my judgments.  I think social media will continue to influence its way into every business sector and will be the fast track to Hispanic related communications.  The fact that Hispanics are the quickest and most abundant adopters of new technologies and media, should move every decision-maker toward the promised land of social media.  Will you be joining me?

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In 2010 into 2011, we’ll see more Hispanic based media seminars and conferences nationwide.  It’s a personal pleasure to be a part of these exciting times.

What’s interesting in this short round up are the new players making their entrance as a result of a changing industry.  Also of note is the inclusion of new media within the agendas of established organizations.

This list is far from complete, as there are smaller seminars going on, as well as some larger that I’ve not added – it’s a start.  If you have any suggestions please feel free to add them to the comment’s section and we can create an ongoing list.

• One exciting first, is Manny’s HispanicPR Conference that includes social media.  It’s a 3 day event in Texas, May 10-12. I think we’ll see this as an annual event for years to come.

• Another ‘first’, is the Latino2 event in LA powered by Latinos In Social Media (LATISM) on April 30-May 2. This event will solidify the LATISM footprint in marketing and social media on the West Coast.To keep abreast of what is going on in LA you can follow these Tweeps and their daily discourse:  @giorodriguez @antonio @davidvallejo @laurag

• LatinVision in NY has it’s annual Convergence conference Oct 4, that will discuss the future of Hispanic media.  This even bring in the major networks and agencies in NYC and beyond.

• In Hispanic print and digital media is Portada’s event Sept. 23.
  

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Subtitle:  What side of the fence are you on?

When it comes to social media, are you on the outside looking in or on the inside looking out?

This is the question I ask myself when I encounter someone involved in social media.  It gives me insight to their level of engagement, which is important to me toward my own expectations.

Insiders

If you’re one who uses social media to interact with friends and family, then your consider an insider.  This means that you’re using social media in it’s purest form without any interest toward professional interests.

There are some professionals however, who wants to further the cause of social media and has significant value to add – both professionally and personally.  I consider these insiders as well, as they further push the boundaries of social media by defining it, identifying new trends and adding content.

Outsiders

If you’re on the outside looking in you are looking to harness the popularity of social media for a professional means and not necessarily adding to the inherent value of social media.

This group includes marketers/advertisers, companies and brands, as well as sites looking to tap into social media to benefit their own agenda.

Value

Ultimate value lie with Insiders, for without them Outsiders would have no one to target, nothing to reap. For instance, I recall talking with a prestigious industry publication that said it would be of great interest to feature what Hispanics are doing in social media from the user’s perspective.  Once I told them about the outsiders involved the article lost it’s luster.

As I’ve stated above, this categorization of what people do online acts as a measuring stick to help guide what you may talk about with them, or to what extent you want to include them in a project or task…or not.

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Subtitle: The Why of it All

Without definition, one is left to be interpreted and thus defined by others.  More so, without definition one has no purpose and drifts to the will of the tides.

I’m going to briefly point out some things I have my sights on within the realm of social media.  I encourage you to do the same from time to time going forward.

In no special order here are some goals which have been set in motion and are continually honed:

• Give Latinos a pipeline to catapult their voices into the national conversation via social media.

• Engage influencers in multiple disciplines.

• Facilitate solidarity and communication within Latino community.

• Build Brand (Rebranded) “Me.”

• Communicate with like-minded people.

There’s much more to discuss for each point, but I’ve kept it brief for the sake of the blog and will pick up this discussion at another point in time.

If you have something you want to add, or think I’ve missed a critical point, please leave your thoughts in the comment section.

I’m also curious to know what YOUR purpose is?  Is it product or service awareness?  A grassroots endeavor?  Network with peers?  Keep abreast on the latest trends?  Become the next social media rockstar?

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