EthnicMajority

(CNN) s a musician and social justice activist, online social media has helped Maria Isa sell more CDs and mobilize the growing number of Latinos in her home city of Minneapolis.

Isa wasn't surprised that a study published this summer said Hispanics are among the most active social media users.

"Social media is about accessibility for me," Isa said. "I can send information to my audience with the push of a button on my cell. I'm able to expand my message of social justice in the Latino community and also my work and the works of others who network with me."

There's a growing online audience of people of color. Latinos and African Americans are more than twice as likely to use Twitter as white non-Hispanics, according to the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project.

Much of the reason? Cell phones. Nearly 90% of English speaking Hispanics use mobile devices. But New York Daily News columnist and author Juan Gonzalez said it's an extension of Latino culture.

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(Dream and Hustle) Worldwide mobile commerce solutions are empowering the poor and unbanked population as well as creating tangible economic development. In America, the only group of people who can apply the same success model of m-commerce are African-American and Hispanics who live in high-density urban areas, highly social among others and are also unbanked. Worldwide pilot test is showing not only a high rate of adoption among unbanked mobile phone users to perform cash transfers, but also enable storefronts to get more profits from better cash handling and able to employ people from their community.

With all of this data going on worldwide, shouldn’t it be understandable to ask why African-American tech entrepreneurs who enjoy reading Black Web 2.0 haven’t created any m-commerce solutions for our community? This article will explain one possible answer why African-Americans have not moved forward on any m-commerce solution to make themselves rich and empower the community at the same time.

Let’s Look at What’s Going On Around the World With Mobile Commerce

Many of us brothas and sistas do not realize what is going on in Africa in the past 5 years and still think they are way behind us and they need us before we need them. Well, before I go further – I need Africans to help me navigate global markets so I can debunk that myth some of yall want to think right here and right now. Most African-Americans can’t tell me a damn thing about global markets because they visiting as tourists – you think these African cats are “visiting” these markets or trying to make money happen?

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(Ogilvy PR) We are not all the same!

As the Hispanic market continues to expand in the U.S., more and more companies are targeting this ever- growing segment of the population through social media initiatives. A 2011 TeleNoticias-LatinoWire Hispanic Social Media Survey found that when marketers employ social media to engage with Hispanic consumers they turn to Facebook (84%), Twitter (62%), YouTube (42%) and Blogs (40%)

As a Hispanic who spends a rather large amount of time in the online space, I find it interesting that often we are still lumped together as one big group of people, as if we all behaved the same. It might come as a surprise to some but some of us like to get our messaging in English. Don’t get me wrong, I am fully bilingual, 100% proud of my Mexican background and I communicate with some friends and family in Spanish in person and online, but I like my promotions in English. Some friends of mine, on the other hand, are much more interested in Spanish promotions.

So why does this matter?

More often than not Hispanics are targeted on the basis of language and/or culture, and as Jose Villa from MediaPost.com points out, “most online Hispanics are comfortable reading and writing in English.”Moreover, the growth of the Hispanic market is happening thanks to the American-born children of immigrants, who are “bilingual, bicultural and increasingly influential within their multi-generational households.” so it is important that you know who in the Hispanic market you are targeting.

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(ClickZ) Will Google and MySpace consider the critical role that Latina moms could play in their future success? Will they be able to convince Hispanic moms to abandon Facebook?

This has been a very intense week for social media marketing. First, Google announces its second attempt in social media by launching Google+ in a direct effort to take on Facebook. Then, MySpace is sold and will be relaunched with Justin Timberlake as creative consultant. It's clear that everyone wants a piece of the pie of this fast-growing social networking market.

With a Little Help From My Friends

In their attempts to compete versus Facebook, both Google+ and MySpace could also use some help. And Latina moms can be very helpful.

Consider the following facts:

• Hispanic moms are one of the fastest growing demographics online.
• Eighty-two percent of mid- and high-acculturated Latino moms are online.
• Virtually 100 percent of Hispanic moms online are engaged in social networking.
• Eighty-four percent of Hispanic moms are on Facebook.
• Their presence in MySpace is 40 percent higher than white moms (29 percent reach).

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(Black Web) Recent reports show unemployment among the general population is about 9.1 percent, but an alarming 16.2 percent for African Americans, and even higher for African American males. Historically, the unemployment rate for African Americans has always been higher than the national average. However, now it’s at Depression-era levels.

Many African Americans have become frustrated with the job search, applying for job after job without any success. Although, many know about the different online tools used for job hunting and networking, it is important to emphasize that with unemployment rates rising through the roof that an online presence is very necessary and no longer just an option.

Putting in the time to making yourself marketable online may increase chances of gaining employment. Learning and understanding how online employment tools work may be a bit of help in this ongoing crisis. It isn’t just about having an account with these platforms, but knowing exactly how to get the most out of it by engaging in the right ways will be key.

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(BlackWeb) The Center of Media and Human Development at Northwestern University released an extensive report today on media, children, and race. The study looked across the board at various uses of the media and showed percentages and time spent on media use among African-American, white, Hispanic, and Asian-American children.

The media plays a tremendous role in children lives daily. This study shows just how much each race engages in each particular activity that involves some aspect of the media. The activities ranged from playing video games to how much children listen to music each day.

All aspects of the media are very important but here lately the focus has been social media activities. It has been reported time and time again that this is the direction society is headed in and if you are not using it, you run the risk of falling behind.

With this being true, the study reports great news for African- American children. Among 8 to 18 year olds, African-Americans spend more time on social networking sites than white children. Although they do fall slightly behind Hispanic and Asian American, in comparison, African-Americans are not behind, but in fact are keeping up just fine and are ahead of their white counterparts.

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(Seattle Times) CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Janelle Thomas knows how popular Twitter is among African Americans.

The soon-to-be University of North Carolina-Charlotte graduate has 300 followers on the micro-blogging service, most of them young African Americans like her. One friend sends out as many as 100 tweets — or messages — per day, enough to clog her account and eventually force Thomas to drop him from her circle.

“Literally, some people will tweet ‘Got up’ or “Going to class’ or ‘This girl in front of me is crazy looking,”‘ said Thomas, a communications major.

A recent study from Edison Research, a media research firm, is the latest to confirm Twitter’s popularity among African Americans. They make up 25 percent of Twitter’s 17 million users — about double the percentage of blacks in the U.S. population, according to the Edison study.

Facebook’s more than 116 million U.S. users, by contrast, reflect roughly the same diversity as the American population. (Worldwide, Facebook has more than 400 million users).

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