Posted by Elena del Valle on May 18, 2009
A Twitteros page
It took Matt Reyes a month to design and create Twitteros, a social networking site to extend the conversation from Twitter among Latino users, in December 2008 and now he has 200 subscribers. According to the website the portal reaches 691 users every month and 74 percent of them are in the United States. It skews toward educated, middle aged people with a slightly higher percent of men than women.
“So I recently stumble upon Twitteros I thought it was an interesting concept since its sort works like a lounge where all Latinos that Tweet get together, so I do go there once in a while to follow the new Latino members that join the Twitteros site,” said Steve Alfaro, digital director, Voto Latino Online.
Despite the familiar sounding name, the new portal is not affiliated in any way with Twitter, the well known micro blogging portal. Twitteros is divided into Main, My Page, Comunidad and Advertising sections. Discussion categories are Culture, Technology, Business, Music, Movies, Politics, Food, Fashion, Travel, Art, Immigration and Religion.
After reading Get Back in the Box by Douglas Rushkoff Reyes was inspired to build “something from the bottom-up where Latinos could have a voice and use it to be influential online.” A user of Twitter for the past year, Reyes believes the members of his new website are the ones that build the content and “do all the help.” Anyone who wants to contribute as a digitally influential Latino is welcome to join, he said by email.
Matt Reyes, creator of Twitteros
“I created this site with the knowledge that Latinos are social by nature, whether it be through activism, art, or just having a good time. There are currently no websites that have a sole focus on digitally influential Latinos,” said Reyes, creator of Twitteros. It is my belief that Twitter gives everyone a chance to have their voice heard. Members are not only active on Twitter but are also active with blogging. With these tools, we are truly giving the internet what it craves.”
The Austin, Texas resident explained that since Twitter doesn’t offer group and community support, Twitteros.net fills that void. He relies on word of mouth to promote his website. When he is not devoted to his Twitteros portal, Reyes does new media consulting, design, and development for brands and organizations for his company, the Department of Influence.
The Twitteros bird
Reyes describes himself as a digital influence strategist. He believes Twitteros offers brands and organizations the chance to create custom word-of-mouth programs to engage their customers in an open and transparent way. The portal offers advertising to cover operating expenses. Designer Chris Bomely created a Twitteros mascot which is described by Reyes as a Latino version of the Twitter Bird.
“Search Engine Marketing to Hispanics” audio recording
Presenter Matias Perel, founder and president, Latin3
Find out about
- The 16 million Latino online users
- Types of online access among Hispanics
- Latino online user language preferences
- What they do online
- Usage by age
- Income levels among Hispanics who visit the Internet
- Internet use by Hispanics
Click here for information on Search Engine Marketing to Hispanics
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 15, 2009
Twitalyzer results for HispanicMPR
Following up on the first About Twitter article, the question is whether the popular social networking site serves a business purpose. According to Steve Alfavo, digital director of Voto Latino Online, who has been a Twitter user since March 2009 it does:
HispanicMPR: What do you like, not like, etc. about Twitter?
SA: Twitter is not like other social networking sites, its a whole new experience. Twitter is like the Wii you can’t compare it to the other gaming systems like Playstation or Xbox because its just a whole different experience. What I Iike about Twitter is the power it has to spread information and connect with people, for example I run the Voto Latino Twitter account and I been trying to build our following, so I recently sent out a tweet to our network asking them to ReTweet it, well Craig Newmark the founder of Craigs List saw my tweet and re-tweeted our message to his own network and a couple minutes later from 950 I was finally up to 1000 followers.
Steve Alfaro, digital director, Voto Latino Online
I think its was really cool that he did that and that just shows the power of twitter, his following is huge 11,152 people so with one tweet he was able to help us out. Its a great tool to use if you learn how to use it. What I don’t like about Twitter is the way your twitter friends our displayed, its really hard to find people, sometimes its hard to write long messages because your only allowed 140 and even though that bugs me when I have long message I hope they keep it that way, the point of twitter is to send short messages. Marketing companies are starting to join twitter and spamming the twitter universe, it can get annoying.
HispanicMPR: In other words, why do you Twitter?
SA: I started because of work and because its easy to let others know about important information but I also also have a personal account that I use and with that I just use it to inform people about personal projects that I am working on, my personal twitter network is different from the Voto Latino network so my tweets are very different and since I run two accounts that probably makes me an twitter addict.
HispanicMPR: How often do you Twitter?
SA: I tweet for Voto Latino everyday, I try to tweet as many messages as possible, I feel in order for Twitter to work for you, you must be an active user which requires lots time but it definitely works.
A Twitter tool, Twitalyzer, identifies the most influential users according to their average influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, velocity, and clout. Being influential relates to the number of people that follow a user, the number of times a user’s posts are referred to by others or “retweeted,” the number of times they refer to other people’s posts, and how often they publish updates each week.
Twitter defines its signal-to-noise ratio as people’s postings of information rather than anecdotes. A signal includes one or more of the following elements: references to other people (this is done with the @ preceding text), links to URL pages, hashtags visitors can explore (this is done with a # preceding text), and Retweets where a user passes to others information someone else shared (this is done with “retweet,” via, “rt” or “r/t/” in the post). The software adds these four elements and divides them by the number of updates to identify a signal to noise ratio.
Twitter defines velocity as a user’s rate of posts each week. For example, six updates in a week is considered very, very low by Twitter. The system is limited to searches of 1,500 records so users are judged against a theoretical maximum of 1,500 weekly updates. Clout is the likelihood that other people will reference someone in Twitter. The more that people reference someone the higher that user’s clout in the system. Clout is calculated by estimating a user’s number of references divided by the total number of possible references (as estimated by the Twitter Search APIs).
The top rated Twitter at the time of this writing was Zaibatsu (Reg Saddler) who is listed as a technology podcast co-host. However, the top 10 Twitter pages at the time of this writing linked to company pages or websites rather than the pages of individual bloggers. In other words, people or companies were driving traffic to their pages and content through Twitter posts. Zaibatsu had 80,269 followers and was following 81,541 people. That user had an influence ratio of 84.5 percent, a signal ratio of 88.2 percent, a generosity rating of 47.8 percent as well as clout and velocity of 100 percent.
The second listing was for BNO News, a news wire service with an influence of 83.4 percent, signal of 8.4 percent, no generosity, a clout of 100 percent and velocity of 77.5 percent; followed by 329,649 and followed 5. Others on the list were guykawasaki followed by 115,034 and following 116.782, nytimes with 785,257 followers and following 130, TechCrunch with 518,036 and following 687, Mashable with 573,852 followers and following 1,878, The Onion with 671,545 followers and following 321,245, Pogue with 265,315 followers and following 919, iamdiddy with 805,398 followers and following 122, and Twitter_Tips with 84,088 followers and following 78,931.
Guykawasaki’s Twitter page led to an Alltop, an “online magazine rack;” likewise the Twitter nytimes page led to the New York newspaper’s online portal; TechCrunch led to a blog about Internet products and companies by the same name; Mashable led to the social media blog’s homepage; The Onion led to an online news portal; Pogue led to Pogue’s Pages, a portal for David Pogue a technology columnist and writer; iamdiddy led to LastTraintoParis, a commercial entertainment page; and Twitter_Tips led to TweetSmarter.com, a portal with pages on how to produce better Tweets.
HispanicMPR has a Twitter account. According to the Twitalyzer our newly established account is just emerging and has an influence and clout of .1 percent, no generosity and a velocity of .8 percent; it was puzzling that the analysis revealed a signal of 83.3 percent. Since all the posts were informational shouldn’t the signal score, by Twitter’s own definition, have been 100 percent?
“Moving Beyond Traditional Media Measurement: measuring conversations and social media” audio recording
Presenter Katie Delahaye Paine, founder, KDPaine & Partners
Find out about
- Issues affecting online public relationships today
- Testing relationships as part of a survey
- Measuring ethnic group relationships
- Measuring foreign language communications in a similar ways to English
- Biggest challenges measuring conversations and social media
- Measuring online relationships with little or no money
Click here for information on “Moving Beyond Traditional Media Measurement”
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 13, 2009
Heidi Richards Mooney, a Twitter fan
Twitter, an increasingly popular social networking site created because a man by the name of Jack Dorsey wanted to know what his friends were doing, is known best for the limited size of its posts. Funded initially by Obvious in San Francisco, California Twitter enthusiasts built and launched the first prototype in two weeks in March 2006. By August of that same year it opened to the public. Following rapid growth Twitter was incorporated May 2007.
What makes it special and popular? It seems to be, at least in part, the short postings and simple format. Visitors to the Twitter website find one question on their screen, “What are you doing?” Replies are limited to 140 characters or less. In order to participate and reply visitors must be subscribers to the service. They can send messages via mobile texting, instant message, and the web.
“Twitter is the world’s largest networking party! Where else can you meet anyone from world leaders to leaders of small companies, and learn and share? The give and take is what Twitter is all about,” said Heidi Richards Mooney, author, entrepreneur, and business coach, by email.
Twitter has been in the news lately because of a recent Nielsen study that indicates the booming portal is losing 60 percent of new subscribers each month. In other words, people stop using the service shortly after signing up. In reaching their conclusions, Nielsen analysts, according to an online article, took into account 30 Web sites and applications that feed into the Twitter community including TweetDeck, TwitPic, Twitstat, Hootsuite, EasyTweets, and Tumblr.
According to the Twitter website, the company “has many appealing opportunities for generating revenue but we are holding off on implementation for now because we don’t want to distract ourselves from the more important work at hand which is to create a compelling service and great user experience for millions of people around the world. While our business model is in a research phase, we spend more money than we make.”
Without a source of income and no advertising revenue can Twitter survive long term? Does it play a useful role? Should it survive? The company did not reply to several emails (there was no phone number listed in the contact page). While those who like Twitter find it valuable some people are saturated with social networking and can’t find the time for another task in their day. Others don’t see the usefulness of the short messages and prefer to rely on classic communication methods and traditional social networking sites.
“Twitter is one communication system too many for me! Between the radio, the web, FB, and Linkedin – I’m maxed out!” said a west coast radio host.
Claudia Miani, another Twitter enthusiast
“I use twitter professionally, from a PR perspective, to stay in touch with news producers and tweet stories to them when they are on the hunt for story ideas. I also follow several PR/ Social Media gurus’ tweets that lead to dozens of articles on the latest developments of social media, PR best practice cases, etc.,” said Claudia Miani, account supervisor at Accentmarketing in Coral Gables, Florida. “As a result of this, I am able to share learnings with my colleagues at Accentmarketing, clients and the industry which leads to an increase in followers each day. The key to growing the number of your followers is to keep updating relevant information on what you are passionate about.”
“Moving Beyond Traditional Media Measurement: measuring conversations and social media” audio recording
Presenter Katie Delahaye Paine, founder, KDPaine & Partners
Find out about
- Issues affecting online public relationships today
- Testing relationships as part of a survey
- Measuring ethnic group relationships
- Measuring foreign language communications in a similar ways to English
- Biggest challenges measuring conversations and social media
- Measuring online relationships with little or no money
Click here for information on “Moving Beyond Traditional Media Measurement”
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 12, 2009
Jeremias, Valeria Gastaldi and Baby Bash
Smirnoff Ice and Univision are partnering for Fiestas Chulas, a summer concert series scheduled to take place in San Antonio, Miami and Los Angeles beginning this month and ending in September. Tickets are free and available through Coolcontodos.com, the concert series website (subscription required), and Univision Radio stations.
The first event will take place May 22 at the Pavilion at Sunset Station where Baby Bash and Valeria Gastaldi will be performing. The next event is scheduled to be held July 3 at the Gibson Showroom in Miami. Jeremias is expected to perform unplugged. Finally, Ozomatli and Valeria Gastaldi will perform September 11 in Los Angeles.
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 6, 2009
By Jon Glass, M. Ed.
Doctoral candidate
Psychology Department
Gannon University
Jon Glass, M. Ed.
Over the past thirty years, social scientists have expanded our understanding of the role that fathers play in child development. Prior to this time, researchers looked almost exclusively at mothers; it was as if fathers’ mere presence, or lack thereof, was enough. Not surprisingly, current data suggests that fathers play a critical role in the family. Positive paternal involvement leads to improved school performance, positive self-esteem, better sibling relationships, and improved mental health outcomes for children. Furthermore, when fathers remain responsible for, engaged with, and accessible to the family, marriages are stronger and pooled financial resources lead to a higher standard of living. Thus, fathers have both a direct and indirect influence on family relationships and stability.
Click here to read the complete article
“Latino Family Dynamics” audio recording
Brenda Hurley and Liria Barbosa
Discuss
- Latino purchasing habits and products they favor
- Latino family characteristics
- Latinos and extended families
- Division of duties, responsibilities within the family
- Who is the decision maker in the Latino family
- Who is the information provider in the Latino family
Click here to find out about Latino purchasing habits and “Latino Family Dynamics”
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 1, 2009
Capitalizing on Kindness
Kirstin Tillquist, a former attorney turned chief of staff to the mayor of the City of Riverside, California, has experience working with politicians and influential people. She firmly believes one of the most, if not the single most, important attitude in business today is kindness. She explains why in her newly published book, Capitalizing on Kindness Why 21st Century Professionals Need to Be Nice (Career Press, $15,99).
The 255-page softcover book is divided into seven chapters: Kindness Capital, The Power of Reputation, The Power of Reciprocity, The Power of Personality, The Power of Thanks, The Power of Connecting, and From Success to Significance. In it she explains that the type of kindness she refers to is a combination of a caring attitude with a smart and strong business approach. Self sacrificing give til you drop and quiet types will not necessarily reap the benefits she speaks of although they may feel rewarded for their actions in private.
She argues that many business people believe falsely that there is a choice between being kind and being successful. Instead, kind people become successful. She sets out to explain to her readers how to be kind in business and develop “kindness capital,” a concept she defines loosely as “what is built up when you consciously set out to be kinder and develop your skills at applying kindness.”
According to Tillquist, kindness results in higher productivity, lower absenteeism, and lower likelihood of being sued. The author emphasizes the benefits of the five Powers of Kindness: Reputation, Reciprocity, Personality, Thanks and Connecting. She is a business consultant, speaker, columnist, and trainer on business kindness.
Capitalizing on Kindness
Click here to buy Capitalizing on Kindness
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 27, 2009
A Facebook page - click on image to enlarge
Are you thinking of joining the social networking wave? Depending on your interests there are several sites worth considering. Some people sign up and become active in multiple sites. If your attention span or time limits are strict you can try Flutter, self described as nano blogging with a limit of 26 characters per posting; or if you have more to say there’s the increasingly popular Twitter. For something more mainstream oriented with a profile listing, full length postings and widgets there are several very popular options.
Founded in 2004 as a collegiate website at Harvard, Facebook has the highest number of members, 200 million, according to the company website. Founded in 2003 and owned by Fox Interactive Media, MySpace follows with 120 million users. It is a popular choice for entertainers to post profiles. In addition to the main MySpace website and a Spanish language section for Spanish speakers in the United States, there are 33 portals in several languages available in three major areas of the world. MySpace Latino estimates there are nine million users on its pages. According to one monitoring portal, Facebook and MySpace are among the top five most visited websites in the United States.
Hi5, favored in Latin America, Europe and Asia, is available in 50 languages and 200 countries. The privately owned San Francisco based portal established in 2003 claims 80 millions fans. Friendster, a Mountain View, California based company established in 2002, is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, IDG Ventures, and individual investors. It reports a world audience of 100 million. It is especially popular in Asia.
Tagged, established in 2004, attracts teenagers in the United States and abroad. Headquartered in San Francisco, California the company lists 70 million members. Founded in 2003, LinkedIn has a modest membership of only 38 million in 200 countries compared to some of the other networks. It’s main distinction is that it is popular in the business community. The LinkedIn Answers section may appeal to professionals who want to be recognized as experts within the site. Four languages are listed on the company website: English, German, French and Spanish.
Google owned Orkut was initially an exclusive site for technology buffs when it started in 2004. In 2006, the portal was opened to the general market and developed a following, especially in Brazil, Paraguay and India. It boasts 25 million subscribers. Founded in 2005, Bebo has sites in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Poland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India and the Netherlands. It is owned by AOL and has 22 million subscribers.
Fast Pitch Founders Bill Jula and Richard Swier
Sarasota, Florida based Fast Pitch was originally established three years ago by Bill Jula and Rich Swier as a national speed networking forum. According to a company spokesperson, the website which offers two basic levels of participation, paid and free, has been profitable for 30 months. There are 350,000 members with free memberships and an undisclosed number of paid subscribers. About five percent of the membership is Hispanic. In addition to English, Fast Pitch is available in German, Portuguese, Italian, two types of Chinese and Spanish.
Several portals provide forums for Spanish speakers and Latinos specifically. Quepasa Corporation, a publicly traded company based in West Palm Beach, Florida, targets users in English, Spanish and Portuguese through its portal Quepasa.com. According to a company spokesperson the portal, established in 1997, has 2.5 million members and grows by 100,000 users per week. The company has offices in Los Angeles, California; São Paulo, Brazil; Scottsdale, Arizona; Miami, Florida; and Hermosillo, Mexico.
“Quepasa has built a viral platform, powering culturally relevant media and contests, such as Playboy Mexico Cyber Chica contest and the Dr. Rey Health and Beauty contest,” said John C. Abbott, chief executive officer of Quepasa by email.
MiGente is part of Community Connect Inc., a New York based company. Other sites include Hispanito, Vostu and MiGrito. None of these portals replied to requests for information.
“Search Engine Marketing to Hispanics” audio recording
Presenter Matias Perel, founder and president, Latin3
Find out about
- The 16 million Latino online users
- Types of online access among Hispanics
- Latino online user language preferences
- What they do online
- Usage by age
- Income levels among Hispanics who visit the Internet
- Internet use by Hispanics
Click here for information on Search Engine Marketing to Hispanics
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 20, 2009
By Shawn Collins
Acting director, IRS Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
Shawn Collins, acting director, Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
You have a unique opportunity to contribute to improving your tax administration system by becoming a member of the IRS Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP). We are seeking approximately 40 civic-minded volunteers from around the nation to serve on the TAP, which listens to taxpayers, identifies key issues and makes recommendations for improving IRS service and customer satisfaction.
“TAP members are your friends and neighbors, walking in the shoes of the average taxpayer. A better understanding of how to serve the taxpayer well is a key to sound tax administration,” said Doug Shulman, IRS Commissioner.
TAP provides a forum for taxpayers from all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. New TAP members will serve a three-year term starting in December 2009. Our members come from a wide variety of backgrounds including tax practitioners, college students, small business owners and retirees.
Each member serves on two subcommittees. One is a geographic subcommittee that allows the member to represent his or her state. The other is a national issue subcommittee that works directly with IRS personnel in identifying and improving IRS programs, policies and procedures. In all, a member may dedicate 300 to 500 hours of volunteer work in a year. These hours are apportioned by participating in monthly meetings (teleconferences), two annual face-to-face meetings (one per committee) and a mandatory orientation meeting held in December. The term of a TAP member is 3 years and that of an alternate is two years.
“As the IRS continues to examine taxpayers’ needs in the area of service, the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel has emerged as a vital source for gathering and providing information from the perspective of taxpayers,” said Nina E. Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate. “TAP’s role will ultimately aid taxpayers by helping the IRS to provide them with the top quality service they deserve.”
“Best in Class Hispanic Strategies” audio recording
Presenters Carlos Santiago and Derene Allen
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Find out what makes 25 percent of the top 500 Hispanic market advertisers out perform the remaining companies
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Discover what questions to ask, steps to take to be a Best in Class company
Click here for more about “Best in Class Hispanic Strategies” audio recording
One of the 15 committees that comprise the TAP is the Multi-Lingual Committee. This committee works closely with the IRS to review Spanish translations of IRS publications, such as Publication 17, for accuracy, and to develop outreach strategies for English as Second Language communities. The Multi-Lingual Committee needs English-Spanish speaking bilingual members to accomplish its mission.
Julie Jason, the current TAP panel member for Connecticut, is a money manager and principal of Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers and a financial columnist for several Connecticut newspapers. She will be completing her three-year term in November.
Jason sums up the experience, “As I have said many times to anyone who will listen, I recommend that tax preparers, accountants, attorneys, and members of the general public consider volunteering for TAP. You will learn more about how the IRS works, meet some of the most impressive tax specialists you will ever come across (IRS subject-matter experts), get to know a very dedicated TAP staff, and work shoulder-to-shoulder with other TAP volunteers from across the nation. There is great satisfaction in being able to have a part in helping improve the taxpayer’s experience with the IRS.”
To be a member of TAP you must be
- a U.S. citizen, current with your tax obligations,
- able to commit 300 to 500 hours during the year, and
- pass an FBI criminal background check.
For the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel to be most effective, the members of the Panel must possess good interpersonal communications skills, organizational skills, and have access to a computer. Members should also have good listening skills and the ability to problem solve within a group of other civic-minded professionals. Ideal candidates should be able to separate their personal views from TAP/IRS issues.
This year TAP is accepting applications to fill member and alternate vacancies from individuals who reside in the locations listed below. Applicants selected from these locations will serve a three-year membership term beginning in December 2009, or be chosen as an alternate member to be considered for membership if a vacancy occurs in their state during the next two years.
Member and Alternate Vacancies – Arkansas, California, Connecticut , Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.
Alternate Vacancies Only – Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
All applications must be received no later than April 30, 2009. If you know someone interested in applying for a TAP opening, please refer that individual to the website improveirs.org or the TAP toll-free line at 1-888-912-1227 to request an application.
A team composed of IRS professionals will review applications and rank candidates by their experience and suitability. The most qualified candidates will be interviewed by a team comprised of IRS staff and a current TAP member. Interviews usually take place in June and July. The Secretary of the Treasury will review the recommended candidates and make final selections in October or November.
The Department of the Treasury, the IRS, and the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel are committed to creating the most user-friendly, customer-oriented tax administration system possible. We are looking forward to fulfilling the TAP vision: Citizen Volunteers valued for improving IRS services. With your help, we can make that happen.
Shawn is the acting director of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) program in Washington, DC. She has a staff of 24 employees who support 100 citizen volunteers from across the country. She became a revenue officer in Hampton, VA in 1991 and spent 13 years as a field revenue officer working collection cases in Virginia, South Carolina, Texas, Ohio, and Utah. Shawn joined the ranks of management in February 2004 as the Collections Field Manager in West Chester, OH.
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 13, 2009
Harry Pachon, president and chief executive officer, Tomas Rivera Policy Institute
Photo: Tomas Rivera Policy Institute
Between 2005 and 2006 the number of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) subscribers grew 189 percent from 1.9 million to 5.5 million, proof of the increasing popularity of the Internet based telecommunications option. Although making phone calls online can be a cheap alternative to traditional phone company services, and many Latinos are familiar with VoIP service providers and think the service can offer lower telephone costs, most of the respondents of a recent study have not embraced the technology because they are unfamiliar with how it works or how it can benefit them.
A report by the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) at the University of Southern California indicates for communication services, VoIP adopters spend an average of 13 percent less per month than Internet connectors who do not use VoIP. In addition, VoIP calling rates, especially for international service, are significantly lower than the fees charged by conventional phone service providers.
“Providers of VoIP services are successful in whetting Latinos’ appetites for new and cheaper telecommunication services; but to help individuals and families make the leap and adopt these services, it is going to take well orchestrated efforts to educate and familiarize them with the technology. In this quest, it is critical to form partnerships, especially at the local level, among public, private and non-profit organizations,” said Matthew D. Matsaganis, Ph.D. who authored the report.
As part of the study funded by Zero Divide, Social Impact of Voice over Internet Protocol on Latinos, researchers examined Latino awareness and perceptions of VoIP and Internet-based phone services; Latino attitudes about and use of landline phones, cell phones, computers and the Internet; and how much Latino VoIP users pay for communication services compared to those Latinos who do not rely on VoIP options.
The report is divided into four main parts that outline the VoIP market, provide information about the benefits of VoIP technology and the state of VoIP, as well as VoIP usage among Latinos and related issues.The report presents implications and policy recommendations to improve education, access, and research for Latinos using Internet-based telephony.
“VoIP could help Latino immigrants connect with their homeland families and friends at a relatively low cost,” said Harry Pachon, Ph.D., president of TRPI and professor of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. “However, lower rates of home computer use by Latinos negatively impact the adoption of these less costly VoIP services.”
Founded in 1985, the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) mission is to advance informed policy on “key issues affecting Latino communities through objective and timely research contributing to the betterment of the nation.” TRPI is an affiliated research unit of the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning, and Development, and is associated with the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University.
“Moving Beyond Traditional Media Measurement: measuring conversations and social media” audio recording
Presenter Katie Delahaye Paine, founder, KDPaine & Partners
Find out about
- Issues affecting online public relationships today
- Testing relationships as part of a survey
- Measuring ethnic group relationships
- Measuring foreign language communications in a similar ways to English
- Biggest challenges measuring conversations and social media
- Measuring online relationships with little or no money
Click here for information on “Moving Beyond Traditional Media Measurement”
Posted by Elena del Valle on March 30, 2009
A CBP Border Patrol agent scans the area with binoculars
Photo: James Tourtellotte
Crouching in the bushes, silently hiding from men in uniforms with search lights a group of 20 people listen to a loud warning in Spanish with a thick American accent. Someone runs but he is caught, dropped to the ground and interrogated before being “deported.” The remaining “immigrants” wait a few minutes before crawling under the fence into the darkness and freedom.
Although it is meant to simulate hundreds or thousands of real scenes that take place across the 2,000 mile border that divides the two countries, the activity really takes place 500 miles south of the United States-Mexico border in the village of El Alberto. The people participating in the night time event are really curious travelers to Mexico wanting a glimpse of what undocumented immigrants from Mexico experience when attempting to cross north of the United States-Mexico border in search of a better life.
A group from the small Hnahnu Indian community of El Alberto in the Mezquital valley makes this activity available to tourists for a fee. The Hnahnu representatives that play smugglers, border patrol agents, deportees and other performers are volunteers. This part of Mexico is, according to a recent article in Guardian.co.uk, is known for its poverty, water contamination, and many immigrants to the United States. Increased border security and the worsening recession have made it increasingly difficult to find jobs for new arrivals to the United States so leaders of El Alberto have found a way to generate revenue and provide tourist entertainment.
The “show” is led by a representative of El Alberto in the role of a coyote or smuggler before the tourists head down to the river bank while border patrol car siren wails in the background. If the visitors are in good physical shape they may continue another six hours moving from one side of the river to the other constantly. Others may complete the experience in one hour. Apparently, even the simplest version includes a walk along a high wall (30 feet) without exit in sight.
Listen to Cesar Melgoza discuss
“Changing Latino Landscape” audio recording
Presenter Cesar Melgoza, managing director, Latin Force Group
Find out about
• How demographic, social, political and economic factors affect Latinos
• Number of Hispanics in U.S.
• Hispanics as a percent of the mainstream population
• Number of Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico
• Hispanics, including Puerto Rico, as a percent of U.S. mainstream
• Number of Asians and African Americans
• Estimated size of Hispanic market by 2012
• Percentage growth of new Hispanics per year
• Number of counties where Latinos are majority
• Areas of significant Latino growth
• Area of U.S. with a 950 percent Latino growth
• Role of acculturation
• Hispanicity segmentation
Click here for information on the Changing Latino Landscape
