Notes from LATISM 2015: Tech innovators laud the rise of Latin@ cultura online
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“Latinos are getting the content they want by making it themselves”—Beatriz Acevedo
Digital media experts and entrepreneurs from around the country came to Washington D.C. last week to attend the 7th Annual Latinos in Technology Innovation and Social Media (LATISM) conference. The three-day conversation at a downtown hotel focused on how technology is changing education, healthcare, the news media—and life, in general.
Several sessions explored burgeoning Latin@ cultural expressions everywhere from mainstream news sites such as NBC News, Univision Digital, and the Huffington Post’s Latino Voices to low-budget blogs and startup Internet platforms that distribute the work of the country’s growing Latin@ digital creative class.
There is still much work ahead, cautioned Alex Nogales of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, during a Oct. 29 panel discussion about Latinos in the news media and entertainment industries. Citing statistics that show how few Latinos are present in today’s entertainment and news media landscapes, Nogales said more must be done to help young professionals break into the business.
Other panelists were optimistic about current trends. Sandra Lilly, editor of NBC News.com’s Latino section, said she thinks Latinos in media have reached “a tipping point” making it easier for Latinos—and Latino perspectives—to enter the mainstream. “There’s not that humongous divide anymore” as more Latinos are becoming media insiders, Lilly said.
Latino online producers are using social media to show “the world we’re different. We have different voices,” according to Beatriz Acevedo, president of the online platform mitú that she said gets a billion hits on its YouTube channel each month and another billion views a month to its Facebook page.
“That’s the good thing about digital,” Acevedo said, “where you can take it into your own hands and start making changes.”
The advent of “social,” she said, provides space for new media offerings and supportive communities. “We are in a very privileged place right now.”
THE POWER OF AUTHENTICITY
Finding “authentic voices” and “telling real stories” was the focus of another panel earlier in the day that brought together experts from the corporate and nonprofit worlds.
In the news media, even traditional outlets are revamping their websites into community-focused platforms. Sameer Deen, senior vice president of Univison Digital, the online arm of the Spanish-language TV network, says the Univision site features more and more “organic” content created by consumers themselves.
Deen and other panelists discussing “The Current State of the Social Latino,” talked about how smart phones, digital apps and “Big Data” are transforming the online mundo Latino.
For nonprofits, new tools and online trends open opportunities to further their missions and meet fundraising goals.
More community organizations are embracing the Internet for its power to amplify “authentic” voices, marshal supporters and attract new ones, said D.C.-based marking expert Julie Diaz-Asper, CEO of the Social Lens. Online “calls to action” are worthless, however, unless the organization’s websites and social media outposts offer a variety of quick and easy options for supporters to respond. “You need to test calls to action five or six ways,” she says.
On social media, “if you want people to take action, you’ve got to think of it as a funnel—an awareness funnel. You have to get them to opt in. Various options are needed,” she added, for instance, downloading an app or signing up for a newsletter.
CORRALLING MICRO-MOMENTS
But nonprofits aren’t the only ones making use of real people’s stories. The power of “authenticity” is not lost on advertisers, the panelists said. Advertisers, for instance, are increasingly wooing bloggers with product giveaways and other enticements, said Eliana Murillo, head of multicultural marketing at Google. Bloggers, she said, “know their audience, their own voice, and what products they like,” making them an ideal advertising force for brands angling for a piece of the $1 trillion-plus Latino market.
But even if authenticity is key, keeping it “real” isn’t necessarily enough to capture the ‘Net’s notoriously short attention span.
“We are thinking about ‘micro moments’,” Murillo said, “corralling those micro-moments” for people operating to today’s “multi-screened” reality. “It’s really about creating that critical mass of good feelings,” she said.
The three-day conference, sponsored by corporate heavyweights such as Google and Johnson & Johnson, as well as local institutions like the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the D.C. Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, also provided Latino digital creatives a chance to network and participate in, among other things, a hackathon and a youth summit.
There was also a series of discussions about Latinos, health, and how online apps and other digital developments are changing healthcare—a topic Hola Cultura explored as part of our Fall Special Issue (which you can peruse for yourself here), and Hola Cultura’s managing director has followed since writing about how digital and Big Data advances are changing how patients cope with asthma.
So what’s the number-one takeaway from this year’s LATISM conference? The burgeoning digital world is up-ending traditional wisdom about the power of the mainstream media. Acevado of mitú reminded the audience not to underestimate Latino media outlets such as her own, since these so-called “niche” sites often draw big audiences.
“Latinos,” she said, “are getting the content they want by making it themselves.
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