Latinas in Technology: Beauty, Brains and Blogging

Keyword: blogging. In this solo panel, Kety Esquivel, Vice President of Digital Influence at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, talked about key Latina bloggers that have had an impact in this blogosphere.

She kicked off the panel with population statistics of the Hispanic community in the U.S., and according to the 2008 census Hispanics and Latinos constitute 15.8 percent of the total U.S. population of 48.4 million people. And that number is only going to grow according to The Pew Hispanic Center.  Recent studies have debunked the myth that the Latino community is not online. According to PEW, from 2006- 2008, internet use among Latino adults rose by 10 percentage points, from 54 percent to 66 percent – faster than whites or blacks.

There were five women bloggers in particular she talked about:

-Marisa Treviño, Latina Lista
-Ana Flores, Spanglish Baby
-Silvia M, Mama Latina Tips
-Jacqueline Carly, Fitarella
-Jeannette Kaplun, Todobebé

Esquivel, a proud Latina, talked about how successful these women have been, even after being moms, wives and businesswomen. However, she asked the room to google Latinas. The first few links that appeared lead people to porn sites. This was to prove that there is more that needs to be done when it comes to the Latino community and how Latinas are perceived.

Univision and Telemundo are the leaders in the Hispanic media community, but not all programming paints an accurate picture to how all Latinas and Latinos act, look or live. Although some programming is entertaining on those networks, they could do a better job of representing the Hispanic community.

Leave a Reply