Latino social media gurus improving their community

Chart indicating how each network shares with each other.

Damien Basile

Social media not only allows people to stay in touch with their personal networks, it empowers them to spread messages about doing good and mobilize communities around good causes.

Angela Adrar, an environmental communicator, believes that Latinos need to tap into social media more to improve the condition of their community. She participated on a panel titled ‘Social Good’ and the LATism conference held December 11 – 12. LATism was put on by Latinos in Social Media, that boasts to be ‘the largest organization of social media professionals of Hispanic origin.’

Moderator Jennifer Lubrani of Academy of Educational Development and presenters Angela Adrar, Giovanni Rodriguez of Conversation Group, Kristal High of the Media Foundation Group, aimed to share case studies of how social media is shaping social good missions and present actual stories and techniques to engage Latinos.

According to Adrar, ‘social media has changed the way, we view the world, how we do business and how we solve problems. Never before have people been able to communicate across borders in real time sharing citizen initiated information to solve problems.’

The panel raised awareness on corporate social responsibility, information access and the digital divide, environment, health and education issues in Latino communities.

DC based organizations the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Council of La Raza are praised by Adrar for being the first to integrate social media kits in its marketing strategy and tweets on Latino issues, respectively.

As Latinos make up the largest minority in the US, their use of social media to promote good causes and organize for social change will continue to be a developing phenomenon.

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