Young Hispanics and Mobile Technology

By Lincoln Rose

Joaquin Sanchez texts and talks to friends and family daily in English and Spanish.

However, he feels that “ English makes things impersonal, I like to speak in Spanish in person whenever I get the chance. Its what I mostly speak at home”

Sanchez says that his family doesn’t use mobile technology to the extent that he does and that “only like one of out ten of my family members text,” he said.

Joaquin Sanchez explained a cultural difference that is the key. “Our culture is a physical one. Face-to-face communication is common even when you are very young,” he said. Joaquin, a senior at Stonehill College was born in the Dominican Republic before moving to Lawrence, Massachusetts when he was young.

A study by the Pew Hispanic Center, How Young Latinos Communicate with Friends in the Digital Age, found Hispanics use mobile and digital technology less than non-Hispanics. Only 50 percent of young Hispanics text daily and 45 percent say that they talk on their cell phone daily, the study found.

Senior Janna Stanke was born in Colombia and then adopted by a white family in Minnesota, said she texts and calls friends daily in English, but speaks Spanish with her brother.

“I text people a lot because it is more convenient for me and saves time,” she said.

However, Stanke says that she speaks Spanish in conversations when she is comfortable or in a foreign country.

Diana Rojas, a senior at Stonehill is of Colombian descent and bilingual, said that while she does text and go on Facebook daily to communicate with her non-Hispanic friends, when she talks with her family its usually face-to-face or over the phone.

“I’m more Americanized than my brother and the rest of my family. My brother uses his cell phone a lot, but mostly in Spanish and my parents use them only for emergencies,” she said.

Being “Americanized” increased the use of texting as 68 percent of primarily English speaking young Hispanics text as compared to 50 percent of bilingual young Hispanics and 9 percent of primarily Spanish speaking young Hispanics.

Rojas thinks the discrepancy between non-Hispanics and Hispanics in their communication habits is due to differences in their respective cultures.

“The Hispanic culture is more personable and we prefer face-to-face contact,” she explained. “ I feel like Americans sometimes have more of a relation with a screen than they do with people.” Rojas said. This may explain why only 23 percent of young Hispanics use social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Juan Carlos Martín Galván, a native of the Canary Islands of Spain and a foreign language professor at Stonehill agrees that cultural differences may account for the findings in the study.

“It’s a very close and physical culture, communicating in person is more personal and personally I would rather meet up with a friend rather than text him,” said Galván.

Galván also explained that for many Hispanics, the use of technology isn’t practical.“Family and friends come first, and they usually live nearby and texting can be expensive, it makes no sense to text them when they live not too far away,” he said.

He said practicality and socioeconomic reasons may factor into the findings as well. “We use it when it’s necessary, not for entertainment,” he said of technology.