Spanish Networks Experimenting with Social Media in Different Ways
According to a recent article, anchors and reporters from the Spanish networks are flocking to social media, setting up Twitter accounts and Facebook fan pages. From Univision, Telemundo and Azteca America to local affiliate stations, various Hispanic media entities are experimenting with social media. The most common way media are breaking into these online channels has popular anchors and personalities setting up an extension of their brand online, such as Univision’s Jorge Ramos tweeting about the stories he’s covering.
(Speaking of Twitter, it seems that Comscore has named it one of the top 5 social media sites among U.S. Hispanics. And Facebook has surpassed MySpace to become #1 among U.S. Hispanics.)
Taking a look at how different media properties are using social media, I think it’s interesting to look at Univision vs. Telemundo. According to the article, Telemundo has set up 17 accounts on various platforms to aggregate more than 180,000 followers. This includes several Twitter accounts (for news, novelas, other shows, etc.), a Facebook presence and video blogs. Univision has taken a bit of a different approach, focusing on a more lifestyle-driven presence on Facebook, attempting to unite fans under their love for the Spanish language. It’s similar to the Being Latino page, which seeks to bring together the Latino community on Facebook under a larger umbrella.
Certain Latino news personalities have already been finding success through social media in the general market. CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, an active Tweeter, has been building up her fan base and in the past couple year or so has developed high profile programs like Latino in America, and secured speaking engagements with the NCLR and the upcoming NGLC conference. I can’t necessarily say if there’s a cause-effect relationship here, but it seems that having immediate and personal access to Soledad has helped build and strengthen her fan base, leading to great exposure for her personal brand and what she’s doing on CNN.
Personally, I’m excited to see this increased interaction among the Hispanic news community online for three main reasons:
- It’s bringing even more awareness and visibility to some of the leading journalists, anchors and media personalities in the Hispanic community
- It will hopefully continue to increase the amount of quality, in-language content online
- It is yet another indicator that more and more U.S. Hispanics are interacting in this space so it’s an important place for the media, and marketers, to be
It will be interesting to see how this online interaction continues to evolve as time passes.
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