Commentary
Just an Online Minute... Hispanics Online
- by Masha Geller , July 26, 2001
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 50% of Hispanics 18 and older have used the Internet, which translates into 11 million people. For comparison, 58% of white adults and 43% of African-Americans have been online.
The overall Hispanic population with Internet access is split evenly between men and women, but Pew found that more of the Hispanic newcomers are women than men. Two-thirds of the growth came from those under age 34 and, overall, 61% of Hispanic web users are 34 and under. A high proportion them are also parents of children under age 18.
Pew says that many online Hispanic families live in modest economic circumstances and stretch their resources to buy computers and get Internet access. Half of online Hispanics live in households with less than $40,000 income. Most do not have college degrees, at least partly because some of the newbies are not old enough to have finished college.
According to Pew, Hispanic Internet users behave like other Internet users in many respects. They enjoy using email and they find the Internet a valuable source of things like news, financial data, product information, and trip planning.
There are, however, some notable differences between online Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites with Internet access when it comes to fun online. For instance, Hispanics with web access are more likely than online whites to have browsed the Web for fun, listened to music online, downloaded music, played online games, looked for information about books and movies, and sampled audio and video clips.
Some 41% of online Hispanics have purchased goods or services online, compared to 49% of whites. Hispanics are also less likely to have participated in online auctions.
These differences, Pew researchers say, are likely associated with the relatively high number of young adults in the Internet population rather than with cultural differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites.
