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"Socializing" with Hispanics

By: Leilani | June 26, 2009 | Category: Spanish

I'm writing this post from "La Isla del encanto" Puerto Rico. The reason I'm here is that I'm attending the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference (NAHJ) to promote GobiernoUSA.gov, the site I co-manage, and all other Spanish-language services that my organization offers.

Hispanics account for 15% of the population and 34 million people in the United States report speaking Spanish at home. So the need to provide government information in Spanish is real. Some people have asked me on my earlier posts why government is spending money translating information into other languages. There's not only the demand for this kind of information, but there's also an Executive Order that requires federal agencies to provide critical information in other languages.

It has become more evident to me, especially these last few days, that Hispanics are not only getting connected online at a fast pace, but they are also actively participating on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It has been great to interact with CNN en español and the Washington Post, but I have to admit that one of the highlights of this trip was when six journalism students stopped by the GobiernoUSA.gov booth. After a brief tour of the site, I could tell they weren't completely sold. So that's when I showed them the GobiernoUSA.gov's Facebook page and their eyes quickly lit up. They were not only impressed, but they also thought we had the "coolest" information for them. Woo hoo!

So yes, we're on Facebook and Twitter but that doesn't mean that we will stop reaching out to the public through more traditional means. If those six students start now finding government information because they're already on Facebook and that's where they "hang out", then we will be accomplishing our mission of making government easy and accesible for people.

Why not try it for yourself? Go to our Facebook pages and become a fan:

You can also follow us on Twitter:

Let us know what you think and how we can make these pages better.

Lea la versión en español