How Can Social Media Help Governments Serve the Booming Hispanic Population?

The Hispanic Population in America is on the rise. The overall growth in the U.S. States of Hispanics (or Latinos) was 15,171,776 from the 2000 to 2010 Census (U.S. Census Bureau, only U.S. States).

But the growth isn't just happening where you might think it is.

Take a look at this map. It shows the growth of the Hispanic population (per county) from the 2000 Census through the 2010 Census. (Dark Green = most growth. Red = Decline in Percent Change. Click here for a larger size image. This also includes Latinos.). Notice that the most growth in the population (as a percent, since the 2000 Census) is not happening in the Southwest.

By Matt Stiles of the Texas Tribune from the "On the Records" blog. From this post, resized for this post. Used w/ Permission.

Where are large populations of Hispanics?

Here's a map of the percent of Hispanics (or Latinos) per county for 2010*. (Click here for an interactive version)

Reaching out to Non-English Speaking Citizens

Marketing and Public Relations are things that local governments do all of the time. (If you have a poorly designed website, don't use social media, or rarely speak with reporters, that's still saying something). More and more, local governments are going to have to converse with a rising Hispanic population (some of whom would have a much better experience with government if things were in Spanish). So the question becomes, how can local governments reach out and help it's citizens who don't understand English all that well? Can technology help local governments communicate with Spanish-speaking Americans?

Some Ideas...

• Use Facebook: What if the local government had a Facebook Page where questions can be asked & answered in Spanish? This way, fellow citizens can answer the question in Spanish... saving the local government time and resources to form a response. Hispanics (like everyone else) use Facebook, so it reaches them where they're at.
• Use Blogs: Post on multiple topics that describe (in Spanish) how certain government processes work. It allows for citizens to comment on the posts and get clarification from each other. At the same time, future readers of the posts might have their own questions already answered. Example posts:
  • How to pay a parking ticket.
  • How to pay taxes.
  • Where to vote (and how to register).

What ideas do you have? Are there examples of local governments using social media to reach the Hispanic Population? Let us know in the comments!