Social Media Plays Greater Role For African Americans and Hispanics

WASHINGTON,-- Nearly one in three African-American adults (30%) and four in ten Hispanics (39%) say they are more likely to support a cause or social issue online than offline today—both significantly higher percentages than Caucasians (24%), according to the new Dynamics of Cause Engagement study. Jointly conducted in late 2010 by Georgetown University's Center for Social Impact Communication and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, the study examined trends in cause involvement and the roles of a variety of activities in fostering engagement with social issues among American adults age 18 and over.

Among American adults, there appear to be some significant differences in how the ethnicities perceive social media and their effectiveness in facilitating cause involvement. African Americans and Hispanics are significantly more likely to believe that they can help get the word out about a social issue or cause through online social networks (58% and 51%, respectively, vs. 34% of Caucasians). They also subscribe more readily to the belief that social networking sites like Facebook make it easier to support causes today, and that these sites help increase visibility for causes.

While traditional media (print and television) and personal relationships remain the primary ways in which Americans learn about causes, both African Americans and Hispanics are significantly more likely than Caucasians to look to social media as an additional source of information (31% and 27% vs. 21%, respectively). Similarly, social media are not among the top ways Americans most often support causes—donating money or personal items, talking to others and learning about the issues rank the highest—but again, African Americans and Hispanics are significantly more likely than Caucasians to engage with causes through promotional social media activities (e.g., joining a cause group on Facebook, posting a logo to a social profile, contributing to blogs).

According to International Business Times, a Georgetown study on the use and effects of social media found that more minorities spend more time on social media sites. Compared to Caucasian users, Hispanic and African-American users of social media are significantly more likely to learn about and become involved in social issues.

When asked if they felt “more likely to support a cause or social issue online than offline”, the percentage of positive results from Caucasian respondents was approximately one-fourth (24%). African-American respondents answered ‘more likely’ nearly one-third of the time (30%) while Hispanic respondents were 39%, or nearly two-fifths more likely to support a social issue or cause online.

While the Internet has led many to observed that traditional media’s role in society has decreased, television and print media remain the chief way in which all Americans learn about social issues. However, all ethnicities consider social networking (including such diverse sites as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Bebo, Bizzingo, MySpace, Tumblr, etc.) to be a major additional source of information.