Recently I joined a Facebook group that is called "LATINO!!!!!!" I have yet to really delve into the group but from the time I have spent on it so far I have noticed that users here also demonstrate great Latino pride. One of the most recent posts says "orgulloso de ser Latino....." which means, "I am proud to be Latino." Like this post shows, many of the users add to the Facebook group by writing in Spanish. Some of the common themes that people post about are about Latino music. This Facebook group states that it is welcoming to outsiders (people that are not Latino) but I can tell that it is really focused on being an online community for people of Latino decent based on the use of so much Spanish.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Practicum - Sasha
I recently met a bit of a set back with my practicum research. Last week I was looking at various MySpace profiles of people of Latino descent when my computer got a lovely Trojan virus. Now after a week of taking multiple trips to the DoIT center and getting a new hard drive, I am back on track with my research. I guess this is somewhat of the answer we are looking for when we ask if MySpace is safe or not. Needless to say however, I am leaving researching MySpace profiles behind for fear of any other viruses that I may find. What I did find while visiting different MySpace pages last week however, is that many of the users that identify as being Latino write in Spanish on their accounts. At times I get a bit confused with the slang that people use but for the most part I am able to understand what everyone is saying. For me I feel like I am somewhat part of the group because I am able to understand the language while many other people that stubble upon these profiles would be very confused if they did not know any Spanish. I also noticed that there is a great pride that is demonstrated by this minority group on the Internet. For example, on one profile (http://www.myspace.com/mariechrystal) the user has a huge picture of a woman's eyes that says Latina in large print above it.
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It's interesting because in lecture, Liz mentioned that Facebook is often associated with those who are Caucasian or Asian, and MySpace with African Americans and Latinos. Are you finding this to be true when going back and forth between Facebook and MySpace? What sites do you find a larger presence of Latino groups? I think it's interesting why these groups choose certain sites. The idea that they use Spanish in their profiles, when may speak English too, really shows a sense of identity and community.
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