Two huge, fascinating trends are converging in the U.S.: the rise of connectivity through social media and mobile technology and the rise of Latino millennials in population and also economic and cultural influence.

A new report by the Hispanic Millennial Project takes a look at exactly that nexus between multicultural millennials, especially Latinos, and mobile social media.

We all know young people have always been heavy adopters of technology, but the individual differences between various cultural demographics within the current booming young generation in the U.S. and how they view and use new technologies generates interesting tensions and insights within the massive sprawling group of individuals we call "millennials."

Big Takeaways

  • Foreign-born Hispanic millennials are driving adoption of mobile healthcare apps
  • Half of Hispanic millennials use Snapchat to stay in touch with family
  • Hispanic millennials are especially drawn to visual social media platforms, like Instagram
  • But they trail in usage of Twitter
  • Hispanic millennials use Google+ as a source of current events and pop culture news more than any other group
  • Non-Hispanic White millennials are the earliest adopters of mobile payments
  • They also embrace mobile gaming more than any other groups

Finding the Market Niche

The latest findings come from the Hispanic Millennial Project's "Wave 5," specifically Wave 5-part b.

The research for this was conducted through an online survey of over 1,500 people, and the results were weighted to properly match distributions of age, gender, and region. The whole undertaking is massive, looking to study practically every aspect of Latino millennials in the U.S. and how they compare with their peers.

While the findings of the Hispanic Millennial Project's massive five-part research project can lead to insights that apply across any cultural, economic, media, technology, or other industries, the project -- a collaboration between a cross-cultural advertising agency called Sensis and online marketing firm ThinkNow Research -- is primarily aimed at advertisers.

Targeting Social Media

And the main results suggest that advertisers looking to engage Hispanic Millennials should try to emphasize connecting through online social media, especially platforms where visuals are prominent like Snapchat and Instagram.

Surprisingly enough, using Google+ as a web platform is also a particularly useful, and niche tool to appeal to young Latinos.

A full 57 percent of Latino millennials responded that they used the often-ignored social media platform Google Plus to get news. Cultural trends and pop news like music, fashion, movies, and other entertainment news filter through Google+ to 31 percent of Latino millennials, far more than any other subset of that generation.

And most importantly, 45 percent of Latino millennials say they use the platform on a daily basis.

In stark contrast, 41 percent of Latino millennials say they never have used Twitter, while 45 percent access Instagram on at least a daily basis.

While Twitter isn't preferred, 51 percent of Latinos use Snapchat for a much more intimate use than news or pop culture. They use the ephemeral messaging service to stay connected to family, which represents about a 20 percent difference from any other millennial subset's use of Snapchat.

There are a lot more interesting distinctions, not just between Latino millennials and the whole of that generation, but between various subsets within that massive baby boom. And of course there are the other four "waves" of research already published by the Hispanic Millennial Project, all available here.

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