Pew: Hispanics, Blacks Leading the Charge with Mobile Media

Most people think I’m pretty geeky, but in truth so far I’ve been on the wrong side of the digital divide—the one that’s really starting to matter: Mobile media.

Maybe it’s because I’m white.

According to a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life project, Mobile Access to Data and Information, currently African Americans and English-speaking Hispanics are noticeably outpacing white Americans in 10 key non-voice uses of cell phones and other mobile devices (text or instant messages, taking or sharing photos, net or e-mail access, etc.).

Some race-related trends indicated by this research…

“On a typical day, more than half of English-speaking Hispanics (56%) do something on their cell phone that might involve sending or receiving data.” (Blacks, 50%; whites 38%)

Also, a majority (65%) of English-speaking Hispanics and African Americans (54%) have used a handheld device or laptop to access the internet away from home or work—compared to only 49% of white net users.

A related Pew research memo also released this month, indicated that mobile content and services may have more fast-growth potential than online services that require a computer:

Mobile is becoming THE must-have media.

Another intriguing trend that crosses race lines: According to Pew, 54% of English-speaking Hispanics, 51% of African Americans, and 49% of whites polled said their cell phone would be the hardest media tool to give up—making it the top priority across all three racial groups.

It’s about age, too.

According to Pew, 73% of people 18-29 perform at least one non-voice mobile activity on a typical day. For ages 30-49, this drops to 57%; for 50-64, 23%; and just 9% for 65+.

“Roughly the same share of ‘under age 30’ adults (60%) on the average day use a handheld device for text messaging as sends or receives e-mail (62%). These numbers suggest that, while alternative forms of digital chatter (e.g., texting) are important to young adults, e-mail remains a part of their daily electronic communication activities, although it may be less central for young adults as other applications compete for their attention.”

Wealth is not necessarily an advantage.

Apparently, earning $20-40K per year is the current sweet spot. In this income bracket, 23% have ever done at least one of the 10 non-voice mobile activities examined by Pew—with 21% doing at least one of these activities on a typical day. Those are the highest percentages for any income bracket covered in this study.

The ‘burbs love mobile.

Across all age, income, and ethnicity groups, more suburbanites (45%) tend to do non-voice mobile activities daily. This is just slightly ahead of urbanites (43%), with rural dwellers lagging at just 12%.

What can mobile mean for your news org

Looking over this information, most news organizations that wish to reach out more effectively to communities which are not primarily white or wealthy might benefit over the long term by making mobile media at least as high a priority as their online efforts.

Do you agree with this assessment? How is your news org faring with its mobile strategy? What barriers are hindering progress on this front? Who else might grab the mobile content market locally, if not your news org? Please comment below.

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