NewsTaco

By Jesse Luna, NewsTaco

Updated Feb. 23, 2013 – I’m no longer recommending method #2 because in some Web browsers it asks users to download the MP4 video file which is not good.

The hottest social tool on the Web is the new Vine application for the iPhone. Vine was purchased by micro-blogging site Twitter and now Twitter Web and applications are adding support for the tiny 6-second looping videos.

As more and more users start creating Vine videos and sharing them on social sites, content creators and especially bloggers are going to want to find different ways to access and share the videos.

Here are four ways to add Vine videos to your blog post. While these methods were tested on a self-hosted WordPress blog, any blog owner should be able to find at least one method that works on your blog whether it’s a Tumblr blog, WordPress.com, Blogger or anything else.

The first way to add a Vine video to your blog post is by embedding an entire Twitter tweet.

1) From your desktop computer, go to the tweet that contains the Vine video. If you don’t know how to get to a specific tweet, usually clicking on the tweet date/time on a Twitter application will take you to the single tweet.
2) On Twitter Web, click on the “…More” link next to the “Favorite” link.
3) Click on the “Embed Link” button option and you’ll see the embed code.
4) Add that code to your blog post, save it and the entire tweet, including the video will appear on your blog post.

See the Vine video below for a 6-second video demo.

Embed a Twitter tweet:

Embed a Vine video on your blog by embedding a whole Twitter tweet. #howto #tech vine.co/v/b1DH1tMlKhn

— Jesse P. Luna (@jesseluna) February 3, 2013

The second method is to get the direct link to the Vine video then add it to your blog in an HTML iFrame.

Updated Feb. 23, 2013 – I’m no longer recommending this method because in some Web browsers it asks users to download the MP4 video file which is not good.

To do this:
1) Navigate to the Vine video on a Twitter Web tweet using your desktop computer
2) Right mouse click and select “Copy video URL”
3) Go to your blog and paste that code into the src tag in your iFrame code on your blog post. You will need to be in “HTML” mode to add that code.

This method of adding videos using and iFrame can be improved by having a video plugin with different options like the ability to mute or the option to turn off looping on initial load. When this page is loaded, this is the only method that will automatically make the video play with the audio on.

The third method is to add Vine videos to your blog as a YouTube video.

1) Go to a Vine video using your desktop computer
2) Right mouse click and select “Save video as” and save it to your computer
3) Go to your YouTube account and upload the saved video as you would any other video
4) Once you upload the video, click on the Share link and get the embed code as you would for any other YouTube video.
5) Paste that code into your blog post’s HTML view, save and that’s it.

This method also works on WordPress.com sites which play nicely with YouTube.

This YouTube method gives you a lot of options because YouTube has a lot of options. You also may have invested a lot of time in optimizing the way you optimize YouTube videos. Check the Vine terms of use to make sure you have permission to post the video to your own YouTube channel, especially if you did not create the Vine video.

Embedding vine + Tumblr
Use this fourth method and add Vine videos to your blog using the Vineit bookmarklet.
1) Go to Vineit.co
2) Drag the blue Vineit button to your bookmarks section on your Web browser
3) Then when you get to your or someone else’s Vine video, click on the Vineit bookmark and then you can hover your mouse over the video and click on the “Embed” button to copy the code.
4) Paste the code into your blog and you’re good to go. You will also have the option to Share on Tumblr when you mouse over the video!

Share on Tumblr and Embed view:

Hat tip to this Techofy post for the tip on using Vineit.

Last Thoughts
So there you have it, four ways to add Vine videos to your blog. I really like the YouTube method because I have the most control and familiarity with using YouTube but the embedded Twitter tweet shows the most “social proof” because it contains the rest of the tweet information and shows who tweeted it. The VineIt bookmarklet is probably the best bet for Tumblr bloggers and the embedded iFrame method is best for folks who want to take further steps and create a custom viewing experience.

While you’re out there filming vine videos (I believe people are calling them “vines”), feel free to connect with me. You can find me by searching over “jesseluna”. Happy Vining and happy blogging!

This article was first published in JesseLuna.com.

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

I wouldn’t ask if I knew you didn’t have something to say. But I know my NewsTaco gente. You guys are opinionated, and we love that! So let’s have a real time chat about the debate, among people who have the same focus in mind.

Notice I didn’t say same partisan outlook, or same opinion. We’re not looking for that. We’re looking to discuss the debate from a Latino POV. And for that NewsTaco has joined forces with some of our partner content sites: Being Latino and Our Tiempo; as well as Voto Latino, NCLR, Politic 365 and the Hispanic Leadership Fund.

Here’s what you need to know:

• It’s going to be fun!
• It’ll be better than just watching and agreeing or raising a fist to the TV screen.
• You need a Twitter account
• It’ll run from 9pm to 10:30pm EST
• Hashtag #BeLatino
• NewsTaco will be there…

The rest is academic. You guys are well informed, plugged-in, and self motivated so I don’t need to pitch your participation – I know you’ve got lot’s to say.

See you there!

The more the merrier…as they say.

By Latino Rebels

The Twitter account of filmmaker Michael Moore decided to create a new hashtag called#IfOnlyIWereMexican.

The tweet was in reference to the secret Mitt Romney video clip (which we published last week on this page) where Romney is attempting to be funny by claiming that he wished he were Latino

Now that Mother Jones has released the entire video of the Romney fundraiser that has gone viral all over the Internet, the social media reaction has been intense, to say the least. Romney’s comments and weak-ass joke just confirmed how out of touch he is with Latino voters and why he is lagging behind President Obama in current polls by a very wide margin.

It is in this context that Moore’s Twitter profile posted the #IfOnlyIWereMexican hashtag. Now, Moore is trying to be cute and witty. In the end, some of the responses he has gotten from people just show how ignorant and racist people are about Mexicans in particular and Latinos in general. The following Storify presents several examples of tweets and responses that quite frankly are offensive, insulting and just in poor taste. Memo to everyone out there, especially to those “progressives” who think that they are helping the cause: leave the wit and self-deprecating humor to the experts, like @MexicanMitt. When you start tweeting things that associate being Mexican to mowing laws, working as day laborers, eating cheap rice and frijoles, and (the worst one we saw by far) being in fear of the Zetas, you just add to the ignorance. And please please don’t tell us that “you have Mexican friends.” If you were truly concerned, you would have tweeted a huge #NoMames to Moore immediately. (Looks like Twitchy was on the case as well.)

Here is a stream of some of the tweets that are out there now. Good for those Twitter profiles that called Moore out about his silly and racist idea.

This story was first published in Latino Rebels.

By Latino Rebels

Last night @MexicanMitt, Twitter’s #1 political parody account (according to Politico) was suspended by Twitter a few hours before the real Mitt Romney was to give his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. After confirming the news with our friends at Pocho.com, we shared the news, and it also made NBC Latino. The hashtag #FreeMexicanMitt  went into action last night around 10pm EST. Our favorite one came from nationally syndicated columnist Esther J. Cepeda, whose tweet accurately reflected what many were feeling about Twitter’s ban (on the same night Romney-Ryan 2012 paid $120,000 to promote its own trending topic):

Even after the profile was back up, Mexican Mitt had to start all over again, change his profile name to “Mexican Mitt Parody,” and have people refollow the account of “The Most Mexican Man in the World.” As of this morning, all is back to normal and the parody account is back up to over 7,400 followers:

We are glad it is. Mexican Mitt, who parodies the real Romney’s father birth in Mexico, is what makes Twitter a daily roller-coaster adventure. Come on, how can Twitter think of  banning brilliance like this?

¡Ajúa!

This article was first published in Latino Rebels.

The Latino Rebels are a collective of social media influentials, bloggers, marketers, journalists, poets, writers, producers, photographers, and marketers. We use humor, commentary, opinions, independent stories, cross-links to others blogs, and our social media platforms to share our universe.

By Melissa Pitts

A couple of weeks ago Chow.com published an article on the popularity of Pinterest among food bloggers — and the pitfalls, namely copyright problems. The article mentioned one food blogger in specific who complained that her recipes were being posted on the popular social media site without her permission. Her complaint: that people were posting her recipes thus causing her to lose clicks to her site. While she was okay with the picture posting, the recipe part — not so much. Her response? To start a petition urging Pinterest to embed a character limit (like Twitter) so full recipes couldn’t be posted. Pinterest then responded with a 500 character limit, but food bloggers remain a bit miffed about the whole problem.

Other issues plage Pinterest, from copyright laws to the responsibility “pinners” inherit when they repin. The response from photographers to bloggers ranges from filing lawsuits to deleting accounts. As a food blogger myself I can only watch all this unfold with confusion. I put my recipes and pictures up on a public website — anyone, anywhere can access it — share and comment on my content.

As a blogger, it’s a dream come true when people find my little site, repin recipes and comment. I put my product on the web, repost on Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and so forth hoping people will see it. Therefore, how can I complain if someone posts my recipes on the worldwide web? If I didn’t want my content out there for the world to see, I wouldn’t post it. Don’t get me going on the whole ‘original recipe’ thing- how many recipes can there be for omelettes? Throwing lawsuits, petitions, or deleting my accounts on these social media applications is completely counterproductive to my goals of getting my site noticed.

The same Chow article raised the question if sites like Pinterest would go the way of Napster because of copyright problems (the author believed it was highly unlikely). I sincerely hope not! Napster was run by a bunch of students — and the response from the music industry was to throw their hands up and toss expensive lawsuits. Apple then created iTunes, charges artists an obscene amount to have their music on the site and fundamentally changed the music industry (and most people I’ve spoken to, for the worst).

So, I say to my fellow food bloggers: embrace it, love it, and “pin” away because the more your website is picked up by the hottest social media platforms- the better, right?

Immigration and LGBT advocates spoke about the ways in which they utilized digital media to organize around their issues and campaigns at the Still Invisible? Waging Stories with Social Media panel Sunday at South By Southwest.

The short version is that, via tools like Twitter and video, activists were able to push through changes to anti-immigrant and anti-LGBT legislation, such as deportation policy and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Panelists included DREAMer and Presente.org organizer Felipe Matos and Change.org Director of Organizing Jackie Mahendra. Both spoke to the fact that, via tools like Twitter or Vimeo, tangible changes came about.

“We challenge [institutional stakeholders] to their face, and they have to react to us, but we also use Twitter,” Matos said, adding that blogs were also helpful in allowing him to define his own narrative. The Internet, via tools like Twitter, also allowed DREAMers to create a national organizational network that spans 30 states, he said. Every time he appears on TV he gets feedback from others who are interested in joining — via social media channels of course — and conversely, he uses social media to gain access to traditional media platforms like TV shows.

“It happens often,” Matos said, of being able to engage institutional folks via Twitter specifically.

Jake Brewer, a surrogate for Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and undocumented immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas, said that digital storytelling is a whole different ballgame. Vargas did not attend the panel, due to a family emergency, but Brewer said the launch of his project Define American showed them that a truly social platform creates a community that catalyzes change. People may not open their mail or emails but they will almost always see a Twitter mention, he said.

Mahendra concurred, noting that a great cause combined with potent use of social media technologies can bring very tangible outcomes for activists online. “If you have this great mix of an amazing story and are able to tweet a journalist — you can see amazing results.”

This year at South By Southwest (SXSW) Latinos in the digital media space will have their very own lounge, party, and award ceremony highlighting their innovative work in social media and beyond. The events, wrapped into the name The Social Revolución, are being put together by Cultural Strategies, the communications firm in Austin, Texas.

According to Mando Rayo, who is one of the organizers of the Revolución, highlighting the contributions of Latinos the digital space are important for three primary reasons: recent cultural shifts and trends, mobilizing local and international causes, and finally for innovating when it comes to reaching the Latino community uniquely and authentically online. Holding the event at SXSW’s Interactive Festival made sense, Rayo told us, because it’s the best place to highlight digital breakthroughs, and us the changes Latinos are contributing in this space.

“We’re seeing a demand for more products and services to match the different facets of the Latino community,” Rayo told NewsTaco. “There is also a drive within the culture to innovate and be entrepreneurial. Whether it’s a blog, a social network or other opportunities to connect, Latinos now have more opportunities to be part of the digital space.”

A big part of the Revolución event will be The Revolucionario Awards, which will be awarded in three categories: The New Americano, The Mobilizer and The Innovator.  The idea, Rayo told us, is to celebrate the work of Latinos online, whether they are independent or part of larger organizations, and consequently help open doors for even more Latinos in the digital space.

The awards are representative of the changes that Cultural Strategies has observed in the space in recent years, Rayo said. In keeping with the digital same, anyone can nominate people or groups for an award here, keeping in mind that nominees are trendsetters who merge two worlds utilizing online technology to engage and mobilize their audiences.

This event is important because, although Latinos are overpopulated on social networks and social media use, they are not always represented at conferences like SXSWi. The Revolución is one way to bring them front and center, Rayo said, noting that the biggest success would be if it were to become an annual event. Thus far several hundred people are expected to participate, and The Social Revolución has partnered with several other organizations, including News Taco (full disclosure). For more information about the event visit this website.

In 2012 Latino voters are going to be critical to races across the country, yet it seems that even as candidates woo these voters with their targeted messages, the actual policies and rhetoric have not changed. Which is to say, many Latino voters are frustrated by the double-talk from politicos who at once say they have Latinos’ best interests in mind, yet have no intention of guarding against nasty verbiage or legislation that says the contrary.

Enter an entirely different sort of double-talk: Mexican Mitt Romney.

Since his debut two weeks ago, @MexicanMitt — a Twitter feed that mocks Romney’s Latino pandering and policies — has grown to almost 3,000 followers and dozens of media outlets have covered the sensation. With declarations such as, “I AM THE JUAN PERCENT” or “I AM A YOB CREATOR,” @MexicanMitt is at once lampooning Romney as a politician, but giving this satire a particular flavor — one aimed squarely at the stereotypical ways in which politicos often court the Latino electorate (from either side of the aisle).

NewsTaco nabbed the first interview, and NBC Latino followed suit recently — but there’s more.

ABC wrote a piece about @MexicanMitt, noting that his emergence came right after Romney tried to use his father’s Mexican heritage (he was born there) to woo Latino voters. However, Romney’s attempts to engage Latinos with his Mexican heritage fall flat against his economic, educational and immigration positions that brusquely clash with what Latino voters have said is important to them.

In another piece, Esther J. Cepeda wrote that @MexicanMitt as a “stereotype-spewing lampoon” has hit an important note with folks precisely because politicos have failed to authentically engage with Latino voters. Just by talking to folks, or reading Facebook or Twitter comments, you hear that no one is buying the sudden interest in speaking Spanish, or the unexpected pitch about “common values” or the too-late wakeup call that many politicians are making to Latino voters.

The fact is that, whoever @MexicanMitt is, s/he understands that 2012 is going to be a pivotal year for the power of Latino voters. And because this is so, it’s of the utmost importance that politicians like Romney cut back on the traditional doublespeak and get real with voters.

You can’t say you identify with Latinos, hardest hit in the recession, when you say that your $370,000-plus speaking fees was “not very much.” Why release an ad in Spanish that includes Latino lawmakers speaking Spanish if you think the country should only speak English? How can you say you will veto the DREAM Act no matter what, when you don’t really understand the complexity of the immigration system?

If Romney himself doesn’t have the answer to the questions, no doubt @MexicanMitt can come up with something.

Yoani Sánchez, the writer behind the acclaimed blog Generation Y, which details daily life inside Cuba, went head-to-head on Twitter this with Mariela Castro, daughter of current leader Raul Castro.

As reported by Univision, once Sánchez discovered Castro had started a Twitter account, she immediately called her out, asking when Cubans would be able to “stop hiding in closets.”

Castro responded with the standard rhetoric that the regime has been known for, and at one point telling Sánchez to go educate herself.  The back and forth went on for awhile, with Castro later thanking her 2,500 followers for support while droves of Sánchez’ 174,520  followers quickly began tweeting in her defense.

Check out the recap here.

[Photo of Yoani Sánchez By Twitter]

Every year I endeavor to advance the capabilities of a strategic sector of undergraduate students by providing leadership training, exposure to new Latino-based research findings and a multidimensional model for civic engagement. The majority of my pupils are derived from recent alumni of the National Hispanic Institute, but I tend to focus my attention on the emerging vanguard of this generation: young Latinas and Latinos from the U.S. and Mexico who are actively exploring opportunities to grow their collective capacities to serve regional and international Latino enclaves.

However, only lately have I attempted to mentor this sector of students to apply their critical investigative abilities with new media.

A couple of weeks ago, it occurred to me at the New Mexico State University Latino Leadership Summit that there is a tremendous desire among Latino undergraduate and graduate students to learn how to apply their embryonic skills with online social networking tools. As with their credentialed Latina and Latino counterparts, they have been under-prepared by each level of their academic training to pursue their own self-determined pathways as young innovators and entrepreneurs. Based on my experience, in order to create your own platform for consulting it is paramount that you learn by doing. In other words, leave the temple and wander the earth so that you may apply your training to benefit the world around you.

With this in mind, I worked with NewsTaco to arrange for two of my mentees, Zach and Arthur, to cover the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas this past weekend. [Above the pair interview Texas State Rep. and congressional candidate Joaquín Castro.] The idea was for them to highlight the coverage of each panel of experts for a range of Latino audiences, including Spanish-language readers which did not seem to be prioritized by the creators of this weekend-long event. Given that nearly half of the subject matter of this conference revolved around Latino populations, border dynamics and transnational relations with Mexico, this was the ideal environment to determine whether these two 20th century Latino men could handle both the rigor and responsibility that this complex event would provide.

From our drive together to the festival on Saturday morning until I departed after debriefing with my colleagues Sunday evening, I observed these two young men conduct interviews in English and Spanish, provide a live Twitter feed across seven panel discussions and network with experts, elected officials, politicos, journalists and even our treasured Texas demographer, Dr. Steve Murdock. They impressed me and so many others with their confidence and focus, and they provided more accurate coverage, at least from my point view, than the other news entities that were in attendance. Additionally, they took the initiative that the Texas Tribune had not — they drew on their cultural strengths and seamlessly flowed between English and Spanish during their interviews with panelists and other conference attendees.

By the second day, they were known as “those two dudes from NewsTaco” and people were seeking them out. More than one person told me over the weekend that they were following panels that they could not attend through Zach and Arthur’s tweets. Furthermore, the massive social capital that Zach and Arthur have accumulated through their undergraduate friends and sprawling international NHI alumni networks were also being informed about their issues as a generation born after 1990. Again, these two young men amplified the reach of the Texas Tribune Festival to a body of readers that were not being prioritized — currently enrolled Latino undergraduate students across North America.

No one knew they were only 21, in fact, they were being mistaken for everything but currently enrolled undergraduate students from Texas State and Saint Edwards Universities. NewsTaco and I can only take credit for encouraging them to attend, to look sharp and to ask direct questions during their interviews, but as you will discover in their coverage, Zach and Arthur performed superbly. As a result of their dedication to covering the festival, they are now better prepared through their NewsTaco exposure than what would have ever been achieved within their classroom training.

Follow their example, apply your leadership training and skills with new media so that a greater range of Latino audiences can discover your unique perspective and authentic recommendations for our transnational Latino community.

By José Cruz

Like many, I have been watching the recent large growth of Latinos using the Internet, social media and mobile applications. It seems as if every other week a new study is coming out showing that my community is “over-indexing” these new forms of technology and communication. From our use of social media, to video sharing, to adoption of mobile internet use, Latinos seem to be plugging-in and jumping-on faster than any other ethnicity in the country.

I saw this “trend” in most of my Hispanic friends; they were the first people to line-up for an iPhone and seemed to quickly embrace Twitter and Facebook. But the skeptic in me kept kicking in believing that nothing is true until you see raw numbers that you have collected. So I set out to investigate myself. For over three weeks I conducted a simple poll of ten questions targeting new-generation Latinos online about their social media usage, smart phone applications and language of choice. Through various social media outlets and emails, I gathered just over 100 respondents from across the country in major Latino markets. With the help of friends at www.newstaco.com and www.Latism.org the survey was spread virally across the country. So here are the results.

Smart phone usage:

• Texting- Over 70% of respondents said they texted at least 3 to 4 times a day, with 40% of respondents saying they text “whenever they can.”
• Mobile application usage- 75% of respondents said they had and used mobile applications on their smart phones.
• Mobile applications used- Of those responding “yes” to using a mobile application, Facebook and Twitter were the most cited, with personal banking apps and local news papers coming in strong. Among respondents 25 and under, gaming apps such as “Angry Birds” and “Words with Friends” were also listed.

Social Media Outlets/Blogging:

• Social Media- Facebook was the clear winner with over 92.7%, while Twitter came in 2^nd with 65.5% of respondents saying they used them at least “a few times a week.”
• Blogging- 45.1% of Respondents said they participated in Blogging.

Language of choice:

When asked what their language of choice was for content they searched for on the Internet

• 47.3% said “All English”
• 41.8% said “Mostly English, occasionally in Spanish”
• 10.9% said “An even mix of both English & Spanish”

Let me be the first to admit, I am not The Pew Research Center. Since I was using social media outlets to collect the data, logic dictates the results would be strong supporting their use. Within my community of next-gen Latinos we all have been talking about this revolution for some time but still are looking for ways in which to grasp its full potential. One major reality we have woken up to is the recession that has been affecting the Latinos community more so than the general population. The new generation, schooled since birth online, is easily embracing the mobile/social media world as a low-cost mechanism for making new friends, networking and entrepreneurship.  There were some interesting generational differences in the resuts.

I found Twitter and Foursquare to be more popular with respondents under 35, while Facebook (which was across-the-board a favorite) more easily embraced by all. I asked older respondents why they didn’t use Twitter and most told me “they just didn’t see the need.” When I probed further, I found that most felt one form of social media was enough, and Facebook gave them a mechanism to do everything they wanted and that was what most of their friends and family used.

This all could change within the coming years as Latino families grow up. As one father told me, “I got on Facebook because I wanted to see photos of my grandchild, but now my younger daughter (who is 15) is using this Twitter thing. I’ll probably join just to keep track of what she is doing.” As the product of a Latino family, I’ve learned never underestimate a Hispanic parent’s desire to meddle in your life. Knowing my people, I predict that a whole new group of Latinos will soon embrace other platforms of social media, and quickly see their benefits. The ball has been rolling down the hill and with our community’s birthrates and fast embracing of new technology; it is only going to pick up speed.

‘Til then, let’s all keep texting the revolution.

[Photo By Phil Roeder]

[Editor's note: This post was originally published on March 9, 2010.]

By Melissa del Bosque

An explosion of violence has occurred in the state of Tamaulipas in the last few weeks, and also around the city of Monterrey in Nuevo Leon. From what I hear from friends and family in Mexico is that both the Mexican and U.S. press are only reporting a fraction of what is happening.

Mexican journalists are being tortured, killed and kidnapped along the border to the point where much of the news about narco violence goes unreported.

The Committee to Protect Journalists yesterday demanded that the Mexican government investigate kidnappings and killings of journalists covering the cartel violence in Reynosa just across the border from McAllen, according to a San Antonio Express-News report Monday.

Increasingly, Mexicans are turning to Twitter, Facebook and online chat forums to document the violence erupting around them. Mexicans have distrusted the media for decades since it has a long history of being co-opted by the government which hands out mordidas “bribes” like candy. (The brave and trustworthy reporters who do exist and do an admirable job are being killed, or threatened with death). Mexicans also don’t trust their government to release reliable information. Often they don’t release any information on the gun battles between cartels and the military anyway.

Increasingly, Mexicans are circumventing the old modes of information and relying on the Internet. The other day I received a mass email from a friend in Durango asking that others in Mexico join her in documenting the violence around them with cameras and putting it online.

“An ignorant people is a people condemned to failure,” my friend wrote. “We use the computer to entertain ourselves with silly things but we can also create citizen networks like they created so many years ago in Colombia, only in Internet form.”

To give an idea of how profoundly social media is shaping the psyche of Mexicans, I canceled a trip to Matamoros two weeks ago because a viral email was circulating there that gunfights were going to erupt between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel that day. People in Matamoros were staying home, keeping their children out of school and not going out.  I felt like a real wimp for not going, but the paranoia was starting to overtake me as well. Why go, if I didn’t need to?, said a nagging little voice in my head. And so I succumbed to the “Psychosis en el Pueblo.”

Grupo Reforma, a chain of newspapers in Mexico, has started chat forums for different Mexican states along the border to give citizens an outlet. Grupo Reforma writes at the top of the forum:

“With the increase in violence in border cities there has been a flood of rumors of gunfights with little information from the authorities. This has created a psychosis among the people. What is reality?”

Good question. What in the hell is going on in Mexico? On February 28, a pretty extraordinary post was uploaded to the Reforma site. Who knows if it is real or not, but it has gone viral in Mexico.

Apparently, the post is from the “The New Federation.” In the post it says the cartels have banded together to stamp out los Zetas and “bring tranquility back to the people.”

The Zetas are former U.S trained government special forces that went into the drug business a few years back. Their territory is around Reynosa and Matamoros, across from Brownsville and McAllen. They’ve split form the Gulf Cartel and hence the gun battles that have erupted in the past month.

Things have been especially awful in Reynosa, across from McAllen. The post says that the turning point for the formation of the cartels against the Zetas was the brutal killing of the teenagers in Juarez in January.

“The water that broke the dam for society was the death of the children at the party in Juarez,” they
write.

They then direct people from Reynosa to keep their children out of school and to not go out into the streets until further notice.

They tell people in Monterrey to go about there business and to not get too paranoid.

“El Chapito, CDG y la familia in this agreement  are going to respect the plazas, they are not going to charge more fees and they are going to prohibit the kidnappings,” the New Federation writes.

They also write that the media is remaining quiet as part of the agreement.   Then they give a tip of the hat to Reforma for its chat forum “We give applause to Grupo Reforma for this space. There is no other, this is the only form.”

Apparently, the media that is not remaining quiet in Reynosa is being kidnapped or killed?

Members of each cartel are marking their trucks so that everyone knows who they are. Friends tell me it’s not uncommon these days to see  a line of SUVs filled with masked men with Ak-47s driving down the street. No one knows who they are or who they work for.

What will happen next? Chances are Mexicans won’t tune into their radios or turn on the TV to find out. Instead they’ll turn on their computer and start looking for answers.

[Photo By @lasantamuerte]

¿Tuiteas? 19% Of Latinos Online Use Twitter

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About 1 in 5 Latinos who use the Internet also use Twitter, according to an updated study released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. This statistic shows that Latino tend to use Twitter more than the general U.S. population, of which only 13% are on Twitter, according to the report. There were some more tid bits from the study:

• 54% of U.S. Internet users on Twitter use their phones to access it
• Non-white internet users continue to have higher rates of Twitter use than their white counterparts
• On a typical day, 5% of Latino Internet users are on Twitter

Here’s a chart of the study’s results:

Contextualizing this information is also important. As we’ve reported, Latinos love smartphones and almost half Latino mobile customers use these types of phones. This enables Latinos to use location-based services at higher rates than other groups, as well as Twitter, social buying services like Groupon, and generally be ideal social media consumers.

If you want to know more about Twitter yourself, check out our list of the top five tips on that platform.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

[Photo By joshsemans]