Copyright © 2020 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. All Rights Reserved.1Copyright © 2020 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. All Rights Reserved.CULTURAL CONNECTIVITY TRANSFORMEDHOW LATINOS ARE CONNECTING WHILE SOCIAL DISTANCINGThe Hispanic Diverse Intelligence Series 2020A COVID-19 IMPACT SPECIAL REPORT
Copyright © 2020 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. All Rights Reserved.2FOREWORD It’s hard to believe that we’re merely past the midpoint of 2020—one of the most trying and turbulent years for the U.S. Latino community. Looking back, 2020 started as another in a series of auspicious years. Shakira and JLo made history as the first two Latinas to headline one of television’s biggest events, Super Bowl LIV. Together with Latin superstars J.Balvin and Bad Bunny, they delivered a performance for 100 million viewers that celebrated Latin culture in the most American of contexts. Latinos turned to social channels to share and continue the conversation around Latino identity. In fact, social posts from the four Latino artists drove 7 million social engagements—16% of the total social activity for Super Bowl LIV. That performance was just one example highlighting the upward trajectory of the Hispanic community over the past decade. The momentum has spanned well beyond entertainment to include wealth building, educational attainment and greater representation and visibility of Latinos and Latino culture in media. Then, in March 2020, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak began to alter life in the U.S. for everyone, threatening to compromise the significant gains the Hispanic community had realized. As many regions shut down, the Hispanic community immediately started to feel the impacts of job loss, disproportionate healthcare access and strain on their in-person social networks.Hispanics are a collectivist culture, placing strong value on the needs of the community as a whole. Social networks in the Latino community represent the links, shared values and understanding that enable the community to build trust, grow and work together. This creates a distinct way the community engages, shares, and informs both inside and outside of it. It is through these constructed social networks that bonding through shared experiences—even across countries of origin—results in a shared U.S. experience. Copyright © 2020 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. All Rights Reserved.As COVID-19 spread, the subsequent social distancing measures, quarantines and shut downs , threatened the ability for Latinos to engage in face-to-face connections. Hispanics rely upon these trusted and hard-won networks as conduits of information, underscoring the interdependence of collectivism and social networks. These networks serve more than just a social appetite, they serve as the conduit of trust, truth and cultural connection. During COVID, these networks and connections are a critical mechanis...
