"Working class United States Latinos' Perceptions and uses of communication Technologies" Leonardi,P.M.(2003)
For years, I wondered why my parents were reluctant to purchase a computer and cringed at the thought of a cell phone.My great-grandparents came from Spain and settled here in the USA with all the generations that have followed being slow to perceive or even accept any new technologies in communication such as the cell phone or computer.The reason for such a slow acceptance is rooted in our Latino culture of living a simplistic life and not getting too involved with any complicated ideas of modern communication like computers; the main focus was always on family values and culture.
For my grandparents and parents, life was simple with the most modern form of communication being the telephone(land line). I can recall my father paying bills with cash or money orders compared with today's Latino father who has the option of direct deposit, online banking and a host of other modern technologies. Myself, being a "modern day Latino"well, I guess I have broken the mold of generations past and have modernized myself in regards to technology.
The simple times of the past Latino generations didn't have the choices in communication that we now have. We as Latinos must blend the technology of today with our culture and values, to keep pace with and use all of the modern communication that is available.
Ref:
Leonardi,P.M.(2003).Problematizing "New Media": Culturally Based Perceptions of Cell Phones,Computers, and the Internet among United States Latinos.Critical studies in Media Communication.
3 comments:
I had a similar technology adoption struggle with my mom. When I was growing up, everyone had call waiting except for me. My mom felt that if someone wants to talk to you, they will call back later once they get the busy tone. Additionally she thinks that cell phones are a waste of money. I cannot live without my cell phone and since my mom is older now, I wanted to be sure she has a cell phone just in case she needs to contact someone while she is away from home so I pay for it. Its been about five years now and she still doesn't know how to check her voicemail. I also tried to get her a little netbook so she can Facebook with her friends but she still hasn't warmed up to the idea.
I agree with your article, in the Latin culture it is difficult for most of the older Latino people to become modernized. The biggest problem I see is with many grandparents raising their grandchildren it is tough for those children to have the opportunities of the modernized technology. My nephews live with my parents and one is in the seventh and the other in eighth grade. They are behind their classes because they didn't have a computer at home. They were recently given an older computer but the other members of the household don't know how to use it. My children help when they can but it's not easy.
Being latino, I found this artlce to be true. My father refuses to embark on the modern technology. My mom finally agreed to have a cell phone and she really enjoys it. Coming from a big family, she can text messages to her sisters and brothers. Everyone is scattered through the states and she is learing how to use the computer to post family pitchures.
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