By Mark Hugo Lopez, Ana Gonzalez-Barrera and Eileen Patten, Pew Research Hispanic Center, March 7, 2013

Latinos own smartphones, go online from a mobile device and use social networking sites at similar—and sometimes higher—rates than do other groups of Americans, according to a new analysis of three surveys by the Pew Research Center.

The analysis also finds that when it comes to using the internet,¹ the digital divide between Latinos and whites is smaller than what it had been just a few years ago. Between 2009 and 2012, the share of Latino adults who say they go online at least occasionally increased 14 percentage points, rising from 64% to 78%.² Among whites, internet use rates also increased, but only by half as much—from 80% in 2009 to 87% in 2012.

Over the same period, the gap in cellphone ownership between Latinos and other groups either diminished or disappeared [.....]