ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the digital communications and strategy around three salient events—the announced end of DACA, the government shutdown of 2018, and the 2018 Texas primary election created by major U.S. Latinx organization. It covers both the identity making processes at play and the technological affordances and limitations which shape the discourse. Three major findings are outlined. First, platforms matter. Messages vary in their structure depending upon whether they are sent on engagement-driven platforms or not. The choices around what kinds of platforms are used to communicate also very much depend on the institutional history and resources of an organization. Second, the themes of Latinx socialization are highly present on digital media. The message that “Dreamers are American in all but paperwork” has continually been reinforced online during the events presented in this chapter. The elections in Texas with the focus on electing Latina candidates also reinforced the homogenization of Latinxs in the United States by tying their backgrounds to a narrative of Latinx social and political advancement. Finally, this chapter also shows how participant observation and interviews can be aided by the content analysis of texts to follow the production process from idea to product.
