This old reporter remembers when “social media” meant a bunch of newshounds bending elbows in a bar after work.

Bo Johnson defines it differently. Social media, specifically text messaging, "is the single best way for us to get the word out to our members," says the vice president of the Paducah-based Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council.

New technologies and social media are increasingly important and effective ways to communicate and they can open doors for the labor movement to build stronger relationships with the Latino community. But, says Elianne Ramos, there are several key points to keep in mind when using tech to reach Latino workers—the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. workforce—and the community.

In the third of the AFL-CIO's series of live online discussions on how we build the movement for the future of working people, Ramos, principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of communications and PR for Latinos in Social Media (LATISM), outlines several of those points.

Tomorrow, we are launching a new AFL-CIO website and blog with a fresh, clean look and streamlined navigation and search functions that will enable you to find what you need more efficiently across the website and blog.

The AFL-CIO’s social media family is growing with the addition of our new AFL-CIO Latino page and a Spanish language Twitter feed. The new initiatives are part of the union movement’s continous efforts to reach out to the Latino workforce, especially younger workers. We want to hear stories from Latino workers and forge new ways to work together for workplace and social justice.