Central Florida, where more than 300,000 Puerto Ricans reside, is expected to be a key player in Parranda.org — a free social network launching on Christmas Eve to create a virtual map of the Puerto Rican diaspora.
A later goal is to generate cultural, entrepreneurial and civic projects on the island and mainland.
"The network is named after the parranda, a festive Puerto Rican tradition of knocking on friends' doors during the holidays, gathering those residents and then moving on to another house and repeating it," said Natascha Otero-Santiago, a social-media consultant in Miami and one of the network's founders. "We want to knock on those virtual doors and invite people to join us. Nothing like this has been done before."
Laurita Tellado, an Orlando blogger born on the island, said she's looking forward to a Puerto Rican-based social network.
"Puerto Ricans are a very unique people and unlike any other Latin American," said Tellado, 26. "We are Latinos and U.S. citizens by birth, we use the U.S. dollar as our currency and we participate in the U.S. primary elections. It's time we had our own social network to unite us."
People already can sign up for early registration by entering their email and full name at Parranda.org.
On Monday, officials will send registered users a survey asking them to submit a picture of themselves, email, professional or personal information and invite others to join the network, Otero-Santiago said.
That information will be fed into a database that will start crafting the digital map.
There are more than 4.6 million Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. and about 3.6 million on the island, according to the latest census figures. Otero-Santiago said Parranda is expecting more than 30,000 registered users by April.
"People can share whatever they are willing to offer, but our hope is that others will follow and grow that map," Otero-Santiago said. "It will work very much like Google Maps. People can zoom into specific areas. We want people to look at Orlando and see who lives there, what they do, and hopefully start a conversation."
U.S. users who help bring in more members and grow the network could win a trip to Parranda's summit in Puerto Rico in April or May. Those on the island who promote the social network are eligible for trips to summits on the mainland.
The timing couldn't be better for Puerto Ricans plugged into social media.
Thousands of Puerto Ricans on Facebook and Twitter are voicing their outrage over the recent wave of violent crime on the island, the November referendum favoring statehood and the boycott of a popular Puerto Rican gossip show hosted by a puppet called "La Comay" that often broadcasts derogatory comments about women and gays.
"These are situations that deeply affect all Puerto Ricans, regardless of where they live, and they are talking about it on social media," said Hernán Gómez, a 33-year-old car salesman in Orlando who often voices his opinions about Puerto Rican politics on his Facebook page.
Otero-Santiago said the virtual map of a "Greater Puerto Rico" will not only help connect Puerto Ricans but also "start discussions about the issues specifically important to us. Facebook can also do that, but here's a social network built by Puerto Ricans for Puerto Ricans."
Co-founder Giovanni Rodríguez, CEO of SocialxDesign, a consulting and communications firm with offices in California and Washington, D.C., said he and the other 17 co-founders have invested about $50,000 in launching the project.
But he expects much more will be invested as the project grows.
"We think there's a path for foundations and businesses to invest in Parranda, specifically the telecom and travel industries," Rodríguez said. "There's so much potential there, but we don't want to rush into anything."
wpacheco@tribune.com or 407-420-6262. Read his blog at orlandosentinel.com/techblog
