Jeff Gulati

Communicating with Constituents in 140 Characters or Less: Twitter and the Diffusion of Technology Innovation in the United States Congress

This paper affords an opportunity to study the early adoption, implementation and performance of an emerging technology by analyzing which members of Congress have been early adopters and extensive users of Twitter, and which have attracted the most followers. Our research questions and measures draw from the diffusion of innovation literature and early studies of online politics. Three multivariate analyses reveal that two motivators of adoption, party (Republican) and campaign resources are also drivers leading to extensive usage, but the other two, an urban constituency and the member‟s own age do not. Instead, a large vote share in the last election joins party and funding in explaining high usage. The latter two plus high influential power differentiate between members with large and small numbers of followers. Collectively, these findings suggest that at this early developmental stage, Twitter is not a game changer, but an additional communications medium. They also underscore the contribution of diffusion of innovation literature to understanding how these interrelationships change depending upon whether we are examining adoption, implementation or performance.

The Impact of Governance Indicators and Policy Variables on Broadband Diffusion in the Developed and Developing Worlds

A new digital divide is emerging both within and between nations that is due to inequalities in broadband Internet access. Our research examines the broadband digital divide by analyzing the impact of administrative culture and policy initiatives in the form of strategic planning, execution, regulation and investment on broadband diffusion in 151 countries. Our multiple regression analysis shows that when controlling for measures of economic, political, social and educational development, there is greater broadband diffusion in countries that have an administrative culture of sound governance and make a higher shared financial investment in information and communication technologies. Competition in the telecommunications sector has a positive impact in nations where access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) is expanding, but does not make a significant difference where ICT access is widely available. Most intriguing is that while the presence of a national telecommunications regulatory authority has no impact on broadband diffusion in the technologically developed countries, it has a negative impact on diffusion in technologically developing countries. Our results suggest that factors that determine broadband diffusion in technologically developed countries do not necessarily have the same impact in less developed countries and, therefore, the path to widespread availability and use of broadband requires different strategies depending on a nation’s level of technological development.

Your Money or Your Network: Indicators of Presidential Candidate Viability in the 2008 Nomination Contest

This study examines campaign fundraising, campaign appearances, poll standings and social network supporters as measures of presidential candidate viability in the 2008 nomination contest. Its focus is the early contests in Iowa and New Hampshire and the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses. We collect and analyze data at both the aggregate and individual state level for the eight Democratic and seven Republican candidates who remained in the race on February 5th. Poll standings, nationally and for individual states, were the strongest predictors of candidate vote share in both the aggregate and individual state contests. Number of Facebook supporters was also positive and significant in the majority of contests. In contrast, cash on hand at the end of the 4th quarter was infrequently significant, sometimes as a positive influence and sometimes a negative influence on vote share. At the state level, the number of events held in the state is not a significant predictor of the candidates vote share in that contest. We conclude that online campaign activity is an important additional indicator of candidate viability that is independent of traditional measures like campaign funding and poll standings. Moreover, the number of supporters seems to be highly reactive to campaign events: winners of the early Iowa and New Hampshire contests and subsequent Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses evidence a much higher than average increase in supporters than other candidates.

Universal Broadband: Opportunities and Challenges in Western Massachusetts – Executive Summary

There has been much attention recently on the need to make broadband Internet available to every household in America. Broadband is now seen as critical for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness, and enhanced quality of life. Broadband technology is changing how we educate our youth, deliver health care services, manage our energy needs, ensure public safety, engage government, and how we access, organize and disseminate knowledge. Yet the United States is behind many advanced countries in the adoption and quality of broadband. Today, only about two-thirds of Americans have broadband service in their homes. Even fewer Americans living in rural areas have adopted broadband simply because it is unavailable where they live. This problem is particularly severe in western Massachusetts. Currently there are 32 towns in the Commonwealth that are completely unserved and another 91 towns where broadband is available to less than 10% of the households. To facilitate deployment of new broadband infrastructure and expansion of existing services in unserved and underserved communities, Governor Deval Patrick signed legislation creating the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) and providing funding for the construction of fiber, wireless towers and other critical and durable broadband infrastructure. In 2010, the MBI began building a

Congressional Candidates’ Use of YouTube in 2008: Its Frequency and Rationale

71 million, 1,100 mile open-access fiber-optic network – the middle mile – to begin bridging the digital divide in western Massachusetts communities. What is still needed, however, is the development of a sustainable business model for a telecommunications carrier to build the “last mile” and also provide affordable service to its customers. To help further bridge the digital divide in Massachusetts, a team of researchers from Bentley University’s Service-Learning Center and University Honors Program offered to assist MBI in learning more about cost effective ways to deploy broadband in unserved and underserved areas and increase adoption rates in areas of low population density to make such areas more attractive to service providers. Although our report covers broadband policy and practices at a broad level, we focus on increasing access to broadband and adoption rates in rural areas and how it might apply to western Massachusetts. Research Questions1. What are advantages and disadvantages of alternative broadband technologies in overcoming the technological challenges for encouraging broadband deployment to unserved and underserved areas of western Massachusetts? 2. What are some the most effective programs and practices to increase broadband adoption in western Massachusetts?3. What policy changes and initiatives at the state and federal level would be most helpful in supporting broadband access and broadband adoption goals? Bringing the last-mile to western Massachusetts is no simple task. In the full report, we show in more detail the challenges faced by MBI with regard to the issue of access and what technology will best suit the Commonwealth’s needs, the factors that hinder adoption and how to overcome them, and what policies would best support MBI’s objectives.A copy of the full report with findings and recommendations and other supplementary materials will be available for download from Bentley University’s Web site. In the meantime, a copy of the report can be obtained by contacting the study’s faculty advisor, Professor Jeff Gulati at jgulati@bentley.edu or 781-891-3177.