Virtual caucasus on VK social networking site

This paper provides mapping of ethnic themes and topics associated with the Caucasus on social networking site VKontakte popular in Eurasia. We collected data on virtual communities associated with major ethnic (Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijani) and supra-ethnic ("Pan-Caucasian") groups. We combine network analysis (based on group co-membership) with LDA topic modeling (based on posts) to identify the ideologies and cultural features which unite and divide virtual Caucasus. The gap between warring nations is bridged by Pan-Caucasian virtual groups with no political ideology.