Possibilities of analyzing the network connectivity of ideological and monothematic radical online communities on VKontakte

The article discusses the possibilities of applying social network analysis methods to search for network connectivity of audiences of single-issue (anti-vaxxer, eco-radical, antinuker) and ideological (radical Islamist, left-wing and right-wing) radical online communities of the VKontakte social network. To determine the network connectivity between online communities of ideological and single-issue radicals using a dictionary of linguistic markers, an automatic search and selection of communities was performed by screening the selected units. Then, a weighted graph of connections was constructed and analysed. In the graph, the nodes are communities, and the edges connect communities that have at least one common subscriber. The analysis of the following metrics is illustrative: weighted degree, degree centrality, and weighted betweenness centrality. To assess the strength of connections between single-issue communities and communities of ideological radicals, the degree of assortativity was measured by compiling a matrix that describes the assortativity of communities by their type. It is shown that, despite the communities’ different sizes and information activity, this approach makes it possible to assess their network connectivity.