Political alignment in Twitter during the Ukraine crisis through the lens of language use

Social media use can play a powerful role for information exchange as well as coordination in political crises and movements. Ukraine has seen ongoing struggle since November 2013, accompanied by a variety of online activity. In this study, I focus on the expression of political alignment, in addition to information dissemination and coordination activities, on Twitter. Analysis of Twitter content (gathered since February 2014) will be complemented by observations and interviews following the upcoming election on May 25th. These empirical studies are set in context of actual use and policies surrounding the use of Ukrainian and Russian languages, which is an important component of the present cultural divides. I will present intermediate findings from an ongoing analysis of Twitter data around #euromaidan, #Crimea, and related keywords. I will outline the next steps both for analyzing Twitter content and network, and for the subsequent observation and interviews with active Twitter users during the upcoming election.