A Network Analysis Approach to the Diffusion of Tolerance Memes

The world is now in an age where the electronic media has drawn people from different cultures closer together into what is called a "Global Society". The flow of ideas, thoughts, and values has become much easier and more rabid than before. Tolerant ideas and values as well as hatred and violent thoughts can propagate easier in this new global society. While violent and terrorist ideas propagate quickly (as in case of ISIS), tolerant ideas and practices may fail to reach their target population efficiently due to the lack of an explicit diffusion strategy and/or the lack of an implementation strategy that acknowledge the social structure that binds together the members of the targeted community. The article assumes that we can create the basis for the emergence of a social context where tolerance values can be diffused by targeting social networks not social classes, age, religious groups, or institutions. This article outlines how social network analysis can be effective as: 1) a new framework of analysis that is more relevant for understanding, describing and dealing with community dynamics, 2) a tool for diffusing tolerant ideas (memes) within a targeted community, and 3) an identifier of the influential actors in the target community in order to optimize the diffusion of tolerant memes.