Method of doing business to provide ally associations within a computer network
First Claim
1. A method of providing an ally association comprising:
- providing a profile within a computer network, said profile comprising a profile subject corresponding to and representing a person, service, or thing of interest;
associating an ally with said profile subject featured in said profile; and
allowing said ally to perform an association-related function.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention features various business methods providing an ally of a profile within a computer network and for organizing, building, and propagating the computer network by building a reference hierarchy through an ally association system or function. Through the ally association system or function, allies of a subject featured in a profile supported in the computer network can perform one or more association-related functions, such as vouching or witnessing for the subject, referring or introducing the subject to another, and other similar functions for one or more purposes. The ally association function facilitates network growth, provides more efficient network operations, optimizes the purpose of the network, provides more organization to the network, and brings to a computer network or online environment many of the associations and interactions and other similar interpersonal dealings common and popular in real space, while at the same time functioning to propagate the number of users in the network via the propagation of allies associated with the subjects featured in the network profiles. Several business models utilizing the ally association technology provide users and allies alike various incentive to obtain and utilize the ally association technology, which in turn helps to build a more vibrant, active, and interwoven community and increase the revenue potential from operation of the network.
53 Citations
36 Claims
-
1. A method of providing an ally association comprising:
-
providing a profile within a computer network, said profile comprising a profile subject corresponding to and representing a person, service, or thing of interest;
associating an ally with said profile subject featured in said profile; and
allowing said ally to perform an association-related function. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A method for organizing, building, and propagating a computer network community comprising:
-
providing a computer network;
providing a profile within said computer network, said profile comprising a profile subject corresponding to and representing a person, service, or thing of interest;
associating a first degree ally with said person, service, or thing of interest featured in said profile;
associating a second degree ally with said person, service, or thing of interest featured in said profile, said second degree ally being a first degree ally to said first degree ally of said person, service, or thing of interest featured in said profile;
repeating each of said steps of associating to create a reference hierarchy of allies to the nth degree within said computer network; and
allowing said allies to the nth degree to perform association-related functions with respect to each other and said person, service, or thing of interest. - View Dependent Claims (22)
-
-
23. A method for providing an ally association, said method comprising the steps of:
-
obtaining and supporting an online profile within a pre-defined online community, said profile corresponding to and representing a person, service, or thing of interest, said profile authorized by a proprietor of said profile;
providing an ally association function to facilitate creation of a reference hierarchy and system, wherein said ally association function allows said profiles to have and become associated with at least one ally associate that performs at least one association-related function; and
securing initial or periodic fees from said proprietor of said profile. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
-
-
26. A method for increasing the exposure of a profile within a computer network, said method comprising:
-
providing a profile within a computer network, said profile comprising a profile subject corresponding to and representing a person, service, or thing of interest;
associating an ally with said profile subject;
posting said ally in an ally profile on said profile; and
linking said profile to at least one other profile within said computer network. - View Dependent Claims (27)
-
-
28. A method for generating revenue from a network-based business, said method comprising:
-
providing a computer network;
providing a profile within said computer network, said profile comprising a profile subject;
associating an ally with said profile subject, said ally identified in an ally profile on said profile;
securing an initial and/or periodic fee from a proprietor of said profile. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
-
-
33. A method for providing for the establishment of relationships among users of a computer network, said method comprising:
-
providing a computer network;
providing a profile within said computer network, said profile comprising a profile subject;
associating an ally with said profile subject, said ally identified in an ally profile on said profile;
allowing a user to access said computer network;
allowing said user to access said profile; and
allowing said user to initiate contact with said ally for the purpose of establishing a relationship with said profile subject. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
-
Specification