Matching members with shared interests
First Claim
1. A method of identifying one or more matching members for a match recipient, the method comprising:
- maintaining a member profile for the match recipient, the member profile comprising at least one personal attribute;
comparing the match recipient'"'"'s member profile to other member profiles to identify at least one matching member, wherein the matching member is a user whose member profile has at least one attribute matching an attribute of the match recipient'"'"'s member profile;
causing contact information for the matching member to be displayed to the match recipient in a user interface for an online communication service; and
causing the displayed contact information to be accompanied by an indication that the displayed contact information belongs to a matching member.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A “buddy member match” feature is directed to matching computer users of like interests, particularly computer users who are members of an online service provider. In general, a member (the match recipient) may update or create a member profile maintained by a service provider such as AOL. Once the match recipient has a member profile, a search is initiated to identify matching members by comparing the member profile of the match recipient to the member profiles of other members. Matching members are other members whose member profiles have at least one personal attribute matching an attribute of the match recipient'"'"'s member profile. When contact information of the matching member is displayed, the contact information is accompanied by an indication that the contact information belongs to a matching member.
121 Citations
68 Claims
-
1. A method of identifying one or more matching members for a match recipient, the method comprising:
-
maintaining a member profile for the match recipient, the member profile comprising at least one personal attribute;
comparing the match recipient'"'"'s member profile to other member profiles to identify at least one matching member, wherein the matching member is a user whose member profile has at least one attribute matching an attribute of the match recipient'"'"'s member profile;
causing contact information for the matching member to be displayed to the match recipient in a user interface for an online communication service; and
causing the displayed contact information to be accompanied by an indication that the displayed contact information belongs to a matching member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method of identifying one or more matching members for a match recipient, the method comprising:
-
maintaining a member profile for the match recipient, the member profile comprising at least one personal attribute;
comparing the match recipient'"'"'s member profile to other member profiles to identify at least one matching member, wherein the matching member is a user whose member profile has at least one attribute matching an attribute of the match recipient'"'"'s member profile;
identifying an intermediary member, wherein an intermediary member is a user that connects the match recipient to the matching member; and
providing the match recipient with an indication that the intermediary member has been identified. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. A computer-usable medium storing a computer program for identifying one or more matching members for a match recipient, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
-
maintain a member profile for the match recipient, the member profile comprising at least one personal attribute;
compare the match recipient'"'"'s member profile to other member profiles to identify at least one matching member, wherein the matching member is a user whose member profile has at least one attribute matching an attribute of the match recipient'"'"'s member profile;
cause contact information for the matching member to be displayed to the match recipient in a user interface for an online communication service; and
cause the displayed contact information to be accompanied by an indication that the displayed contact information belongs to a matching member. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
-
-
44. A computer-usable medium storing a computer program for identifying one or more matching members for a match recipient, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
-
maintain a member profile for the match recipient, the member profile comprising at least one personal attribute;
compare the match recipient'"'"'s member profile to other member profiles to identify at least one matching member, wherein the matching member is a user whose member profile has at least one attribute matching an attribute of the match recipient'"'"'s member profile;
identify an intermediary member, wherein an intermediary member is a user that connects the match recipient to the matching member; and
provide the match recipient with an indication that the intermediary member has been identified. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
-
-
59. An apparatus for identifying one or more matching members for a match recipient, the apparatus comprising:
-
means for maintaining a member profile for the match recipient, the member profile comprising at least one personal attribute;
means for comparing the match recipient'"'"'s member profile to other member profiles to identify at least one matching member, wherein the matching member is a user whose member profile has at least one attribute matching an attribute of the match recipient'"'"'s member profile;
means for causing contact information for the matching member to be displayed to the match recipient in a user interface for an online communication service; and
means for causing the displayed contact information to be accompanied by an indication that the displayed contact information belongs to a matching member. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
-
-
66. An apparatus for identifying one or more matching members for a match recipient, the apparatus comprising:
-
means for maintaining a member profile for the match recipient, the member profile comprising at least one personal attribute;
means for comparing the match recipient'"'"'s member profile to other member profiles to identify at least one matching member, wherein the matching member is a user whose member profile has at least one attribute matching an attribute of the match recipient'"'"'s member profile;
means for identifying an intermediary member, wherein an intermediary member is a user that connects the match recipient to the matching member; and
means for providing the match recipient with an indication that the intermediary member has been identified. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68)
-
Specification