Annotating shared contacts with public descriptors

• US 20070043688A1
• Filed: 08/18/2005
• Published: 02/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Obasanjo, Oludare, Torres, Michael, Augustine, Matthew, Kountz, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,095,551 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A method for annotating shared contacts within a social network with public tags, notes or other data. This allows users of a social network to gain useful information at a glance about others'"'"' contacts within that network, as well as providing a means for filtering contacts within that network by user-defined keywords. Such a system improves and simplifies the ability of a user to discover new potential friends and business contacts.

Claims

1. A method of providing a social network, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving data for an annotation to a stored contact, the data generated by an owner of the stored contact; and

(b) storing the data for the annotation, the stored data being accessible to individuals having access to the social network.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising a step of displaying the annotation together with the stored contact, the content of the annotation being based on the data.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising a step of displaying the annotation together with the stored contact when a displayed icon associated with the stored contact is selected.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising a step of presenting the owner with a window over a graphical user interface allowing the owner to enter the data.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, said step (a) of receiving data comprising the step of receiving a note the owner generated about the stored contact.

6. A method as recited in claim 5, the note relating to at least one of a characteristic of the stored contact and a relationship of the stored contact to the owner.

7. A method as recited in claim 5, the note being generated using natural language text.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, said step (a) of receiving data comprising the step of receiving a keyword tag the owner generated about the stored contact.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, the method further comprising the step of providing a keyword search capability to search for stored contacts in the social network by the keyword tag.

10. A method as recited in claim 8, the keyword tag relating to at least one of a characteristic of the stored contact and a relationship of the stored contact to the owner.

11. A method of providing a social network, comprising the steps of:

(a) storing data for an annotation to a stored contact, the data generated by an owner of the stored contact; and

(b) affecting annotation of the stored contact with the data when the stored contact is displayed to individuals having access to the social network.

12. A method as recited in claim 11, said step (a) of storing data for an annotation to a stored contact comprising the step of storing the data on an enterprise service provider database.

13. A method as recited in claim 11, said step (b) of affecting annotation of the stored contact with the data comprising the step of displaying the stored contact together with at least one of an associated note, an associated graphical image, a link to an associated video clip, a link to an associated audio file and a link to an associated text file.

14. A method as recited in claim 11, said step (b) of affecting annotation of the stored contact with the data comprising the step of displaying the stored contact together with an associated keyword tag.

15. A method as recited in claim 14, the method further comprising the step of providing a keyword search capability to search for stored contacts in the social network by the keyword tag.

16. A method as recited in claim 14, the method further comprising the step of providing an option to prioritize the position of the stored contact relative to other stored contacts when the stored contact is displayed.

17. A method of providing a social network, comprising the steps of:

(a) storing a tag associated with a stored contact of a plurality of stored contacts, the tag generated by an owner of the stored contact; and

(b) annotating the tag to the stored contact when the stored contact is displayed to individuals having access to the social network; and

(c) selecting the stored contact for inclusion in a group of plurality of stored contacts in response to a keyword search for stored contacts having the associated tag.

18. A method as recited in claim 17, said step (a) of storing a tag associated with the stored contact comprising the step of storing the tag on an enterprise service provider database.

19. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising the step of displaying the group of stored contacts selected in said step (c).

20. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

(a) storing a note associated with a stored contact of a plurality of stored contacts, the note generated by the owner of the stored contact; and

(b) annotating the note to the stored contact when the stored contact is displayed to individuals having access to the social network.