SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM

• US 20080228887A1
• Filed: 05/27/2008
• Published: 09/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Robertson, Brian D., Adams, Warren W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,739,139 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 2001/085 Partner search devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0263 Rule management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42008 Systems for anonymous communication between parties, e.g. by use of disposal contact identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 : Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 : Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users

Abstract

A networked computer system provides various services for assisting users in locating, and establishing contact relationships with, other users. For example, in one embodiment, users can identify other users based on their affiliations with particular schools or other organizations. The system also provides a mechanism for a user to selectively establish contact relationships or connections with other users, and to grant permissions for such other users to view personal information of the user. The system may also include features for enabling users to identify contacts of their respective contacts. In addition, the system may automatically notify users of personal information updates made by their respective contacts.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving and storing personal data of a first user of a computer-based service, said computer-based service accessible to users over a network, and providing functionality for users to establish contact relationships with other users such that each user can have one or more contacts, said personal data specified by the first user;

receiving a request from a second user of the service to establish a contact relationship with the first user, said request submitted to the service over a network;

sending a notification of the request to the first user over a network; and

providing an option, in connection with said request, for the first user to take an action that causes the service to expose to the second user at least some of the personal data of the first user, such that the second user is granted access to data that would not otherwise be accessible to the second user via the service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein notifying the first user of the request comprises sending a notification to the first user by email.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal data comprises multiple data elements, each corresponding to a different type of personal data, and the method comprises providing an option for the first user to designate a subset of said data elements to be exposed to the second user by the service.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an option for the first user to take an action that causes the service to expose to the second user information regarding who is a contact of the first user.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in connection with said establishing of the contact relationship, exposing to the second user, via a user interface of the service, contact relationships between the first user and additional users.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a web-based personal address book for the first user based on contact relationships established between the first user and other users of the service, said web-based personal address book providing access to contact information maintained by each contact of the first user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the service maintains relationship data indicating contact relationships between users, and the method further comprises using the relationship data to detect, and to cause the first user to be notified that, a third user is a contact of a contact of the first user via the second user.

8. A server system programmed and configured to perform the method of claim 1.

9. A computer-readable medium which stores executable instructions that embody the method of claim 1.

10. A system, comprising

a server system that provides functionality for users to register with a service, and to selectively establish contact relationships with other registered users of the service such that each registered user can have one or more contacts, the server system additionally providing functionality for the registered users to supply and update personal data for viewing by their respective contacts;

a computer data repository maintained by the server system, said computer data repository storing said personal data supplied by the registered users, and storing relationship data that specifies said contact relationships established between the registered users; and

an application program that executes on the server system, said application program operative to cause the server system to use the relationship data to generate, for a first registered user, a list of contacts of the first registered user, and to make said list available to the first registered user such that the first registered user can select a contact from said list to view at least some of the personal data of the selected contact.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the server system is operative to generate notification messages to notify the first registered user of personal data updates made by the contacts of the first registered user.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the server system an option for each registered user to specify, on a contact-by-contact basis, which elements of the personal data of the respective registered user are viewable via the service.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the server system is responsive to a request by the first registered user to establish a contact relationship with a second registered user by notifying the second user of said request, and by providing an option for the second user to respond to the request by taking an action to cause a two-way contact relationship to be established with the first user.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the server system is responsive to a second registered user establishing a contact relationship with a third registered user by sending a notification message to the third user by email to notify the third user of establishment of said contact relationship.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the server system provides an option for registered users to specify affiliations with organizations, and uses the said affiliations to communicate, to a user who is affiliated with a first organization, information identifying other users who are affiliated with the first organization, the server system thereby facilitating discovery of other users with which to establish contact relationships.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the server system provides an option for each registered user to specify a school attended and a date range of attendance, and the server system is operative to use resulting school and date range information to identify, and inform a second registered user of, other registered users that attended the same school as the second registered user at the same time as the second registered user, the server system thereby facilitating discovery of users with which to establish contact relationships.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the server system uses personal data supplied by the registered users to identify, and inform a second registered user of, other registered users who are share a common user attribute with the second registered user.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the application program is additionally operative to use the relationship data to notify users of birthdays of their respective contacts.

19. The system of claim 10, wherein the server system is operative to use the relationship data to detect, and to notify a second user that, a third user is a contact of a contact of the second user.

20. The system of claim 10, wherein the server system hosts a web site that provides web-based user access to the service.

21. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

providing a computer-based service that enables users to selectively establish contact relationships with other users such that each user can have one or more contacts;

receiving, from each of a plurality of users of the service, affiliation data specifying an organization with which the respective user was affiliated and an associated date range of affiliation, said affiliation data submitted by the users via an interface to the service;

for a first user of said plurality of users, using the affiliation data received from the plurality of users to identify a set of users who were affiliated with a first organization during a time period in which the first user was affiliated with the first organization; and

outputting a listing of said set of users for presentation to the first user to assist the first user in identifying other users with which to establish contact relationships.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the first organization is a school with which the first user and said set of users were enrolled.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said listing includes school graduation dates of the users in said set.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising subsequently outputting an update message to the first user identifying one or more additional users that have indicated an affiliation with said organization.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving a request from the first user to establish a contact relationship with a second user selected by the first user, said request generated using a service interface; and

notifying the second user of said request, and providing an option for the second user to respond to the request by establishing a two-way contact relationship with the first user.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

maintaining personal data of the second user in computer storage, said personal data comprising multiple data elements supplied by the second user via an interface to the service; and

providing the second user an option, in connection with said request, to specify which of said data elements are to be exposed to the first user by the service.

27. The method of claim 21, further comprising, in response to the first user establishing a contact relationship with a second user, providing an option for the second user to specify whether the service is to automatically notify the first user of a birthday of the second user.

28. A server system programmed to perform the method of claim 25.

29. A computer-readable medium which stores executable instructions that embody the method of claim 25.