SOCIAL NETWORKING IN A NON-PERSONALIZED ENVIRONMENT

• US 20090240659A1
• Filed: 03/21/2008
• Published: 09/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: GANZ An Ontario Partnership Consisting of SH GANZ Holdings Incorporated and 816877 Ontario Limited
• Original Assignee: GANZ An Ontario Partnership Consisting of SH GANZ Holdings Incorporated and 816877 Ontario Limited
• Inventors: Ganz, Howard, Borst, Karl Joseph, Christensen, Sally, Scoble, Jesse
• Application Number:
  US12/053,260
• Publication Number:
  US 20090240659A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/335 using Internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/795 for finding other players; for building a team; for providing a buddy list
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5553 user representation in the game field, e.g. avatar
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/572 Communication between players during game play of non game information, e.g. e-mail, chat, file transfer, streaming of audio and streaming of video
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8058 Virtual breeding, e.g. tamagotchi
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality

Abstract

A social networking website allows users to interact socially without revealing any information about themselves. The only information they reveal is about their virtual pets in the virtual website world.

Claims

1. A social networking system, comprising:

a number of page creation processes, which each create pages for users, such that each of a plurality of users have individual pages that are indicative of social characteristics, where said social characteristics that are displayed on the pages represent only content that exists within a virtual world within a website formed by the page creation processes, and do not include any personal information about the users themselves that is not specific to the website.

2. A system as in claim 1, further comprising a process that allows interacting with the characters to personalize the characters, in a way which renders the characters, once personalized, different than an original character.

3. A system as in claim 1, wherein said pages include pages indicative of competitions between virtual characters on the website.

4. A system as in claim 3, wherein said pages indicative of competitions include custom competitions in which at least one user can select multiple different events within the competition.

5. A system as in claim 2, wherein said website limits an amount of personalizing of a character that can occur in a specified time.

6. A system as in claim 4, wherein said page creation processes allow accumulating rewards on the website, where the rewards can also be offered as a prize for the competition.

7. A system as in claim 1, wherein said social characteristics include virtual representations of items that are possessed by the users in the real world.

8. A system as in claim 1, wherein said page creation processes allow creating a comments page.

9. A system as in claim 8, wherein said comments page includes a virtual representation of a virtual character used by the user who made the comment, rather than a virtual representation associated with the user itself.

10. A system as in claim 1, wherein said pages include an entry hub page, which forms an entry to said individual pages, wherein said entry hub page includes a first part formed of personalized information that is personalized according to a user'"'"'s information, and a second part that includes system generated information.

11. A system as in claim 10, wherein said personalized information is based on a user selection of desired characteristics, wherein each of said characteristics represent only characteristics that are selectable on the site.

12. A system as in claim 11, wherein one of said characteristics includes a newsfeed about actions of selected friends on the website.

13. A system as in claim 1, wherein said pages include a menu bar that has a first set of tabs when the user is visiting their own page, and has a second set of tabs different than the first set of tabs when the user is visiting a friend'"'"'s page.

14. A system as in claim 1, further comprising a search engine that allows users to search the website for social events and/or friends of interest.

15. A system as in claim 14, wherein said search engine allows entering desired characteristics of an event, and searches according to said desired characteristics of the event.

16. A system as in claim 14 wherein said search engine allows entering at least one specified like and/or dislike within the virtual world, and searches for users who have said specified like and/or dislike.

17. A system as in claim 1, further comprising an organizer that allows different categories of friends to see different personal information about the users.

18. A method comprising:

using a server computer to create a first personal page for a first user that includes information about the first user'"'"'s possessions on a virtual world hosted within a website, and to create a second personal page for a second user that includes information about the second user'"'"'s possessions on the virtual world hosted within the website, where said first and second pages are separate pages;

and where said first and second pages represent only content that exists within the virtual world of the website, and do not include any personal information about the users themselves that is not specific to the website.

19. A method as in claim 18, wherein said possessions are virtual characters on the website.

20. A method as in claim 19, further comprising interacting with the characters to personalize the characters, in a way which renders the characters, once personalized, different than an original character, and wherein said virtual characters on the website that are shown on said personal pages include said personalized characters.

21. A method as in claim 20, further comprising defining custom competitions in which at least one user can select multiple different events within the competition.

22. A method as in claim 20, further comprising limiting an amount of personalizing of a character that can occur in a specified time.

23. A method as in claim 22, wherein said limiting comprises limiting an amount of personalizing that can occur each day.

24. A method as in claim 21, further comprising allowing accumulating rewards on the website, and keeping track of the accumulated rewards, and allowing offering parts of the rewards as a prize for the competition.

25. A method as in claim 19, wherein said virtual characters are representations of items that are possessed by the users in the real world.

26. A method as in claim 25, wherein said page creation processes allow creating a comments page.

27. A method as in claim 25, wherein said comments page includes a virtual representation of a virtual character used by the user who made the comment, rather than a virtual representation associated with the user itself.

28. A method as in claim 18, further comprising using said server computer to create an entry hub page, which forms an entry to said personal pages, wherein said entry hub page includes a first part formed of user information that is based on said user'"'"'s possessions, and said entry hub page also includes a second part that includes system generated information.

29. A method as in claim 28, wherein said user information is based on a user selection of desired characteristics, wherein each of said characteristics represent only characteristics that are selectable on the site.

30. A method as in claim 29, wherein one of said characteristics includes a newsfeed about actions of selected friends on the website.

31. A method as in claim 18, wherein said first and second pages include a menu bar that has a first set of tabs when the user is visiting their own page, and has a second set of tabs different than the first set of tabs when the user is visiting a friend'"'"'s page.

32. A method as in claim 18, further comprising using said server computer to create a search engine that allows users to search the website for social events and/or friends of interest.

33. A method as in claim 32, wherein said search engine allows entering desired characteristics of an event, and searches according to said desired characteristics of the event.

34. A method as in claim 32 wherein said search engine allows entering at least one specified like and/or dislike within the virtual world, and searches for users who have said specified like and/or dislike.

35. A method as in claim 18, further comprising an organizer that allows different categories of friends to see different personal information about the users.

36. A system for presenting a social networking website, said system comprising:

means for executing a plurality of page creation processes, each one of said page creation processes for enabling each one of a plurality of users to generate individual pages that are indicative of certain social characteristics, wherein said certain social characteristics that are displayed on the pages represent content that exists within the virtual world of the website, said content not including information for identifying the actual identity of the users, and wherein

each one of said page creation processes is for generating individual pages that are indicative of a different certain social characteristic than another one of said page creation processes.