Leveraging communications to identify social network friends
First Claim
1. A method for enabling an electronic social relationship between a social network member and a second party who is not a social network friend of the social network member, comprising:
- monitoring a plurality of types of electronic communications of the social network member and detecting communication traffic using one of the types of electronic communication between the social network member and the second party;
automatically determining whether the communication traffic merits recommendation of the second party to the member as a social network friend, the recommendation based on one or more characteristics of the communication traffic between the parties; and
if the communication traffic merits recommending the second party to the social network member, then providing a message to the social network member recommending the second party as social network friend.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for determining whether to recommend a social relationship between a social network member and another party is disclosed. Electronic communication activity of the social network member and the other party is monitored. Based on a number of characteristics of the communication, a determination is made as to whether to recommend the party to the member as a social network friend. The characteristics can include how the parties communicate—whether through email, instant messaging and/or voice communication, whether the parties send direct email messages to each other, whether they communicate as part of a group email message, the location of each parties address in the email message and whether communication includes sharing activity.
87 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for enabling an electronic social relationship between a social network member and a second party who is not a social network friend of the social network member, comprising:
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monitoring a plurality of types of electronic communications of the social network member and detecting communication traffic using one of the types of electronic communication between the social network member and the second party; automatically determining whether the communication traffic merits recommendation of the second party to the member as a social network friend, the recommendation based on one or more characteristics of the communication traffic between the parties; and if the communication traffic merits recommending the second party to the social network member, then providing a message to the social network member recommending the second party as social network friend. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 19, 20)
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6. A method for determining whether to recommend a social relationship between an electronic social network member and at least one second party wherein a social network administrator provides communication services to the member, comprising:
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monitoring a plurality of types of electronic communication exchanges of the social network member and said at least one second party via communication services provided by the administrator of the social network; determining a plurality of characteristics of the exchanges of communication activity between the social network member and the at least one second party; assigning a weight to each of the plurality of characteristics of communication activity; detecting an exchange using one of the plurality of types of electronic communication activity of one or more the plurality of types and applying an assigned weight to the communication activity; and automatically summing weights of each communication activity detected and applied, and if said sum exceeds a threshold, automatically recommending establishment of a social relationship between the member at said at least one second party. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for determining an online relationship between two users, one user being a member of a social network service provided by a service provider having access to a plurality of types of communication information from said one user, comprising:
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monitoring the plurality of types of communication activity between the member and one or more second parties; for each type of communication, determining one or more factors concerning the communication which make the communication more or less likely to represent activity between individuals who may wish to be social network friends; detecting a communication exchange between the two users, each exchange using one of the plurality of types of communication activity and comprising one or more messages between the two users; characterizing each communication exchange between the social network member and the second party by assigning a weight to the factors present in the exchange based on the communication type and the communication factors; and if a sum of all weights of the communication activity between the member and the one or more second parties merits recommending the second party to the social network member, then providing a message to the social network member recommending second party as social network friend, the message including an action link enabling an action on the recommendation. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification