System-facilitated leveraging of relationships

• US 8,984,076 B1
• Filed: 07/12/2012
• Issued: 03/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BoardEx LLC (Delinian Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Relationship Science LLC (Delinian Ltd.)
• Inventors: Goldman, Neal
• Primary Examiner(s): Gillis, Brian J
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRIJALVA LOBOS, BORIS D
• Application Number:
  US13/548,184
• Time in Patent Office: 978 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-203, 709/206, 709/218, 709/220, 709/223, 709/229
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9536 Search customisation based on social or collaborative filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A system facilitates helping make introductions between users of the system. The system includes information on important and influential people using a social graph to represent relationships between these people and users of the system. Who you know is an important asset and is a typically closely guarded asset. With the system, users can help others users in the system they are allied with to do favors for each other from time to time. The value of the system increases since having one or more allies will encourage the user to ask more of their close friends to be users of the system so that they can be allies. As the system becomes more powerful for the user, he will value the system more highly, be more satisfied, use it more and recommend it more to his friends.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a first user connected to a system with access to a social graph, wherein the first user is allied with a first set of nodes of the social graph specified by the first user and the social graph comprises;

providing in the social graph a first type of node, referred to as a user-provided node, and a first type of edge, referred to as a user-provided edge, wherein user-provided edges include information provided by users of the system; and

providing in the social graph a second type of node, referred to as a system-provided node, and a second type of edge, referred to as a system-provided edge, wherein system-provided nodes and system-provided edges include information gathered by the system;

maintaining the social graph comprising;

allowing system-provided nodes to be coupled to other system-provided nodes by system-provided edges;

allowing user-provided nodes to be coupled to system-provided nodes by user-provided edges;

disallowing user-provided nodes from being coupled to other user-provided nodes or to system-provided nodes using system-provided edges; and

disallowing system-provided nodes from being coupled to other system-provided nodes using user-provided edges;

representing the first user as a first user-provided node in the social graph;

representing the first set of nodes in the social graph as a first set of user-provided nodes;

coupling the first user-provided node with the first set of user-provided nodes by user-provided edges;

allowing the first user to enter a request to the system, wherein the request comprises identifying a first system-provided node of the social graph;

determining using the system that a first relationship of a second user-provided node of the first set of user-provided nodes satisfies the request, wherein the second user-provided node represents a second user and the first relationship comprises a path with at least one system-provided node and at least one system-provided edge in the social graph;

determining a first user-provided edge couples the second user-provided node with the first system-provided node and the first user is disallowed from viewing the first user-provided edge coupling the second user-provided node with the first system-provided node; and

indicating to the second user they are able to satisfy the request, without indicating to the first user that the second user is able to satisfy the request.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

allowing the second user to dismiss the request from the first user in the system, transparent to the first user.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

if the second user agrees to satisfy the request, transmitting a message from the system to the first user that the second user is connected to the first node.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the message comprises a summary of the first relationship.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the second user agrees to be an ally of the first user.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein each node of the first set of nodes are user nodes.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the second user is prevented from viewing membership in the first set of nodes.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first node is a system-provided node.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the first set of nodes are selected by the first user.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the social graph contains a plurality of system-provided nodes and each system-provided node is connected to at least one other system-provided node by system-provided edges.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second users are connected in the social graph by a user provided edge.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining using the system that a first relationship satisfies the request comprises:

retrieving a plurality of system-provided edges directly coupled to the first system-provided node specified by the system; and

determining the second user-provided node is coupled to at least one of the plurality of system-provided edges.

21. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

when the second user indicates they are unwilling to satisfy the request, disallow notifying the first user about the first relationship.

22. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

coupling the first user-provided node with the second user-provided node; and

disallowing the first user represented by the first user-provided node to view in the social graph the first user-provided edge coupling the second user-provided node and the first system-provided node.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the system-provided nodes and system-provided edges including information gathered by the system comprises:

receiving unfiltered information from an on-line source;

filtering the unfiltered information to obtain first information on a first entity;

filtering the unfiltered information to obtain second information on a second entity;

creating the first system-provided node to represent the first entity, wherein the first system-provided node is added to a social graph with a plurality of system-provided nodes and a plurality of system-provided edges connecting system-provided nodes;

creating a second system-provided node to represent a second entity and adding the second system-provided node to the social graph;

associating the first information to the first system-provided node; and

associating the second information to the second system-provided node.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the social graph further comprises:

precluding coupling user-provided nodes to system-provided edges; and

precluding coupling system-provided nodes to other system-provided nodes via user-provided edges.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein none of the system-provided edges of the system-provided edges are connected to a user-provided node.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein none of the user-provided edges of the user-provided edges are connected to more than one system-provided node.

12. A method comprising:

providing a first user connected to a system with access to a social graph, wherein the first user is allied with a first set of nodes of the social graph and the social graph comprises;

providing in the social graph a first type of node, referred to as a user-provided node, and a first type of edge, referred to as a user-provided edge, wherein user-provided edges include information provided by users of the system; and

providing in the social graph a second type of node, referred to as a system-provided node, and a second type of edge, referred to as a system-provided edge, wherein system-provided nodes and system-provided edges include information gathered by the system;

maintaining the social graph comprising;

allowing system-provided nodes to be coupled to other system-provided nodes by system-provided edges;

allowing user-provided nodes to be coupled to system-provided nodes by user-provided edges;

disallowing user-provided nodes from being coupled to other user-provided nodes or to system-provided nodes using system-provided edges; and

disallowing system-provided nodes from being coupled to other system-provided nodes using user-provided edges;

allowing the first user to enter a request to the system;

determining using the system that a first relationship of a first node of the first set of nodes satisfies the request, wherein the first node represents a second user and the first relationship comprises a path with at least one system-provided node and at least one system-provided edge in the social graph;

determining using the system that a second relationship of the first node of the first set of nodes satisfies the request; and

indicating to the second user they are able to satisfy the request based on the first and second relationships.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

allowing the user to select the first relationship and not the second relationship in the system; and

transmitting a message from the system to the first user that the second user is connected to the first node by the first relationship.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the indicating to the second user they are able to satisfy the request based on the first and second relationships does not indicate to the first user that the second user is able to satisfy the request.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the request comprises a group of persons represented by system-provided nodes in the social graph.

16. A method comprising:

providing a user with access to a system, wherein the user is connected in the system with a group of persons comprising user-provided nodes and non-users of the system comprising system-provided nodes;

maintaining the system comprising;

allowing system-provided nodes to be coupled to other system-provided nodes by system-provided edges;

allowing user-provided nodes to be coupled to system-provided nodes by user-provided edges;

disallowing user-provided nodes from being coupled to other user-provided nodes or to system-provided nodes using system-provided edges; and

disallowing system-provided nodes from being coupled to other system-provided nodes using user-provided edges;

allowing the user to specify a request to the system;

determining by the system whether the group of persons can satisfy the request, wherein the request is satisfied when there is an intermediate person connected to a first person of the group of persons and the request, and the intermediate person is represented as a system-provided node coupled by a system-provided edge; and

indicating to the first person of the group of persons by a message that they can satisfy the request, without indicating to the user that that first person of the group of persons can satisfy the request.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the message comprises:

a first piece of information specifying the request of the user;

a second piece of information specifying the intermediate person; and

a third piece of information specifying how the intermediate person satisfies the request.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the request comprises a business sector.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the request comprises a geographic region.

27. The method of claim 16 wherein the system-provided edge is coupled to a system-provided node representing the first person.