METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING COMMUNICATION SERVICES
First Claim
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1. A system for providing accountability in an online community including a plurality of spaced apart online community member computing devices which are connectable to a network, the system comprising:
- a computing device being operatively connected to the plurality of online community member computing devices through the network;
a memory accessible by the computing device;
a database stored on the memory, the database including for each online community member a ration of contacts, the database further including an indication that a first online community member is a grantor for a second online community member; and
at least one community application stored on the memory, the at least one community application providing the online community members with an ability to submit a contact, wherein the computing device receives a request from the second online member computing device over the network for a first contact, granting the request for the first contact, receiving a message from a third online community member computing device over the network indicating that the first contact failed at least one community standard, and in response to the message adjusting a contact ration of the second online community member and a contact ration of the first online community member, the contact ration from the first online community member being adjusted because the first online community member is the grantor for the second online community member.
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Abstract
Online communities often do not include the same level of trust or accountability as face-to-face communities. A system is disclosed wherein a member of an online community is able to increase their contact ration. A system is disclosed wherein a member of an online community is held accountable to the actions of other community members with which the member is associated.
58 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for providing accountability in an online community including a plurality of spaced apart online community member computing devices which are connectable to a network, the system comprising:
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a computing device being operatively connected to the plurality of online community member computing devices through the network; a memory accessible by the computing device; a database stored on the memory, the database including for each online community member a ration of contacts, the database further including an indication that a first online community member is a grantor for a second online community member; and at least one community application stored on the memory, the at least one community application providing the online community members with an ability to submit a contact, wherein the computing device receives a request from the second online member computing device over the network for a first contact, granting the request for the first contact, receiving a message from a third online community member computing device over the network indicating that the first contact failed at least one community standard, and in response to the message adjusting a contact ration of the second online community member and a contact ration of the first online community member, the contact ration from the first online community member being adjusted because the first online community member is the grantor for the second online community member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of providing accountability in an online community, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving at a computing device of the online community a message from a first member of the online community over a network, the message indicating that a contact of a second member of the online community failed a standard of the online community; automatically decreasing a contact ration of the second member of the online community stored on a computer readable medium based on the message received from the first member of the online community; and automatically decreasing a contact ration of a third member of the online community stored on a computer readable medium based on the message received from the first member of the online community and an association between the third member of the online community and the second member of the online community. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. A system for providing accountability in an online community including a plurality of spaced apart online community member computing devices which are connectable to a network, the system comprising:
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a computing device being operatively connected to the plurality of online community member computing devices through the network; a memory accessible by the computing device; a database stored on the memory, the database including for each online community member a ration of contacts; and at least one community application stored on the memory, the at least one community application providing the online community members with an ability to submit a contact, wherein the computing device receives a request from a first online member computing device over the network for a first contact, the computing device executes an accountability application which retrieves a contact ration from the database for the first online member and grants the request for the first contact if a contact usage from the database for the first online member is less than the contact ration from the database for the first online member. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of providing accountability in an online community, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving at a computing device of the online community a request to join the online community from a first online community member;
providing the first online community member with a contact ration stored on a memory accessible by the computing device;automatically increasing the contact ration stored on the memory accessible by the computing device based on a period of time and an activity level of the first online community member in the online community; and automatically decreasing the contact ration stored on the memory accessible by the computing device based on a determination made by the computing device that a contact submitted by the first online community member failed a standard of the online community. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification