Apparatus, system and method for funding features for online personalities

Abstract

A system for automatically generating a funding deal for enhancement of physical features of an online personality comprises: a GUI through which the online personality interacts with followers, and by which interaction the online personality receives income; at least two inputs for data to be received by the main GUI from the online personality and at least one investor in the enhancement; a remote hub capable of generating a contractual proposal for the funding deal, and being generated based at least on financial data and follower data from a social media platform providing the main GUI and on third party surgical data communicatively available to the remote hub; wherein the contractual proposal is negotiated over the at least two inputs until an agreement is reached, at which time the funding deal is generated and proceeds according to the negotiated contractual proposal.

Description

APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FUNDING FEATURES FOR ONLINE PERSONALITIESCross-Reference to Related Applications

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 63 / 554,473, filed on February 16, 2024, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUNDField of the Disclosure

[0002] The present disclosure relates to social media and, more particularly, to an apparatus, system and method for funding features for online personalities.Description of the Background

[0003] Social media is becoming part of our lives at an ever-increasing pace. This prevalence of social media has created an entire economy, including for the personalities who can achieve success in having a presence of interest to others on that social media.

[0004] Nowhere is the successful economy of social media personality more prevalent than with regard to adult content, such as on the site OnlyFans. However, involvement in the economy of social media is generally limited to those personalities having a successful presence thereon. Accordingly, an unwillingness to get involved as a presence on a particular social media typically eliminates the possibility of gaining financial success thereon — and persons may be especially adverse to creating a presence on an adult contentsite. As such, the type of content that lends the greatest likelihood to its personalities for financial success is also the least likely type of content that most of the populace is willing to get involved in.

[0005] Moreover, the financial success of a personality on social media generally depends on a number of factors and the extent of possession of the factors: area of expertise; level of expertise in the area; likability; comedic talent; willingness to engage in dangerous activities; physical appearance; physical features; etc. These last factors, i.e., physical appearance and physical features, may be of particular importance to the success of personalities on adult content sites.

[0006] Oddly, given the clear convergence of a desire on the part of non-personalities to get involved in the economy of social media, and the need of personalities for funding, such as for improvements to the physicality of those personalities, to enhance the success of those personalities, there currently exists no mechanism to connect these desired to enhance the financial success of both personalities and non-personalities. Thus, a need exists for this mechanism.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0007] Referring now to the figures incorporated herein, shown are non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein like numerals represent like elements, and wherein:

[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram of aspects of the embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] The figures and descriptions provided herein may have been simplified to illustrate aspects that are relevant for a clear understanding of the herein described apparatuses, systems, and methods, while eliminating, for the purpose of clarity, other aspects that may be found in typical similar devices, systems, and methods. Those of ordinary skill may thus recognize that other elements and / or operations may be desirable and / or necessary to implement the devices, systems, and methods described herein. But because such elements and operations are known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the present disclosure, for the sake of brevity a discussion of such elements and operations may not be provided herein. However, the present disclosure is deemed to nevertheless include all such elements, variations, and modifications to the described aspects that would be known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

[0010] Exemplary embodiments are provided throughout so that this disclosure is sufficiently thorough and fully conveys the scope of the disclosed embodiments to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth, such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. Nevertheless, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain specific disclosed details need not be employed, and that exemplary embodiments may be embodied in different forms. As such, the exemplary embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. As referenced above, in some exemplary embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well- known technologies may not be described in detail.

[0011] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. For example, as used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "including," and "having," are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. The steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their respective performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as a preferred or required order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed, in place of or in conjunction with the disclosed aspects.

[0012] When an element or layer is referred to as being "on", "engaged to", "connected to" or "coupled to" another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present, unless clearly indicated otherwise. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly engaged to", "directly connected to" or "directly coupled to" another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., "between" versus "directly between," "adjacent" versus "directly adjacent," etc.). Further, as used herein the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0013] Yet further, although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and / or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and / or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Terms such as "first," "second," and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the exemplary embodiments.

[0014] The embodiments are and include an apparatus, system and method for funding physical features of online personalities. Included may be a funding offer and / or request interface, a funding acceptance interface, an agreement proposal interface, an agreement negotiation interface, and a before and after agreement financial tracking interface. The foregoing may be part of, or distinct from, a core social media interface for a particular social media “app”. Accordingly, the foregoing interfaces may ne a single graphical user interface (GUI), such as within or distinct from the social media app, or may be multiple different GUIs, some of which may be in-app to the social media app, and some of which may be external to the social media app.

[0015] In any of the foregoing cases, the GUI(s) discussed may have inputs and outputs to an algorithmic hub, such as may be in the cloud and which may run the algorithms discussed herein. As such, the algorithmic core may have “data hooks” into at least the social media interface, financial aspects thereof (such as uniquely to a personality’s accountfor which access has been authorized), prior agreements and the terms thereof, as well as third party sites and financial data, including geographically-keyed surgical costs and surgeon ratings.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating aspects of the embodiments. Illustrated is a social media site or “app”. Interfaced with or as part of the app is a GUI having aspects distinct from the “main GUI” of the social media app. Also communicative with the social media app is an algorithmic core, such as may be resident in a remote hub remote from the situs of the social media platform, capable of applying one or more algorithms to data entered to the GUI. The algorithmic core may also be communicative with one or more third party data stores / sites.

[0017] The social media platform / app may provide access to a personality for the main GUI, and one or more viewers / likers may be associated with that personality via the main GUI. The personality may receive income generated from viewers interacting with the personality and / or the personality ’ s recommendations and / or sponsors in or through the main GUI.

[0018] The GUI, either as part of the main GUI or distinct from the main GUI, may include an input for request by the personality for funding by viewers of a physical appearance modification, and / or an input for an offer from a viewer or viewers to fund a physical appearance modification of the personality. If an interest from viewers in honoring the request is expressed, or an interest from the personality in accepting the offer is expressed, an agreement proposal may be in order.

[0019] The agreement proposal may include that the funding for the change in physical appearance is an investment in the future earnings of the personality, which may be enhanced over prior earnings on the site based upon the modification to physical appearance. The agreement proposal may come from an offering viewer or from a requesting personality, for example, or may be automatically generated from the algorithmic core.

[0020] The agreement proposal, such as upon generation from the algorithmic core, may be generated based on a number of weighted factors. Such factors may include: earnings prior to the physical appearance modification; amount of funding to be provided; number of viewers investing; age of the personality (and thus average years remaining until retirement); projected increase in earnings after physical modification; and so on. Some of the foregoing data may be available to the algorithmic core from the subject site, but other data necessary to formulate the agreement proposal may be available to the algorithmic core via access to third party sites and data.

[0021] The algorithmic core may then apply one of multiple available algorithms based on the perceived factors by the artificial intelligence (Al) / machine learning algorithm. That is, one or more of the aforementioned factors, or one or more additional data points, may vary the weight accorded the other factors in formulating a proposed agreement.

[0022] By way of non-limiting example, a personality with less than 100 “followers” viewers may enter a request for followers to fund a cosmetic enhancement procedure (or one such follower may send an offer to fund, at least in part, a cosmetic enhancement for thepersonality). Based on the comparatively (to other personalities on that social media platform, or on other similar platforms as assessed by the algorithmic core from third party data) small number of followers for this personality, the Al may perceive that the cosmetic enhancement is likely to have a significantly higher impact on income (and thus, on numbers of followers) than it would have for a personality with over 1,000 followers. Accordingly, the Al may select proposed agreement features that favor the investors going forward, since their contributions are likely to more greatly urge forward the personality’s financial success than would the personality’s contributions alone in light of the comparative lack of success of the personality pre-investment. Of course, this Al may vary this calculus based on any number of learned factors, i.e., a personality with 100 followers in 3 days on the platform is comparatively more successful, and has greater upside for financial success going forward even without the investment in the physical enhancement, than a personality with 100 followers accumulated over 18 months on the platform.

[0023] As such, the algorithm core’s Al may deem the investor(s) and the investment(s) to be the more vital partner, and thus may favor the inventor(s) in this example. In such a case, the agreement proposal may include a small percentage of the average prephysical enhancement income back to the investors, such as 10%, and a significant percentage of the increase in income over the average pre-physical enhancement after the physical enhancement back to the investors, such as 40%. On the contrary, it will be appreciated that the contrary type of proposal may be true in circumstances in which the personality was already comparatively financially successful compared to other personalities prior to physical enhancement — that is, a personality seeking investment with more than1000 followers may provide the investors with no percentage of average pre-enhancement income, and 30% of the difference in average income post-enhancement; and a personality with more than 10,000 followers may provide solely 20% of the difference in average income post-enhancement; and so on.

[0024] The initial agreement proposal may further comprise either largely the terms requested by the personality, by the largest investor, or by the average of investors, for example. Further, the algorithmic core may review data on prior agreements for similarly- situated personalities on the same social media platform, or third party data on agreements related to other platforms. Yet further, frequent successful prior investors, such as in other personalities, may be sought out.

[0025] Moreover, the total income shared to the investors may be divided among the investors based on their respective percentage investment of the total amount invested. In order to avoid any impropriety, the actual income of the personality may, at all times, be certified by the social media platform, and the personality may, in a profile associated with the personality’s account, give permission that this information be shared, such as with the algorithmic core.

[0026] Once a proposed agreement is generated, the agreement may be negotiable as between the parties. Needless to say, the negotiation and approval of the agreement for the personality is simple, as the approval is from one party, i.e., the personality or the representative (such as the agent) of the agent. The approval is more difficult from the investor side, but the algorithmic core may apply a suitable algorithm to justify that theinvestors have approved, such as all investors agreeing in advance that a majority of the committed investors acquiescing to an agreement proposal locks in all investors.

[0027] Needless to say, the negotiation tool of the algorithmic core may be more complex, such as wherein a counter proposal from the investors comprises an average of the counter proposals received from all individual investors. There may be additional elements to any counter-proposal, such as escalators and the like. Moreover, prior investors in that personality may be given preferential treatment.

[0028] Yet further, as earnings may cease during recovery times, for example, part of any agreement proposal or counter-proposal may include financial coverage for lost earnings for the typical recovery period. As such, the algorithmic core may have access to third party data, such as typical surgical costs, recovery times, surgeon recommendations, and the like.

[0029] The negotiation interface may close upon acceptance by both sides. Following acceptance by both sides, the agreement may dictate performance terms and a performance timeframe for the physical enhancement.

[0030] It will be appreciated, in light of the discussion herein, that the embodiments may be applicable to other types of social media, such as those seeking employment in the acting or music industries. Consequently, the investments may vary, such as being investments in travel, singing or acting lessons, clothing or jewelry, and the like.

[0031] The data discussed throughout, including the investment amounts, numbers of investors, verticals into which investment is made, and the financial success resulting from investments, may be used for purposes other than those explicitly discussed above. By way of non-limiting example, the data may be subject to gamification in any number of ways. For example, multiple investors may each agree to make an investment in a given vertical, or a given set of verticals as an “investment bundle”. Thereafter, the financial success achieved that is attributable to the investment may be tracked, and the investor who made the best investment, or the best portfolio of investments in an investment bundle, may be declared the winner, or may receive an added star on a rating, for example.

[0032] Based on these ratings, or “winning investments”, an investor may become sought after, such as receiving advanced notice of “premium” investment opportunities. Premium opportunities may be, for example, investment requests made by personalities already having large numbers of followers, and / or investment predicted by the Al engine to have significant levels of profitability post-investment. Additionally or alternatively, such winning investments and / or ratings may be tracked as a sort of “fantasy league” gamification format.

[0033] In the foregoing detailed description, it may be that various features are grouped together in individual embodiments for the purpose of brevity in the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that any subsequently claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited.

[0034] Further, the descriptions of the disclosure are provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosed embodiments. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but rather is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A system for automatically generating a funding deal for enhancement of physical features of an online personality, comprising: a main graphical user interface (GUI) through which the online personality interacts with followers, and by which interaction the online personality receives income; at least two inputs for data to be received by the main GUI from the online personality and at least one investor in the enhancement, wherein a proposal for the funding deal is received at one of the at least two inputs; a remote hub comprising an algorithmic core capable of generating a contractual proposal for the proposed funding deal, the contractual proposal concerning at least a percentage of average earnings before the enhancement and a percentage of a difference of the average earnings before the enhancement and earnings after the enhancement, and being generated based at least on financial data and follower data from a social media platform providing the main GUI and on third party surgical data communicatively available to the remote hub; wherein the contractual proposal is negotiated over the at least two inputs until an agreement is reached, at which time the funding deal is generated and proceeds according to the negotiated contractual proposal.

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