342 results about "Online community" patented technology

A method and a system for evaluating the quality of a contribution made by a user in a distributed online community framework are disclosed. The quality of contribution is assessed by creating a reputation profile of the user across multiple online communities. The reputation profile contains a reputation score indicating the credibility of the user, user identification information, user participation statistics and user contribution information. Such reputation score is calculated based on the feedback provided by other users for the contribution made by the user. The system also allows maintaining and publishing a unique reputation profile across the distributed online communities. Maintaining the reputation profiles incentivizes users to contribute better quality content. This improves the overall quality of the community discourse.

A computer-implemented system and method for home page customization and e-commerce support is disclosed. The present invention relates to avatar home pages and the combination of a home page customization service with an e-commerce marketplace through which users can purchase home page decorations made by third party developers. Various embodiments include a “chat now” online matching system and a real-time map showing the geographical location of users in an online community.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for users to search networks, both their own network and their peers' networks, all under the umbrella of a “multiple level access” security system. The present invention has been designed to optimize networking capabilities among users in a comprehensive online community. Networking among such a secured environment will allow users an opportunity to enhance their networking potential by expanding their networks to their peers' and beyond. A user registers with the online community and personally adds individuals that they know to their personal networking database. While adding these peers to the networking database, the user grants a specific level of access to each individual. This security measure is devised to discourage solicitation from other unwanted online users. The levels of access give the user an opportunity to control the amount of personal information, including contacts that they make, available to their individual peers. Based on the level of access granted by the user, the peer may or may not be able to access the users information or the user's personal databases for potential networking. The level of access granted by two individuals need not be the same for each other.

An interactive online community utilizes an activity monitor that is operable to measure data, transmit data, and receive data. One or more servers coupled to a communication network provide access to the World Wide Web (“web”). A web portal located on one or more servers is operable to transmit data to the activity monitor and receive data from the activity monitor. The web portal includes a gaming and communication environment that utilizes the data from the activity monitor. Users engage in physical activity and participate in the gaming and communication environment with other users.

The present invention discloses a computer system within a computer network having multiple computers connected together using telecommunications mechanisms for graphically interacting within immersive online communities. A user selects a set of desired characteristics associated with a personality for creation of a first intelligent virtual object. The first intelligent virtual object interacts with other intelligent virtual objects within the immersive online community utilizing predetermined interface tools such that said other intelligent virtual objects receive real-time responses to stimuli initiated by said other intelligent virtual objects. The first intelligent virtual object interactively passes user generated content between said other intelligent virtual objects and said user under administrative controls.

Computerized methods and systems are provided for enabling electronic introductions of users of an online community. In one embodiment, a user may select a subset of users in his social network via a graphical or web interface to request that they be introduced. These users can be introduced electronically and invited or made to join each other's respective social networks.

Content maintained in an online social network or other online communities is tracked for changes and updates. The content may include user profiles, digital photos, digital audio and video files, testimonials, and identification of users who are friends. When such change or update occurs, users of the online social network or online community are notified according to various criteria that they have set. The notification may be provided by e-mail, an RSS feed, or a web page when accessed. With this feature, users can browse through content of other users with efficiency.

A method and system for interactively and progressively processing and determining customer satisfaction from data gathered within an online community comprises of a group of participants connected via a computer network such as the Internet. A customer satisfaction and experience processing system comprises a participant or user interface (“front interface”), a database, a search engine, a customer satisfaction processing algorithm, an intelligent optimizer, and an optional report generator. The front interface is accessible via the network, thereby allowing any participant to interactively share experiences with respct to listed items (i.e., products or services). The database stores identification information and data pertaining to the participants' satisfaction and experiences with particular items. The algorithm processes the input data and produces ranking scores for individual items. The intelligent optimizer analyzes a participant's individual profile to predict and / or recommend one or more of the items from those offered by many different providers, which are the items most likely to provide the participant with the highest level of satisfaction and the best customer experience. The report generator conducts marketing analysis and produces electronic reports for customers and item providers. The search engine permits retrieval of data from the database upon participants' input queries.

A tabulating system and method analyzes content posted and / or queried by an online community. The content can be searched based on a search filter executed at defined intervals, and the system can also reach through to locate and extract content from other remote systems. Community postings and queries can be tabulated to determine “hot topics” of interest to the community, to enhance the appeal and stickiness of a website. Furthermore, subscribers can also formulate and define their own custom searches to be run on their behalf to identify the existence of particular content on the website.

A database of personal information is built and controlled by the individual users creating it. This database can then be used to enhance the functionality and user experience associated with multi-participant online communities. By collecting information from users themselves, and by allowing users to maintain such data, the data can have significant added value both to the users and to any commercial services that wish to use it. Appropriate precautions are taken to ensure that users maintain control over the data they choose to share. Data is owned by the user that provided it, and any application or release of such data is only performed at user direction and under user control. The users are also given incentives to provide such data, in the form of promised rewards. These mechanisms improve the amount and quality of collected data, so that comprehensive databases describing users can be built more easily and effectively.

A computer-implemented system and method for home page customization and e-commerce support is disclosed. The present invention relates to avatar home pages and the combination of a home page customization service with an e-commerce marketplace through which users can purchase home page decorations made by third party developers. Various embodiments include a “chat now” online matching system and a real-time map showing the geographical location of users in an online community.

A method of managing online communities within an online community management system can include declaratively specifying a taxonomy of online community types, declaratively specifying a plurality of roles for members of online communities, and declaratively specifying a security policy that associates permissions with roles and online community types. A plurality of online community profiles can be maintained. Each online community profile can represent an online community, specify an online community type from the taxonomy, and specify a list of members of that online community as well as an associated role for each member. Access can be provided to a selected online community according to the online community type of the selected online community, a role within the selected online community that is associated with a user attempting to access the selected online community, and the security policy.

A system and method are provided for creating a social-networking community and enabling the social-networking community to interoperate with other social-networking communities within a network of social-networking communities. The method includes creating a core profile that links a user member's identify to plurality of social-networking communities of the network. The system enables user identity information, content, and friend information to be shared across social-networking communities of the network. The system also enables community content to be shared and tracked across social-networking communities of the network.

A community-based “green list” (CGL) message filter for mail service providers. The CGL filtering enables trusted messages to be delivered directly into a user's inbox folder and other messages to be delivered to other folders associated with the user. The CGL filtering indicates which messages are sent from those message addresses listed as friends in the user's personal address book. Also, the scope of CGL filtering includes more than those message addresses that the user interacts with directly (one degree of separation). For example, the CGL filtering also evaluates message addresses that are connected more remotely to the user through other nodes (users) in the online community that are located multiple degrees of separation away from the user.

A system for aggregating and managing PIM data from multiple sources is provided. By aggregating various sources of data, the present system allow for the bridging of networked communities and organizations. Limitations of data aggregation as a result of proprietary and / or protocol concerns are overcome through the development of trusted relationships amongst users of the data aggregation and management system.

A system and method for organizing online communities and virtual dwellings in a virtual environment through the analysis of instant messenger buddy lists, online address books and other user supplied data. The invention is generally related to instant messaging systems, online gaming environments, online communities, and interactive computing, and is specifically related to the organization of online communities and virtual dwellings in a virtual environment through the analysis of Instant Messenger “Buddy Lists”, online address books and other data supplied directly by the user.

An online knowledge verification system, method and software system product provides self-generating community-based knowledge certification. The system can be web-based and includes an infrastructure that allows users to identify and import into the system information descriptive of virtually unlimited content media for which knowledge certification can be established. The system includes a Question Preparation Engine by which questions and answers for an identified content medium are prepared for supporting the certification process. A Question Judgment Engine permits users to provide endorsement scores for the value of questions provided by other users for each content medium. Testing Engines are provided for testing the knowledge of users, using the prepared questions and answers having sufficient endorsement from the community and providing certificates for users who pass the tests for that particular content medium. The system permits users to share those certificates with other users of the community, as well as contacts on social media websites.

Managing online content via user supplied and / or refined tagging is disclosed. In some embodiments, a selection of an item available from an online store is received, and one or more tags to be associated with the item are received from a member of an online community comprising users of the online store. In some embodiments, an indication of a degree of usefulness of a tag is received from a member of an online community, and an attribute of the tag is updated to reflect the indication.

A system and method for determining and identifying clusters / kernels of linkings in communities of online users. The analysis is based at least in part on an entropy analysis, such as by dividing a population into cyber neighborhoods, which can be geographic based and / or logically related.

A system for aggregating and managing PIM data from multiple sources is provided. By aggregating various sources of data, the present system allow for the bridging of networked communities and organizations. Limitations of data aggregation as a result of proprietary and / or protocol concerns are overcome through the development of trusted relationships amongst users of the data aggregation and management system.

In one embodiment of the invention, a method for online entertainment comprises the initial steps of providing a user identification system that enables a user to have access to an online community of contestants, and of offering an interactive selection of actual entertainment events to the user. Such a selection of actual entertainment events may be a string of occurrences, for instance, a football season with a certain number of games, or one or more occurrences within a string of occurrences, for instance, a group of games within the football season, or an isolated occurrence, for instance, a football game. The string of occurrences, such as the above mentioned football season or games, may have not yet begun or be already in progress. In other embodiments of the invention, a system and a computer program product are provided that provide online entertainment according to the above described method.

A method and a system for evaluating the quality of a contribution made by a user in a distributed online community framework are disclosed. The quality of contribution is assessed by assigning a reputation score to the user across multiple online communities. The reputation scores of users are assigned on the basis of contributions of users and ratings received from other users for the contribution. The method provides for users to rate each other across multiple communities. The invention further discloses a method and system for maintaining reputation profiles of users of online communities. The system also allows maintaining a unique reputation profile across the distributed online communities. Maintaining the reputation profiles incentivizes users to contribute better quality content. This improves the overall quality of the community discourse.

A method and system evaluate the quality of a contribution in a particular domain made by a user of an online community. The quality of a contribution in a particular domain is assessed by assigning domain specific reputation score to the users of the online community. A domain specific reputation score is assigned to the user on the basis of ratings received from other users for the contribution as well as the relevance of the contribution with reference to the particular domain. Included are a method and system for determining reputation of a first user with respect to a second user. Reputation of the first user with respect to the second user is determined by assigning a second viewer specific reputation score to the first user. Attributes of the second user and quality of contribution made by the first user are determining factor for the second viewer specific reputation score.

A new generation online e-commerce and networking system is disclosed. According to the embodiments of the present invention, the online e-commerce and networking system is based on: 1) a new model of meeting individuals' work and life needs and integrating entities' processes to create large online networks; 2) a new advertising model of associating online advertisements with goods services, activities, and incentives that meet users' needs to allow users to solicit or request sponsorships so that direct interaction between users and advertisers is enabled; and 3) a new community model to enable entities to build deeper and better relationships with users through entities' direct involvement in online community building and real and virtual event hosting for users to participate.

The present invention relates to a mechanism for sharing user generated music videos in an online community. User generated visual content that can be synchronized with a soundtrack is shared independent of the soundtrack. In this way the copyrighted material is not shared and digital rights can be respected and enforced. Members of the online community that own the soundtrack can view the shared visual content automatically synchronized to the soundtrack they are listening to on their local machine.

There is disclosed a method of facilitating interaction between users of an electronic community. In an embodiment, the method comprises: reviewing a user activity log for each user in the electronic community; executing a natural language parser to extract significant noun phrases from the user activity log; updating user profiles from the newly extracted noun phrases, based on their usage frequency and importance value; and storing the updated profiles in a user profile and relationship data base; and executing a similarity based clustering algorithm to cluster user profiles, thereby discovering relationships among users and storing them in a user profile and relationship database. The method may further comprise displaying for each user the one or more relationships to which the user is assigned, together with a list of users assigned to the one or more relationships. The method may also comprise storing for each user the relationship to which the user is assigned in a user profile and relationship database.

A community-based “green list” (CGL) message filter for mail service providers. The CGL filtering enables trusted messages to be delivered directly into a user's inbox folder and other messages to be delivered to other folders associated with the user. The CGL filtering indicates which messages are sent from those message addresses listed as friends in the user's personal address book. Also, the scope of CGL filtering includes more than those message addresses that the user interacts with directly (one degree of separation). For example, the CGL filtering also evaluates message addresses that are connected more remotely to the user through other nodes (users) in the online community that are located multiple degrees of separation away from the user.

A collaborative system and method are used to capture, organize, share and preserve life stories. Life stories can be expressed in first person or third person. In either case, the process of developing the life stories is carried out with collaboration with and contributions from other users. The collaboration among the users is desirable because it serves to encourage and prompt users to record their life stories and also increases the relevance of the recorded life stories, so that an online community of users containing highly relevant and meaningful content, that is also relatively permanent in nature, about the users can be created.

A system is disclosed that provides functionality for mobile communications service bridging with distributed service gateway call managers that allow application clients running on users' communication devices to be served by any of the available service gateways, preferably in an active-active load balance configuration. Each service gateway instance may bridge the application client to a range of network services such as voice origination and termination services, IM services, messaging services, online community services, IP voice services, and premium services such as multiparty click-to-conference, directory services, and voice mail.

Systems and methods are provided for generating referral emails. Particularly, referral emails are generated as part of a campaign initiated by a member of an online community. The referral emails are customized based on both information about the potential member and the referring member. An email campaign may include a number of emails that change over time as a result of particular events being triggered. Links for particular assets, such as privileged web content, may be included in emails. Such links may be selectively chosen from an asset database. Such a selection may be chosen, for example, based on the stage of the referral / marketing campaign, information about the potential member, information about the referring member, and the contents of the assignment database.