U.S. patent application number 14/201826 was filed with the patent office on 2014-07-10 for offline names addressing online community web pages.
The applicant listed for this patent is John W. Ogilvie. Invention is credited to John W. Ogilvie.
Application Number | 20140195613 14/201826 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44994434 |
Filed Date | 2014-07-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140195613 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ogilvie; John W. |
July 10, 2014 |
Offline Names Addressing Online Community Web Pages
Abstract
Avoidance criteria are obtained and used to help prevent offline
encounters between members of an online community by limiting
online communications between members who share some aspect of
offline life, thereby reducing the risk of offline encounters that
could otherwise arise from online interaction. For each member of
the online community, a system provider obtains one or more
avoidance criteria ratified by the member and associates them with
the member. Avoidance criteria include aspects of the member's
offline life, such as geographic regions in which the member
resides or plans to travel, organizations in which the member is
active, and other interests and activities of the member.
Respective avoidance criteria of different members are compared to
determine whether the members share at least one avoidance
criterion. Online communication between members who share an
avoidance criterion is automatically limited.
Inventors: |
Ogilvie; John W.; (Salt Lake
City, UT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Ogilvie; John W. |
Salt Lake City |
UT |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
44994434 |
Appl. No.: |
14/201826 |
Filed: |
March 8, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11876996 |
Oct 23, 2007 |
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14201826 |
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60865757 |
Nov 14, 2006 |
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60866418 |
Nov 18, 2006 |
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60868619 |
Dec 5, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/204 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 63/0421 20130101;
H04L 67/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/204 |
International
Class: |
H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08 |
Claims
1-24. (canceled)
25. A computerized method for use by an online service provider for
online identity management, the method comprising: a computer
system reading a user's offline identity information from secure
storage; the computer system automatically generating from the
user's offline identity information a proposed web address which
includes at least a portion of the user's offline identity
information; and the computer system displaying the proposed web
address to the user.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein the user has multiple online
identities managed by the online service provider.
27. The method of claim 25, wherein the computer system
automatically generates from the user's offline identity
information a proposed web address which includes at least one of
the following: the user's offline personal name, the user's offline
family name.
28. The method of claim 25, wherein the computer system
automatically generates from the user's offline identity
information a proposed web address which includes the user's
offline legal name.
29. The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises
the computer system gathering offline identity information from the
user during registration of the user as a member of an online
community.
30. The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises
the computer system informing the user that entering an offline
name is required to participate in an online community.
31. The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises
the computer system requiring that the user accept a level of
offline encounter risk before the user can participate fully in an
online community, where the level offline encounter risk represents
the user's willingness to risk encountering offline some other
member of the online community.
32. The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises
the computer system accepting the proposed web address from the
user.
33. The method of claim 25, wherein the proposed web address
includes an offline name of the user, and the method further
comprises the computer system using the proposed web address in a
social network.
34. The method of claim 25, wherein the proposed web address
includes a nickname of the user, and the method further comprises
the computer system using the proposed web address in a social
network.
35. The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises
the computer system subsequently disabling the proposed web
address.
36. The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises
the computer system subsequently disabling the proposed web address
without notifying the user.
37. The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises
the computer system changing the proposed web address.
38. The method of claim 25, wherein the computer system uses the
proposed web address as a web address of a personal web page of the
user.
39. A computerized method for use by an online service provider for
online identity management, the method comprising: a computer
system reading a user's offline name from offline identity
information located in a secure storage; the computer system
automatically generating a web address which includes at least a
portion of the user's offline name; and the computer system
managing access to a web page in an online community using the
generated web address.
40. The method of claim 39, wherein the computer system uses the
generated web address as a web address of a personal web page of
the user in a social network.
41. The method of claim 39, wherein the online community is part of
a social network.
42. The method of claim 39, wherein the user has multiple online
identities managed at least in part by the online service
provider.
43. The method of claim 39, wherein the computer system reads the
user's offline name from offline identity information located in a
database of user registrations in the secure storage.
44. The method of claim 39, wherein the computer system manages
access to a web page of the user in a social network using the
generated web address.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application incorporates and claims priority to
each of the following: U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.
60/865757 filed Nov. 14, 2006; U.S. provisional patent application
Ser. No. 60/866418 filed Nov. 18, 2006; and U.S. provisional patent
application Ser. No. 60/868619 filed Dec. 5, 2006.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Social network services are provided online for communities
of people who share interests. Social network services provide ways
for members of an online community to learn about each other, such
as directories, profiles, personal pages, and search facilities.
Social networks also build on or provide ways for members of an
online community to communicate electronically with each other,
such as chat, email, instant messaging, blogs, forums, video
transmissions, and discussion groups.
[0003] Members of a social network may use the social network to
arrange meetings with other members in person offline for dating,
friendship, business, or philanthropic activities. Some social
networks sponsor offline meetings between people who have
communicated online through the social network. People who meet
online may also exchange offline contact information, or be
notified online of offline events based on their online expressions
of interest, for example.
SUMMARY
[0004] In connection with some embodiments, avoidance criteria are
obtained and used to help prevent offline encounters between
members of an online community by limiting online communications
between members who share some aspect of offline life. For
instance, if two members each reside in the same metropolitan
region then measures are used to limit (or to eliminate) their
opportunities for online interaction, thereby reducing the risk of
offline encounters that could otherwise arise from online
interaction.
[0005] In some embodiments, a member of an online community
receives a notice that communications in the online community will
be regulated to reduce online communication between members of the
online community who share at least one avoidance criterion. For
each member of the online community, a system provider obtains one
or more avoidance criteria ratified by the member and associates
them with the member. Avoidance criteria may include aspects of the
member's offline life, such as geographic regions in which the
member resides or plans to travel, organizations in which the
member is active, and other offline interests and activities of the
member. Respective avoidance criteria of different members are
compared to determine whether the members share at least one
avoidance criterion. Online communication between members who share
an avoidance criterion is limited, to reduce the risk of offline
encounters that could otherwise arise from online interaction.
[0006] The examples given are merely illustrative. This Summary is
not intended to identify key features or essential features of the
claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the
scope of the claimed subject matter. Rather, this Summary is
provided to introduce--in a simplified form--some concepts that are
further described below in the Detailed Description. The innovation
is defined with claims, and to the extent this Summary conflicts
with the claims, the claims should prevail.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] A more particular description will be given with reference
to the attached drawings. These drawings only illustrate selected
aspects and thus do not fully determine coverage or scope.
[0008] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an operating
environment, some roles, some data structures, and some system and
configured storage medium embodiments;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating steps of some method and
configured storage medium embodiments from a point of view of a
member of an online community; and
[0010] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating steps of some method and
configured storage medium embodiments from a point of view of a
service provider who facilitates an online community.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] Overview
[0012] Reference will now be made to exemplary embodiments such as
those illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be
used herein to describe the same. But alterations and further
modifications of the features illustrated herein, and additional
applications of the principles illustrated herein, which would
occur to one skilled in the relevant art(s) and having possession
of this disclosure, should be considered within the scope of the
claims.
[0013] The meaning of terms is clarified in this disclosure, so the
claims should be read with careful attention to these
clarifications. Specific examples are given, but those of skill in
the relevant art(s) will understand that other examples may also
fall within the meaning of the terms used, and within the scope of
one or more claims. Terms do not necessarily have the same meaning
here that they have in general usage, in the usage of a particular
industry, or in a particular dictionary or set of dictionaries.
Reference numerals may be used with various phrasings, to help show
the breadth of a term. Omission of a reference numeral from a given
piece of text does not necessarily mean the content of a Figure is
not being discussed by the text. The inventor asserts and exercises
his right to his own lexicography. Terms may be defined, either
explicitly or implicitly, here in the Detailed Description and/or
elsewhere in the application file.
[0014] As used herein, a "computer system" may include, for
example, one or more personal computers (portable or not), servers,
personal digital assistants, cell or mobile phones, and/or
device(s) having a processor controlled at least in part by
instructions. The instructions may be in the form of software in
memory and/or specialized circuitry. In particular, although it may
occur that many embodiments run on personal computers and/or on
servers, other embodiments may run on other computing devices, and
any one or more such devices may be part of a given embodiment.
Terms such as "computerized" refer to devices having a
microprocessor and memory, not merely to personal computers or
servers.
[0015] "Electronic" refers to digital and/or analog electronic
circuitry.
[0016] "Automatic" means without requiring ongoing real-time human
input or guidance to perform the immediately contemplated
operation.
[0017] Operating Environment
[0018] With reference to FIG. 1, roles within an operating
environment for an embodiment may include one or more members 100
of an online community 102, and a service provider 104. In a given
configuration, the service provider 104 may also be a member of the
online community. An online community may have more than one
service provider, e.g., it may have both an internet service
provider (ISP) and an online community services provider (OCSP),
with service provider 104 services being provided by either of
these or by both the ISP and the OCSP, depending on the
configuration. Commercial embodiments may operate on an ad-revenues
business model, on a user-fee model (e.g., with anonymous
payments), and/or on other business models.
[0019] In some configurations, the service provider 104 provides
general-purpose services such as email, web page hosting and
message forum hosting, which have been adapted by or on behalf of
members 100 for uses specific to the online community. In some
configurations, the service provider 104 provides services that are
specific to the online community, such as online profile editing
software. In some configurations, the service provider 104 provides
both general-purpose services and specific services to support the
online community.
[0020] Because of space limitations, FIG. 1 shows only two members
100 and only one service provider 104. However, a given
configuration may include one or more service providers with zero
or more members, or one or more members with zero or more service
providers, depending on the requirements of the embodiment being
discussed. Each of these entities may also belong to or facilitate
one or more online communities 102 in a given configuration.
[0021] An operating environment for an embodiment may include, for
instance, a member computer system 106 and a service provider
computer system 108. Each computer system 106, 108 has a processor
120 and a memory 122 which operate together to provide
functionality discussed herein. Different member computer systems
106 need not be identical with each other. Each member computer
system 106 has distinctive computing characteristics 112, such as
an associated IP address, which can be used by geolocation software
in some embodiments to place the member computer system within a
geographic territory. The service provider system 108 will
generally include avoidance criteria management and analysis
software 114 which is not present on the member computer systems
106.
[0022] Service provider avoidance criteria management and analysis
software 114, like other software discussed herein, includes
software instructions that are executable by a processor 120 and
also includes data which is created, modified, referenced,
structured, and/or otherwise used by the instructions. The
software's instructions and data configure the memory(ies) 122 in
which they reside. For example, the software may configure a
removable memory device 130 such as a DVD or a flash memory even
when that memory device is not plugged into a computer system. The
software may also configure a memory 122 that is a functional part
of a given computer system, such as RAM or a plugged-in removable
memory 130, in which case the software instructions and data also
configure the given computer system.
[0023] Networking interface equipment 134 such as a packet-switched
network interface card, a wireless transceiver, or a telephone
network interface, for example, will generally be present in a
computer system 106. Peripheral equipment 134 such as human user
I/O devices (screen, keyboard, mouse, microphone, speaker, motion
sensor, etc.) will also generally be present in operable
communication with the processor 120 and the memory 122. However, a
software embodiment for transforming data representing real-world
characteristics, for example, may also be so deeply embedded, such
as on a service provider server 108, that the software in the
embodiment has no human user interaction through human user I/O
devices during normal operation.
[0024] An operating environment for an embodiment may include a
single member computer system 106 and/or a single service provider
computer system 108. A given embodiment may also include two or
more computer systems 106, 108, linked to one another for networked
communication.
[0025] Each computer system 106, 108 may run any network and
operating system software 132, and may use any network interface
equipment and other peripheral equipment 134, now known or
hereafter formed. The operating environment may include member
computer systems 106 that are client-server networked and/or
peer-to-peer networked.
[0026] Member Systems
[0027] In some embodiments, a computer system 106 configured for
use by a member 100 of an online community 102 includes a memory
122 configured with computer-executable instructions, and a
processor 120, coupled with the memory, that executes instructions.
The instructions are part of software with which the member 100
electronically ratifies an avoidance set 116 as a member of the
online community. The avoidance set 116 includes at least one
avoidance criterion 118. The computer system 106 also
electronically provides a notice 124 that communications 110 within
the online community between members of the online community will
be regulated in order to reduce online communication between
members who share at least one avoidance criterion. In some
embodiments, the notice 124 also states that this regulation will
be done without telling members 100 which avoidance criteria 118
they share. Some examples of electronic communications 110 include
an email, an instant message, a blog entry, a blog comment, a forum
posting, a video file or stream, a voip communication, a web page
access, a voicemail, a text message.
[0028] In some embodiments, the processor coupled with the memory
executes instructions for displaying selectable avoidance criteria
126 and for obtaining an avoidance criterion selection, e.g, from a
member 100 who uses a mouse 134 or a key 134 to select an item from
a list of avoidance criteria 118 in a graphical or other user
interface 128. In some embodiments, the avoidance criteria 118 in a
personal avoidance set 116 may have been selected from displayed
avoidance criteria 126 by the member 100 through the user interface
128, may have been entered as freeform text by a member 100, and/or
may have been added to the member's avoidance set 116 automatically
by service provider 104 software.
[0029] In some embodiments, the processor coupled with the memory
executes instructions for obtaining multiple avoidance criteria 118
combined in a Boolean expression 136. For example, a member may
want to avoid online interaction in the community 102 with any
members who reside in the member's home state and also with any
members who reside in two neighboring states. Toward that goal, the
member may use a Boolean AND operator to create an expression 136
combining three states into a single avoidance territory 118. Other
Boolean operations may also be supported.
[0030] Use of the member's residence as an avoidance criterion 118
may be prompted by a suggestion 142. Thus, in some embodiments the
computer system 106 processor coupled with the memory executes
instructions for displaying a suggestion 142 that a member 100 of
an online community 102 select as an avoidance criterion a
geographic territory in which the member resides. The computer
system 106 also executes instructions for obtaining a geographic
territory as an avoidance criterion 118, from a set of listed
territories, or as freeform text entry of a postal code, for
example. In some embodiments the computer system 106 displays a
suggestion that a member select as an avoidance criterion a
geographic territory in which the member plans to travel.
[0031] In some embodiments, the processor coupled with the memory
executes instructions for obtaining one or more of the following as
an avoidance criterion 118: geographic territory, profession, a
discussion topic listed as appropriate for an existing forum in the
online community, gender, marital status, relationship states,
ethnicity, race, age, offline family name, offline personal name,
specified organization membership, religious affiliation, political
affiliation, behavioral preference.
[0032] For example, a member 100 might choose avoidance criteria
118 to prevent the member from interacting online with other
members of the online community 102 who live in the same city as
the member, who attend religious services of the same denomination
as the member, who belong to the same professional society as the
member, and/or who have the same last name as the member or the
member's former spouse.
[0033] A member 100 may wish to experiment with different personal
avoidance sets 116. In particular, a member may use the number of
other members affected by a particular choice of personal avoidance
set as a factor in deciding whether to retain that personal
avoidance set 116. If the number of other members who remain
available for unregulated interaction with the member in the online
community 102 appears to be too small, then the member may decide
to change the member's avoidance criteria to allow interaction with
more members. Instead of selecting an entire state as one's
residence territory, for example, a member might decide to select
only a metropolitan area within the state. Similarly, if the number
of other members who will have an opportunity to see the member's
postings, profile, and other activities/username as they are
published in the online community 102 appears to be too large, then
the member may decide to change the member's avoidance criteria to
allow interaction with fewer members. In addition to selecting
geographic territories in which the member resides and/or plans to
travel, for example, a member might decide to select professional
organizations and religious affiliations as avoidance criteria, to
reduce the risk of interacting online with anyone the member
encounters offline while participating in professional or religious
activities.
[0034] Accordingly, in some embodiments the processor coupled with
the memory executes instructions for calculating and then
displaying an indication 144 of how many members 100 of the online
community 102 have associated avoidance criteria 118 that do not
overlap a specified avoidance set 116, namely, how many members
remain fully available for online interaction. Some embodiments
display an indication 144 of how many members 100 of the online
community 102 have associated avoidance criteria 118 that do
overlap a specified avoidance set 116, namely, how many members are
not available online. Some embodiments display both types of
indication 144. Some embodiments use all registered members as a
basis for determining how many are ruled in/ruled out by a given
avoidance set 116, whereas some use only members who have been
active within some stated period; a special case of the latter is
calculating the result of an avoidance set 116 based on the members
currently logged on. The indication 144 may be given in absolute
terms, e.g., "12345 members do not have any avoidance criteria in
common with you and hence will be shown your profile and allowed to
email you." The indication 144 may also be given in relative terms,
e.g., "Your selection hides your presence from 83% of the
community's members."
[0035] In some embodiments, the processor coupled with the memory
executes instructions for displaying to a first member 100 an
automatically generated introduction 146 to another online
community member 100. The introduction may be accompanied by an
express assurance 148 that the first member's avoidance set does
not overlap the other member's avoidance set. For example, the
member 100 may be told "Click this link to see thumbnail photos and
profile summaries of members who live outside your chosen
territories and who have not stated an interest in any of the
offline activities you want kept separate from people you meet
online."
[0036] Some member systems 106 have installed include general
protection software such as encryption software, anti-phishing
software, firewall software, anti-virus software, anti-adware
software, anonymizing software, and the like. General protection
software may be used to further raise awareness of identity crimes
and reduce unwanted impositions on privacy. However, general
protection software is not specifically designed to help a member
of an online community avoid interaction with other members of that
community that could readily be encountered offline, as described
herein.
[0037] Some member systems 106 are configured with application
software such as word processors, email and instant messaging
programs, and/or other applications that can be used to create,
modify, transmit, store, retrieve, and/or otherwise manage
electronic communications 110. However application software is not
specifically designed to help a member of an online community avoid
interaction with other members of that community that could readily
be encountered offline, as described herein.
[0038] In some embodiments of member systems 106, the processor
coupled with the memory executes instructions for performing other
steps, including one or more of the steps illustrated in FIG.
2.
[0039] Service Provider Systems
[0040] In some embodiments, a computer system 108 configured for
use by a service provider 104 who facilitates an online community
102 also includes a memory configured with computer-executable
instructions, and a processor, coupled with the memory, that
executes instructions, although these computer system components
are not shown in FIG. 1 due to space limitations. The instructions
are part of software with which the service provider 104
electronically facilitates the online community 102. In particular,
a computer system 108 may help prevent unwanted offline encounters
between online community members.
[0041] In some embodiments, notice code 150 contains
computer-executable instructions for electronically providing a
notice 124, such as a notice stating that communications 110 within
an online community 102 will be automatically regulated to limit
online encounters between members 100 who share at least one
avoidance criterion 118, namely, at least one stated offline
interest or activity.
[0042] In some embodiments, avoidance criteria management and
analysis code 114 contains computer-executable instructions for
obtaining a first avoidance criterion 118 associated with a first
member 100 of the online community 102, obtaining a second
avoidance criterion 118 associated with a second member 100 of the
online community 102, and comparing the avoidance criteria 118 with
each other to determine whether the first member and the second
member share at least one avoidance criterion. The avoidance
criteria 118 may be obtained by reading from a database of personal
avoidance sets 116 and/or they may obtained interactively as needed
through a user interface 128, for example.
[0043] In some embodiments, avoidance based restriction code 152
regulates communications 110 when avoidance criteria 118 overlap,
in order to reduce communication opportunities between the members
whose avoidance criteria 118 overlap and hence reduce the risk that
they will interact online. Communications may be regulated in one
or more ways.
[0044] For example, in some embodiments the processor coupled with
the memory executes avoidance-based restriction code 152
instructions for regulating communication by preventing direct
communication between two members 100 in the online community 102
when geographic territories represented by respective avoidance
criteria 118 of the two members overlap. Some embodiments also
prevent direct communication when other types of avoidance criteria
118 overlap.
[0045] Alternately or in addition, the processor coupled with the
memory may execute avoidance-based restriction code 152
instructions for regulating communication by hiding an online
identity 138 of a member 100 of the online community 102 from
another member 100 of the online community when geographic
territories represented by respective avoidance criteria 118 of the
two members overlap. Some embodiments also hide an online identity
when other types of avoidance criteria 118 overlap. Some examples
of online identities 138 are usernames, email addresses, web page
addresses, and avatars.
[0046] Alternately or in addition, the processor coupled with the
memory may execute avoidance-based restriction code 152
instructions for regulating communication by hiding an online
activity of a member 100 of the online community 102 from another
member 100 of the online community when geographic territories
represented by respective avoidance criteria 118 of the two members
overlap. Some embodiments also hide an online activity when other
types of avoidance criteria 118 overlap.
[0047] In some embodiments, the processor coupled with the memory
executes avoidance-based restriction code 152 instructions and/or
notice code 150 instructions for informing a member 100 of at least
one of the following: a territory in which the member resides
should be designated by the member as an avoidance criterion 118 to
avoid online encounters with other members who are in that
territory, the territory in which the member resides must be
designated, the territory in which the member apparently resides
will be automatically designated, at least one territory in which a
member does not reside may be designated, a territory in which the
member plans to travel should be designated, a territory in which
the member plans to travel must be designated, a territory in which
the member plans to travel may be designated.
[0048] In some embodiments, the processor coupled with the memory
executes avoidance-based restriction code 152 instructions and/or
notice code 150 instructions for informing a member of at least one
of the following: at least one territory should be designated by
the member as an avoidance criterion 118 to avoid online encounters
with other members who are in that territory, at least one
territory must be designated, at least N territories should be
designated (N being a stated value greater than one), at least N
territories must be designated, territories which together have at
least a specified total area should be designated, territories
which together have at least a specified total area must be
designated, territories which together have at least a specified
total population should be designated, territories which together
have at least a specified total population must be designated.
[0049] In some embodiments, the processor coupled with the memory
executes avoidance-based enhancement code 154 instructions for
creating a suggestion 142 to promote direct communication between
the two members when their respective geographic territory
designations do not overlap. The suggestion 142 may be asymmetric
in that a suggestion is made only to one of the members in
question, or the suggestion 142 may be part of a symmetric pair of
suggestions with which each member is prompted to contact the
other.
[0050] Some embodiments use both avoidance criteria 118 and seeking
criteria. Seeking criteria are commonly used in social networks to
identify people a member wants to meet. For example, a member 100
may wish to identify people in an online community 102 who share an
interest in a particular forum topic (seeking criterion) and who
also live outside the member's country (avoidance criterion). The
member's country could be made an avoidance criterion 118, either
expressly by the member or automatically by the system 108,
depending on the embodiment. The forum topic could be specified as
a seeking criterion in a search that identifies other people
interested in that topic, from among the group of people who were
not ruled out because they live in or plan to travel in the
member's home country.
[0051] In a conventional social network search, a searcher may see
all search results and all potential search results. The searcher
in a conventional social network search may be informed, directly
or by a process of deduction, precisely which characteristic(s) of
a given result or potential result ruled it in or out of the search
results. By contrast, in at least some embodiments the mapping
between an avoidance criterion and a particular member is not
published in the online community 102 to other members. Moreover,
in at least some embodiments some of the potential search results
may never be seen by a member, such as potential results that
disclose information about other members whose avoidance criteria
rule them out automatically and in a manner transparent to the
member. Thus, an avoidance criterion 118 may function quite
differently than a logical NOT qualifier in a conventional social
network search.
[0052] Some service provider systems 108 are configured with online
identity management software 156, which manages online community
member online identity data 138 such as member profiles and
usernames. For example, online identity management software 156 may
require a password from a member 100 before allowing the member to
read members-only postings or allowing the member to make a change
in a profile of the member that is published in the online
community 102.
[0053] Some service provider systems 108 are configured with
offline identity management software 158, which manages offline
community member online identity data 140 such as member mailing
addresses and legal names. For example, offline identity management
software 158 may require a password from a member 100 before
allowing the member to enter a change of address.
[0054] In some embodiments of service provider systems 108, the
processor coupled with the memory executes instructions for
performing other steps, including one or more of the steps
illustrated in FIG. 3.
[0055] Space limitations and deference prevent showing every item
in FIG. 1 at every possible location of the item. For example, in
some embodiments a notice 124 is generated on a service provider
computer system 108 and then transmitted over a network to a member
computer system 106, despite the fact that FIG. 1 does not
expressly illustrate a notice 124 on the service provider computer
system 108 shown. As another example of how FIG. 1 merely helps
illustrate possible configurations, each of the computer systems
106, 108 has one or more processors 120 and at least one memory
122, even though these two items are shown expressly only for
member computer system 106.
[0056] Not every item shown in FIG. 1 need be present in every
system embodiment or in every configured medium embodiment.
Although implementation possibilities are illustrated here in text
and drawings by specific examples, other embodiments may depart
from these examples. For instance, specific features of an example
may be omitted, renamed, grouped differently, repeated,
instantiated in hardware and/or software differently, or be a mix
of features appearing in two or more of the examples.
[0057] Configured Media
[0058] Some embodiments include a configured computer-readable
storage medium 130. In a computer system 106, 108, disks (magnetic,
optical, or otherwise), RAM, EEPROMS or other ROMs, and/or other
configured storage medium can be provided as part of working memory
122, and/or in addition to working memory 122. A general-purpose
storage medium, which may be removable or not, and may be volatile
or not, is configured with data structures and instructions to
thereby form a configured medium which is capable of causing a
system with a processor to perform steps and provide functionality
disclosed herein.
[0059] Configuring a system with such data and/or such instructions
creates a special-purpose system which accepts input representing
geographic regions, organizations, and/or other items outside the
system, and transforms that input to provide useful and concrete
results that help reduce the risk of crossover between member
offline activities and online activities. FIG. 1 helps illustrate
configured storage media embodiments, as well as system
embodiments, process product embodiments, and method embodiments. A
configured medium may also be considered an article of manufacture
and/or a process product, produced using for example steps shown in
FIG. 2 of FIG. 3.
[0060] For example, a system may be configured with data such as
avoidance criteria sets 116, ratified avoidance criteria 118,
selectable avoidance criteria 126, and/or indications 144 of
avoidance set results.
[0061] Also, a system may be configured with instructions capable
of performing functions such as obtaining avoidance criteria and
comparing avoidance criteria (e.g., with software 114), regulating
communication in a manner that is based on avoidance criteria by
hiding member identity, hiding member activity, or preventing
direct member communication (e.g., with software 152), and
regulating communication by introducing members whose avoidance
criteria do not overlap (e.g., with software 154).
[0062] In some embodiments, a storage medium 130 is configured to
cause performance of a method to help prevent unwanted offline
encounters between members of an online community. The method
causes the system to electronically provide a notice 124 that
communications in an online community 102 will be regulated in
order to reduce online communication between community members 100
who have overlapping avoidance criteria 118, and to electronically
obtain through a user interface 128 an avoidance set 116. The
regulation of communications 110 may include, for example, measures
designed to do at least one of the following: hide an online
identity 138 of a member 100 of the online community 102 from
another member 100 of the online community 102 if the two members
share at least one avoidance criterion 118; hide an online activity
of a member 100 from another member 100 if the two members share at
least one avoidance criterion 118; prevent direct communication in
the online community 102 between members 100 who share at least one
avoidance criterion 118.
[0063] In some embodiments, a storage medium 130 is configured with
code 114, 150, 162 to make a system: electronically provide a
notice that communications within an online community 102 will be
regulated to limit online encounters between members who share at
least one avoidance criterion; obtain a first avoidance criterion
118 associated with a first member 100 of the online community;
obtain from the first member an indication of a first acceptable
level of risk 164, which represents the first member's willingness
to risk encountering offline some other member of the online
community; obtain a second avoidance criterion 118 associated with
a second member of the online community; obtain from the second
member an indication of a second acceptable level of risk 164,
which represents the second member's willingness to risk
encountering offline some other member of the online community; and
set an offline encounter risk level 160 based on the avoidance
criteria.
[0064] In some embodiments, an acceptable level of risk 164 is
indicated by a numeric value. For instance, a member may be asked a
question such as "On a scale of one to ten, with one being `don't
care if we meet` and ten being `must never meet`, how important is
it that you not meet offline anyone you communicate with online?"
In some embodiments, an acceptable level of risk 164 of an offline
encounter with someone met online is indicated by an enumeration
value, such as "Always avoid offline meetings", "Try hard to
avoid", "OK sometimes", "OK anytime". In some embodiments, an
acceptable level of risk 164 is associated with one or more
particular avoidance criteria 118, e.g., it may be more acceptable
to meet another member who shares a plan to visit France than it is
to meet another member who consults in the same field of software
security technologies.
[0065] In some embodiments, a storage medium 130 is configured with
code 162 to make a system automatically determine whether an
offline encounter risk level based on comparing two members'
respective avoidance sets 116 exceeds an acceptable level of risk
stated by either or both of the two members 100. If the risk of an
offline encounter is greater than an acceptable level of risk, then
communication involving the members is regulated accordingly to
reduce the offline encounter risk level. The members set respective
targets, and the system helps adjust avoidance criteria to meet
those targets. For example, regulation directed by instructions 152
may automatically hide online community contact information of each
of the two members from the other member, automatically hide online
community activity of each of the two members from the other
member, and/or automatically prevent direct communication between
the two members.
[0066] In some embodiments, an offline encounter risk level 160 is
based in part on population data. Accordingly, the offline
encounter risk level for two members who both reside in a city with
a population of ten thousand is greater than the offline encounter
risk level for two members who both reside in a city with a
population of one million. Similarly, the offline encounter risk
level for two members 100 who both practice a religion, or belong
to an organization, which has relatively few members is greater
than the offline encounter risk level for two members who both
practice a religion, or both belong to an organization, which has a
relatively large membership population.
[0067] In some embodiments, an offline encounter risk level 160 is
based in part on whether a geographic avoidance territory is
characterized as a member's residence or merely as a place a member
plans to visit. More generally, an offline encounter risk level 160
may be based on the frequency of an offline activity. Accordingly,
the offline encounter risk level for two members who both reside in
the same territory is greater than the offline encounter risk level
when one member resides in the territory and the other merely plans
to visit the territory, which is in turn greater than the offline
encounter risk level when both members merely plan to visit the
territory. Likewise, an offline encounter risk level may be greater
for an organization or club that meets weekly than for one that
meets annually.
[0068] In some embodiments, an offline encounter risk level 160 is
raised by a specified increment for each additional avoidance
criterion 118 shared by two members. For example, in a system in
which offline encounter risk level lies in the range from zero (no
risk) to one thousand (maximum recognized risk), each shared
avoidance criterion might cause fifty to be added to the offline
encounter risk level. In a variation, different avoidance criteria
118 are weighted differently, e.g., sharing a residence territory
adds five hundred to the offline encounter risk level, whereas
sharing a political affiliation adds only twenty to the offline
encounter risk level. In some embodiments, an offline encounter
risk level 160 is multiplied by a specified factor for each
additional avoidance criterion shared by two members; in a
variation, different avoidance criteria have different
multipliers.
[0069] Some embodiments produce an offline encounter risk level 160
using a combination of population data, specified increments, and
specified multipliers. It will be understood that an offline
encounter risk level 160 may also be based on avoidance criteria
using other approaches.
[0070] In some embodiments, a storage medium 130 is configured to
make a system automatically determine whether an offline encounter
risk level based on comparing two members' respective avoidance
sets 116 does not exceed an acceptable level of risk stated by
either or both of the two members 100. If the risk of an offline
encounter is smaller than both acceptable levels of risk, then
communication involving the members is regulated accordingly to
enhance communication, even though that may increase the offline
encounter risk level, so long as an acceptable level is not
surpassed. For example, regulation directed by instructions 154 may
automatically display to at least one of the two members an online
community username of the other member, or automatically introduce
the first member and the second member to each other online.
[0071] Methods
[0072] FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate some method embodiments. In a given
embodiment zero or more illustrated steps of a method may be
repeated, perhaps with different parameters or data to operate on.
Steps in an embodiment may also be done in a different order than
the top-to-bottom order that is laid out in the Figures. Steps may
also be omitted, combined, or otherwise depart from the illustrated
flow, provided that the method performed is operable and conforms
with at least one claim.
[0073] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart 200 illustrating steps of some
method and configured storage medium embodiments from a point of
view of a member 100 of an online community 102, for example.
[0074] Actions by a member discussed herein may equivalently be
considered actions by software and hardware for which the member is
responsible, e.g., by a system over which the member has control,
and vice versa. The same holds true of actions by a service
provider. That is, a system of hardware and software, a system of
hardware, and a system of software, may each be deemed an agent or
alter ego of a human who controls that system.
[0075] As indicated by steps 202 and 204, the member has one or
more online identities 138 and one offline identity 140,
respectively. In particular, a member may have 202 an online
identity which is published within an online community 102, and may
also own 204 an offline identity which is not published within the
online community. The member 100 may have online identities 138 in
the form of usernames, avatars, personal web pages, and other
online data which reflects aspects of the member's activities and
preferences.
[0076] Online identity is generally under at least partial control
of the member, and in many cases is under complete, or nearly
complete, control of the member, e.g., by setting profile
information and choosing email addresses. Indeed, a member may
choose to have more than one online identity within a given online
community.
[0077] By contrast, the offline identity of a given member can be
considered unique. However, this is a definitional preference, not
a requirement in every embodiment. One could also define offline
identities 140 according to time periods in the member's life, for
example, or roles played by the member in the offline worlds, e.g.,
at home versus at work. Online identities can, however, provide
some anonymity which is rarely if ever provided by offline
identities.
[0078] During one or more notice receiving steps, a member receives
electronically a notice 124. A given notice 124 may be triggered by
an event such as admission to membership in an online community,
creation of an electronic communication 110 by a member, updates
sent to the online community membership generally, or selection of
an avoidance criterion 118 by a particular member. Several notice
steps 206-214 are illustrated in FIG. 2; zero or more of these
steps and/or other notice steps may be part of a given method.
[0079] Some of the steps shown in FIG. 2 may be performed during
registration of new members, or even earlier during marketing of an
online community 102. Some examples include steps such as receiving
206-214 a notice; selecting 216, entering 218, combining 220, or
ratifying 222 an avoidance criterion 118; specifying 226 an
acceptable level of risk of an offline encounter with some other
member(s) of the online community; owning 204 an offline identity;
and so on. The term "member" as used herein with respect to such
steps should be understood to include not only current members 100
of an online community 102 but also prospective members 100 who
express interest in joining the online community 102, and
in-process-of-registration members 100 who are in the process of
joining the online community 102.
[0080] During an avoidance measures notice receiving step 206, a
member 100 receives a notice 124 that communications in an online
community 102 will be regulated to reduce online communication
between members of the online community who share at least one
avoidance criterion. In a variation of this and/or other
notice-related steps, the notice 124 states that communications
will be automatically regulated. The notice 124 in any notice step
206-214 may be received via a display 134, a speaker 134, or
another output device.
[0081] During an online identity hiding notice receiving step 208,
a member 100 receives a notice 124 that communications in an online
community 102 will be regulated by measures designed to hide an
online identity of a member of the online community from another
member of the online community if the two members share at least
one avoidance criterion.
[0082] During an online activity hiding notice receiving step 210,
a member 100 receives a notice 124 that communications in an online
community 102 will be regulated by measures designed to hide an
online activity of a member of the online community from another
member of the online community if the two members share at least
one avoidance criterion.
[0083] During a communication limits notice receiving step 212, a
member 100 receives a notice 124 that communications in the online
community 102 will be regulated, e.g., by measures designed to
prevent direct communication in the online community between
members who share at least one avoidance criterion.
[0084] During an avoidance set secrecy notice receiving step 214, a
member 100 receives a notice 124 that the member's personal
avoidance set 116 will not be published to other members in the
online community 102. Secrecy of an avoidance set 116 can be
maintained by use of passwords, encryption, file system access
restrictions, and similar security measures which limit disclosure
of the avoidance set 116 to the member who owns that set. Avoidance
set 116 access may also be given in some embodiments to authorized
service provider 104 personnel for troubleshooting purposes.
[0085] During an avoidance criterion selecting step 216, a member
100 selects at least one avoidance criterion 118 from a displayed
collection of selectable avoidance criteria 126. For example, a
member may be told "Select the organizations you participate in,
from the dropdown list of organizations, and your presence online
will be kept hidden from any other community member who likewise
participates in any organization you've selected." As another
example, a member may be told "Click on as many provinces and
states as you want in the map, to show where you live or travel.
Your presence online will be kept hidden from any other community
member who lives or travels in a state or province you've both
selected."
[0086] During an avoidance criterion freeform entering step 218, a
member 100 enters an alphanumeric string representing at least one
avoidance criterion 118. For example, a member may enter a zip code
or other postal code, or a telephone area code. In some
embodiments, a member may enter the name of a restaurant, club,
other recreational facility, landmark, cultural event, and/or other
keyword(s) pertaining to the member's expected offline activities.
String comparisons and other keyword search tools and techniques
can then be used help identify avoidance criteria shared with other
members.
[0087] During an avoidance criteria combining step 220, a member
combines two or more avoidance criteria using Boolean operators
such as AND and OR to form an expression 136. A member may form an
expression which is itself an avoidance criterion 118, from
constituent avoidance criteria 118. For example, a member may
select a geographic territory as an avoidance criterion by using a
Boolean combination of constituent territories, e.g., "avoid Texas
OR Louisiana". As another example, a member may wish to remain
hidden online from other members who are male and who live in or
travel in New York, without being hidden from other members who are
female and live in or travel in New York.
[0088] The member may form an avoidance criterion expression
expressly stating this requirement, e.g., "avoid male AND NewYork".
In some embodiments, Boolean operators are implicit. For example,
when a member lists several geographic territories, those
territories may be implicitly OR'd together.
[0089] During an avoidance criterion ratifying step 222 a member
ratifies a personal avoidance set 116 which includes at least one
avoidance criterion 118. Fro example, a member may ratify a
personal avoidance set which includes at least one of the following
as an avoidance criterion: geographic territory, profession,
offline name. An entire avoidance set may be ratified as a whole by
an express member action, e.g., by displaying the avoidance set's
content to the member with a request for approval and then
receiving a button press, mouse click, spoken "yes" or other
physical manifestation of approval by the member. The avoidance set
may also be ratified step-by-step as it is built, at least with
regard to avoidance criteria that are placed in the avoidance set
after being selected 216 or entered 218 by the member; selection
216 and entry 218 are then examples of ratification 222.
[0090] Some avoidance criteria may be placed in an avoidance set
automatically, such as an avoidance criterion representing the
automatically geolocated apparent residence of the member. In some
embodiments, ratification 222 includes a member participating in
the online community while subject to an avoidance criterion which
is automatically treated as part of the personal avoidance set
without being individually selected by the first member. For
avoidance criteria that are not expressly added to the avoidance
set by a member, ratification 222 may occur when the member
participates beneficially in the online community using the
avoidance set and/or when the member receives a notice 124 that the
avoidance criterion will be used.
[0091] During an avoidance result indication receiving step 224 a
member receives an indication 144 of the result of changes made to
an avoidance set 116; examples of changes may include creation,
modification, and deletion of the avoidance set. For example, an
indication may be displayed on a screen 134 with text or graphics,
or spoken through a speaker 134 using recorded or synthesized
speech. An indication 144 may help a member understand how many
other members of the online community have at least one avoidance
criterion overlapping the first member's personal avoidance set
and/or how many other members do not share any avoidance criteria
with the member's avoidance set 116.
[0092] During an acceptable level of offline encounter risk
specifying step 226 a member specifies an acceptable level of
offline encounter risk 164, which represents the member's
willingness to risk encountering offline some other member of the
online community. For instance, the member may slide a graphical
slider bar, move a virtual door or other image of a physical
barrier to a position that appears more closed or more open, make a
selection from a list, speak into a microphone 134, or otherwise
use an interface 128 to enter a value representing a level of
offline encounter risk chosen by the member.
[0093] During an introduction and assurance receiving step 228, a
member receives an automatically generated introduction 146 to
another online community member. The introduction 146 may be
accompanied by, or otherwise be in the context of, an assurance 148
that the first member's personal avoidance set does not overlap the
other member's avoidance criteria. The introduction and assurance
may be delivered by email, instant message, voicemail, text
message, or be in the form of some other electronic
communication.
[0094] During a communication attempting step 230, a member 100
attempts unsuccessfully to communicate directly in the online
community 102 with another online community member who shares at
least one avoidance criterion 118 with that member. For example, an
email address that is otherwise valid may nonetheless be
blacklisted because both the sender and the target recipient reside
in the same town. Other attempts at communication, which do not
pose unacceptable risks, may succeed.
[0095] During a participating step 232, a member participates in an
online community 102 by submitting electronic posts,
sending/receiving other electronic communications, and so on. For
example, a social network 102 may be organized into groups based on
shared interest in a given topic and/or based on questions of the
form "Looking for advice on ______ " or "Has anyone ever ______?".
Participation 232 may be limited to members of the online community
102.
[0096] During a suggestion receiving step 234, a member receives a
suggestion 142 pertaining to one or more avoidance criteria 118
and/or one or more other members 100. The suggestion may be
delivered by email, instant message, voicemail, text message, or be
in the form of some other electronic communication.
[0097] FIG. 3 shows a flow chart 300 illustrating steps of some
method and configured storage medium embodiments from a point of
view of a service provider who facilitates an online community.
Methods illustrated in FIG. 3 may help service providers 104 and
others maintain a separation between online and offline activities
of members of an online community.
[0098] During a notice providing step 302, a service provider 104
provides one or more notices 124 to one or more members 100 of an
online community that is being served by the service provider. For
example, a service provider 104 may electronically provide 302 a
notice that communications 110 within the online community 102 will
be regulated to limit online encounters between members who share
at least one avoidance criterion. Notice providing step 302
corresponds generally to notice receiving steps 206-214, except
that notice providing step 302 is performed by a service provider
whereas notice receiving steps 206-214 are performed by a
member.
[0099] During a registration beginning step 304, a service provider
104 begins registering a potential member 100 of an online
community 102. During a registration finishing step 306, the
service provider 104 finishes registering the member 100.
Registration may be as simple as assigning a username and password
in conjunction with notices 124 explaining how the online community
operates. Registration may gather an offline name, an offline
address, and/or other offline identity 140 values, but that is not
required in every embodiment. Some embodiments inform a member that
entering an offline name is not required to participate in an
online community 102; some simply do not ask for an offline
name.
[0100] Steps such as providing 302 notices 124, automatically
identifying an apparent residence and adding a corresponding
avoidance criterion 118 to a new member's personal avoidance set
116, displaying other avoidance criteria 126, and/or obtaining an
acceptable level of offline encounter risk 164, may be performed
before beginning 304 registration, during registration between
steps 304 and 306, and/or after finishing registration 306, in a
given embodiment. In some embodiments, a first avoidance criterion
118 such as a member's residence territory or family name is
obtained during a registration of a member 100, and the
registration must be completed before the member can participate
fully in the online community 102.
[0101] During avoidance criterion obtaining steps 308 and 310, a
service provider 104 (or equivalently as noted, a system acting on
behalf of a service provider) obtains an avoidance criterion 118 to
associate with or already being associated with at least one member
100 of the online community 102.
[0102] During a step 308, an avoidance criterion is obtained from a
member through an interface 128; this corresponds generally to one
or more of avoidance criterion providing steps 216 and 218
(possibly in conjunction with Boolean expression creating step 220
and/or avoidance criterion ratifying step 222), except that
avoidance criterion obtaining step 308 is performed by a service
provider whereas steps 216-222 are performed by a member. The
avoidance criterion obtained can be securely stored 314, e.g., in a
database of member avoidance sets 116 on a server provider system
108 inaccessible to members, in order to prevent members from
seeing each other's avoidance criteria.
[0103] During a step 310, an avoidance criterion is obtained
automatically, e.g., by an automatic determination 312 of a
member's apparent residence and inclusion 314 of a corresponding
geographic avoidance criterion in the member's personal avoidance
set 116. Other avoidance criteria may also be obtained
automatically. If a member's family name is obtained during
registration, for example, that family name may be automatically
treated 310 as an avoidance criterion, so that members with the
same family name are hidden from one another in the online
community 102. Members may be notified that such steps 310 are
possible, or notified that such steps 310 will definitely occur. In
some embodiments, such automatic steps 310 occur without any member
notification.
[0104] In some embodiments, a processor coupled with a memory
executes avoidance-based restriction code 152 instructions for
automatically determining 312 a member's likely residence and then
including within that member's avoidance criteria 118 at least one
territory which includes the member's likely residence. For
example, geolocation tools may be used to automatically determine
312 a likely physical location of a member system 106, using the IP
address 112, domain name, and so on, and that physical location can
then be treated as a member's apparent residence. Alternately, a
mailing address, zip code, phone number area code, or other offline
residential identity 140 information provided by the member 100,
perhaps during registration, can be automatically read from secure
storage 140 and treated as the member's residence. Some examples of
offline identities 140 are legal names, residential addresses,
employer names, and information of the type found on drivers
licenses, passports, and other government-issued identification
documents.
[0105] During a residence determining step 312, some mapping may be
needed from a geolocation value or a registration address value to
a geographic territory recognized as an avoidance criteria. For
example, a zip code might be mapped to an entire state based on the
initial digits of the zip code, a city might be mapped to a
metropolitan area near the city, or an employer name might need to
be mapped to employer office locations and from those office
locations to a set of geographic territories. Employer names can be
found in numerous searchable public databases.
[0106] During secure storing steps 314, 316, a service provider 104
securely stores avoidance criteria 118 and offline identity data
140, respectively. Other data, such as acceptable levels of offline
encounter risk 164, usernames and passwords, and data structures
used to implement communication regulation, may be similarly
securely stored. Secrecy of stored data can be maintained by use of
passwords, encryption, file system access restrictions, and other
security measures which help limit disclosure of the data to the
member who provided the data. Data access may also be given in some
embodiments to authorized service provider 104 personnel for
legitimate purposes such as troubleshooting or fraud prevention,
for example. Some embodiments securely store 314 obtained avoidance
criteria 118 such that a given member's avoidance criteria are not
published in the online community 102 to other members. Some
embodiments securely store 316 offline identity information 140
about members such that none of the offline identity information
provided by a given member is published in the online community 102
to all of the other members.
[0107] During an avoidance criteria comparing step 318 and/or an
avoidance set checking step 320, a service provider 104 compares
avoidance criteria 118 to determine whether two members share at
least one avoidance criterion and/or to determine whether an
avoidance set 116 contains particular avoidance criteria 118. In
some embodiments, each of a plurality of avoidance sets 116 is
associated with a respective member 100 from a plurality of members
of an online community 102, and step 320 checks the plurality of
avoidance sets for a specified avoidance criterion 118. A plurality
of avoidance sets 116 may be checked to help calculate the impact
of a change in a member's avoidance set, for example, so that an
indication 144 of the impact can be displayed.
[0108] Avoidance criteria 118 comparisons and checks for avoidance
set 116 membership may be implemented in various ways, depending in
part on the data structures used to implement avoidance criteria
118 and avoidance sets 116.
[0109] Avoidance criteria 118 implemented with alphanumeric strings
may be compared using keyword search tools and techniques adapted
from applications such as word processors and/or internet search
engines. Avoidance set 116 implemented with bitstrings may be
checked using bitmasks and bitwise operators. Avoidance criteria
118 implemented with region maps may be compared using pixelwise or
other base unit intersection of normalized areas, possibly with
some tolerance added around edges of maps to err on the side of
finding overlap. Of course, other data structures may also be used
to implement avoidance criteria 118 and avoidance sets 116,
including for example linked structures and arrays, in which case
comparison can be implemented using corresponding tools and
techniques for testing membership in a set, testing equality of
sets, intersecting sets, forming a union of sets, and so on.
[0110] During an avoidance result indication displaying step 322, a
service provider 104 displays to a member 100 an indication 144 of
the result of a change to the member's personal avoidance set 116,
such as the addition or removal of a particular avoidance criterion
to or from the avoidance set 116. For example, an embodiment may
display 322 to a given member an indication of at least one of the
following: how many other members of the online community 102 share
at least one avoidance criterion with the given member, how many
other members of the online community 102 do not share at least one
avoidance criterion with the given member. Step 322 corresponds
generally to avoidance result indication receiving step 224, except
that step 322 is performed by a service provider whereas step 224
is performed by a member.
[0111] In some embodiments, a display 322 of a single indication
144 does not disclose to a member which avoidance criteria are
currently associated with any other member. In some, dozens or
hundreds of displays 322 by a member do not disclose to that member
which avoidance criteria are currently associated with any other
member. It may be possible in some embodiments to use a combination
of (a) surveying available member profiles and (b) changing one's
own avoidance criteria, to pry out of the system the identity of at
least one of the avoidance criteria associated with some other
member. However, measures may be used in an online community 102 to
discourage or prevent such prying. For example, members may be
notified 302 that they will be locked out of the online community
for such behavior and/or members may be limited by software 114 to
at most five (for instance) avoidance criteria set 116 changes per
month.
[0112] During a direct communication preventing step 324, a service
provider 104 prevents direct communication in the online community
102 between members who share an avoidance criterion 118. Direct
communication may be prevented, for instance, by adding each
member's username to a system-maintained email blacklist and/or
instant messaging blacklist, for example. Blacklist entries are not
visible to members, and may be visible to authorized service
provider personnel. A similar hidden blacklist may be used to
prevent one member's blog from being displayed to the other member.
Some embodiments go further, by redacting blog comments and forum
postings made by one member so the postings are not displayed to
the other member, even when neither of the members in question own
the blog or moderate the forum.
[0113] During an online identity hiding step 326, a service
provider 104 regulates communications 110 to hide an online
identity of a member of the online community from another member of
the online community who shares at least one avoidance criterion.
Online identity 138 may be hidden, for instance, by not displaying
a member's web page or other profile, and/or by redacting instances
of the member's email address and username from blog and forum
postings.
[0114] During an online activity hiding step 328, a service
provider 104 regulates communications 110 to hide an online
activity of a member of the online community from another member of
the online community who shares at least one avoidance criterion.
Online activity may be hidden, for instance, by not displaying a
member's web page or other profile, blog, blog comments, forum
postings, or any other communication 110 from the member 100.
[0115] During a suggesting and/or introducing step 330, a service
provider 104 generates and provides a suggestion 142 and/or an
introduction 146 to promote direct communication between two
members when their respective geographic territory designations and
other avoidance criteria 118 do not overlap. A suggestion 142 may
be asymmetric or part of a symmetric pair of suggestions, with each
member being prompted to contact the other. Suggestions 142 may
also be provided 330 to invite actions other than member contact,
e.g., a service provider may suggest 330 that a member select as an
avoidance criterion a geographic territory in which the member
resides, or that a member reconsider a change in the member's
personal avoidance set 116.
[0116] During an acceptable level of offline encounter risk
obtaining step 332, a service provider 104 obtains from a member an
indication 164 of a first acceptable level of risk, which
represents the member's willingness to risk encountering offline
some other member of the online community. In some embodiments a
default level 164 may be obtained automatically during
registration. Acceptable level of offline encounter risk obtaining
step 332 in FIG. 3 corresponds generally to acceptable level of
offline encounter risk specifying step 226 in FIG. 2, except that
step 332 is performed by a service provider whereas step 226 is
performed by a member.
[0117] During an offline encounter risk level setting step 334, a
service provider 104 sets an offline encounter risk level 160 based
on what the avoidance criteria of two members 100 reveals about the
offline activities of the members. For example, if a first member
and a second member each belong to an organization that has only a
hundred members, then the offline encounter risk level for those
two members would be relatively high, even if they live in
different cities. On the other hand, if two members have mutually
exclusive interests and preferences, e.g., they belong to different
clubs that meet at different locations on the first Tuesday of each
month, then the offline encounter risk level for those two members
would be relatively low, even if they live in the same city. An
offline encounter risk level calculation 334 may be based on one,
some, or all of the members' avoidance criteria.
[0118] In some embodiments, a step of obtaining 308 an avoidance
criterion occurs after a registration 306 of a member 100 and the
step 308 modifies the member's existing avoidance set 116. The
service provider 104 resets 334 the offline encounter risk level
for that member and another member based on the modified avoidance
set.
[0119] In some embodiments, a service provider 104 automatically
determines that an offline encounter risk level for two members
exceeds at least one of the member's acceptable level of risk, and
automatically hides online community contact information and/or
online community activity of each of the two members from the other
member. Conversely, in some embodiments a service provider 104
automatically determines that neither member's acceptable level of
risk is exceeded, and automatically displays to at least one of the
two members an online community username of the other member, or
automatically introduces the first member and the second member to
each other online.
[0120] During a communication supporting step 336, a service
provider 104 supports creation, modification, transmission,
storage, and/or analysis of communications 110 in an online
community 102. In particular, the service provider regulates
communication to help reduce the risk of unwanted offline
encounters between members 100 that would arise from unregulated
online communication.
[0121] Additional Examples
[0122] Some possible embodiments provide new social networking
tools and techniques, and in particular, new tools and techniques
for facilitating social networks in which members meet online but
face little or no risk of ever meeting offline. Some of these
possible embodiments include features beyond the avoidance criteria
and risk level features discussed above. Features are discussed
below in connection with various "embodiments" but it will be
understood that a claim defines what actually constitutes an
embodiment of that claim, so features discussed in examples should
not necessarily be read into a given claim.
[0123] Some embodiments may help encourage and support online
communities which have an ethos of members providing other members
with anonymous help based on candid disclosure of opinions and
social facts online, with little risk that the disclosures will
lead to unwanted or complicated offline interaction. Embodiments
may operate online communities through websites under domains
containing marks such as "NeverMeet", "NoFaces",
"FriendlyStrangers", "SmallWorld", or the like, depending on the
legal availability of such domains and marks.
[0124] Some approaches described herein run counter to an
assumption that social networking sites should help people meet
each other in person. Instead, some embodiments take the approach
that an online version of a "strangers in a bar" conversation can
be worthwhile. People may be more candid in seeking--and
giving--life advice, for instance, if they know they'll never meet
in person.
[0125] Other interactions may also be less inhibited. It may also
be helpful for conventional matchmaking sites to offer subscribers
a practice forum in which they converse with people whose actual
identity they will almost certainly never learn, who will almost
certainly never learn their identity, and whom they will almost
certainly never meet in person (intentionally or even by
accident).
[0126] In some embodiments, social network member geographic
locations are obtained or approximated, and that geographic
information is used to limit online interaction in order to reduce
the risk that members who interact online will meet (accidentally
and/or intentionally) offline.
[0127] For example, in some embodiments, a member 100 can specify
216, 218 one or more geographic areas to be avoided by the system
when the system is determining which other members should be able
to contact this member. In one simple case, a member 100 who lives
in city F can tell the system to avoid allowing that member contact
with other members who also live in F. Depending on the
implementation, the territories 118 to avoid may be landmarks
(Eiffel
[0128] Tower, . . . ), cities, counties, provinces, states,
regions, nations, and/or continents, for instance. A time zone is
another example of a geographic region. Territories may be
predefined, and accessed through a menu 128.
[0129] In some embodiments, a social networking system may help
reduce or prevent online contact between members whose avoidance
areas 118 overlap. Thus, if member A says to avoid areas X, Y, Z,
and member B says to avoid areas R, S, X, and member C says to
avoid areas R, S, T, and member D says to avoid area W, then the
social network operates to reduce or eliminate/prevent online
interaction (within the social network's virtual community(ies))
between A and B, and between B and C, and it operates to allow (or
even encourage) online interaction between A and C, A and D, and B
and D. As another example, if Bob lives in California and travels
(or plans to travel) to Canada, and Pat lives in Oregon and does
not travel, then Bob could list avoidance areas 118 California and
Canada, and Pat could list avoidance area 118 Oregon. The system
would then allow (or encourage) online interaction between Bob and
Pat, because--based on the avoidance areas they specified--there is
little risk they will ever be in the same geographic area, and
hence little risk they will ever meet offline. By contrast, if Pat
listed California in addition to listing Oregon, then the system
would take steps to limit or prevent online interaction between Pat
and Bob, because their avoidance areas (a.k.a., their personal
territories, or their safety zones) overlap.
[0130] Some embodiments require that a member specify 216 at least
N personal territories 118, and/or that the member specify a
combination 136 of personal territories that satisfies some
geographic size requirement. For instance, a member might be
required in one implementation to specify at least three personal
territories 118, or to specify at least two territories 118 which
are each at least the size of Switzerland, or which meet some
minimum combined population total, e.g., territories containing at
least fifty million people.
[0131] In some embodiments, virtual community cultural pressure,
community website contractual terms of use, and/or other similar
tools are used to encourage or legally require members to specify
216, 218 a personal territory 118 that includes their current
residence. In some embodiments, as an alternative or in addition,
tools such as geolocation software or correlation with a payment
database are used to identify 312 the apparent approximate
geographic location of the computer 106 or other device 106 being
used by a member 100 to access the online community 102, and that
geographic region is included 310 (visibly to the member in some
cases, invisibly in others) among the member's personal territories
118. In some embodiments, a member's list 116 of personal
territories is private to the member--it is used by the system
internally, but is not made visible to other members.
[0132] A geographic territory normally is a characteristic of a
member 100, at least as to the geographic territory in which the
member resides. But other criteria need not apply to the member 100
who specifies them as avoidance criteria 118. A member can ask to
avoid communication with members who have a particular profession
118, for instance, without also being a member of that
profession.
[0133] In some embodiments, a member can specify avoidance criteria
118 that are not geographic in addition to, or instead of,
specifying the geographic territories to avoid. For example, a
physician who is an expert in some medical field may tell 216, 218
the system 106, 108 to help her avoid communications 110 online
with other physicians generally, or perhaps only with other
physicians in her medical field. Another physician may similarly
tell the system to avoid communications with attorneys. More
generally, avoidance criteria 118 may be any of a wide variety of
criteria, e.g., geographic location, profession, certain topics of
discussion, and so on. Avoidance criteria may be specified in a
profile.
[0134] The avoidance criteria may have an effect in a system in
various ways, depending on the system embodiment.
[0135] First, when the system is making or offering a random or
semi-random (e.g., based on shared interest in a topic)
introduction 146 between two members, it may operate to avoid
introducing two members whose personal territories 118 overlap.
[0136] Second, when the system is selecting a privacy quality
control reviewer of a communication, it may operate to avoid
selecting a reviewer whose territory overlaps with either the
source member of the communication or the intended destination
member of the communication.
[0137] Third, when the system is preparing to display a blog
posting, forum posting, comment, or other quasi-public posting by
one member, it may limit 328 what is seen by other member(s) so
that the posting is not seen by member(s) whose personal
territory(ies) overlap the personal territory 118 of the poster
100. As a result, not every member 100 who looks at (or tries to
look at) a blog at a given point in time will necessarily see the
same content as the other member(s). Rather, postings may be
filtered 328 to prevent viewing by members 100 whose personal
territories 118 overlap those of the original poster 100 and/or
those of a subsequent commenter 100. In some implementations,
overlap between a potential viewer's territory and any poster's
(original, later commenter) territory makes the entire blog
(comments and all) unavailable 328 to the potential viewer. In
other implementations, redactions 328 are made based on
individual's territories, so that the potential viewer sees at
least some of the blog but does not see portions posted by members
whose territory overlaps the viewer's territory. More generally, a
system may filter 326, 328 access to postings to satisfy member
avoidance criteria, geographic or otherwise, to reduce the risk
that members who communicate online might meet offline.
[0138] Some embodiments do not ask members for personally
identifying information 140 when they register 304, 306 to obtain a
username 138. Other embodiments do ask, e.g., to receive a one-time
registration fee, but do not correlate usernames to that personal
information.
[0139] In some embodiments, at least some social network member
communications are reviewed for potential disclosure of personally
identifying information, and review results are used to discourage
and/or limit online communications that apparently increase the
risk that members who interact online will meet (accidentally
and/or intentionally) offline. Such privacy reviews may be
automated, by people, or both.
[0140] For example, in some embodiments, member communications
(posting, email, IM, chat, etc.) are scanned for key words and
phrases that may indicate increased risk of disclosing a member's
offline identity; online, usernames not reminiscent of offline
names etc. are used to identify members. Such privacy concern
triggers may include, e.g., personal or family names, phone
numbers, addresses (postal, email, web), account numbers, gender,
race, ethnicity, age, title, profession, geographic names, landmark
names, employer names, phrases such as "where do you live?", "I
live in . . . ", "How old are you?", "What school do you go to?",
etc.
[0141] Various steps may be taken when scanning detects such a
privacy concern trigger. The communication sender may be told, and
given a chance to edit the communication before it is sent to any
other member. The communication may be sent to a randomly selected
(or an expertise-and-trust-proven-selected) member who serves as a
privacy quality control reviewer. The trigger may be modified (for
learning, eg., as spam detectors learn, but to detect privacy
concerns better, not to detect spam). The communication may be sent
to its intended member destination(s), with or without some
modification by the sender and/or by the system to enhance sender
privacy.
[0142] In some embodiments, a privacy quality control reviewer
receives a communication snippet without receiving any indication
who is sending it, reviews it, and makes a judgment about whether
it reveals personally offline-identity-revealing information.
Reviewer comments are sent back to the sender. The sender may make
changes, after which the edited communication is sent to another
randomly selected (but again with non-overlapping personal
territory) privacy quality control reviewer, and so on. Thus, the
community helps protect the privacy of its members. Individual
members may build up, over time, expertise in judging the risk of
disclosure, and that expertise may in turn be rated anonymously by
the members whose communications are reviewed.
[0143] Members who prove to be expert and trustworthy at assessing
privacy disclosure risks--as judged by those whose privacy they
seek to protect--may be rewarded in ways that do not risk
disclosure of their own privacy. For example, reviewers may take
pride in private recognition by the system of their relative rank
among all privacy reviewers. Reviewers may enjoy being trusted with
review of messages which are more likely than other reviewed
messages to disclose a member's offline identity.
[0144] In some embodiments no privacy reviewer is sent more than
some small predetermined number of communications from a given
member to review. For example, a reviewer might be sent no more
than five communications over the course of one year from a given
member.
[0145] In some embodiments, a system goal is to strike a balance
that favors online interaction without unacceptable risk of
disclosing offline identities. In some embodiments, the system
cannot prevent intentional disclosure of a member's offline
identity by that member. But it can often prevent, or at least
reduce, the risk of accidental disclosure of a member's offline
identity by that member.
[0146] In some embodiments, social network member computing
characteristics are reviewed for potential disclosure of offline
geographic location or offline identity revealing information.
Computing characteristics may then be hidden and/or altered to
reduce or eliminate the risk that members who interact online will
meet (accidentally and/or intentionally) offline. Familiar
technical means of promoting anonymity by hiding and/or altering
computing characteristics can be used, such as not tracking IP
addresses 112 (except possibly to initially assign a personal
territory 118 as discussed herein), using anonymizing servers or
proxies, and so on.
[0147] Usernames can be compared to lists of personal and family
names, cities, etc., to reduce the risk that a username containing
those or other privacy concern triggers will be accepted for use in
the system. Dictionary search tools used to find passwords, for
instance, could be adapted for use in scanning usernames for
personal names, cities, family names, professions, etc.
[0148] In some embodiments, posting or other communication of
pictures (jpg, gif, tiff, pdf, etc.) is not supported by the
system. In other embodiments, pictures may be allowed, but every
picture is subject to privacy quality control review. For example,
cartoon images, avatars, animations, and other images that do not
readily reveal the type of identifying characteristics shown in an
identification photograph may be allowed.
[0149] In some embodiments, links to outside websites are not
supported by the system. In other embodiments, links may be
allowed, but every link is subject to privacy quality control
review. At least some disguised links, such as "goo g le dot co m"
(note spacing, use of "dot"), may be detected and treated as
links.
[0150] In some embodiments, each user has two usernames. One
(internal username) is seen by the user, while the other (external
username) is seen by other people in the system. Messages can be
scanned automatically for either type of username; internal
usernames in particular can be privacy concern triggers. The user
does not necessarily know its own external username; in some
embodiments, external usernames are kept secret from their users.
Postings of a user which include the user's external username are
modified to show the user's internal username instead, at least
when the user is logged on. Another person logging on nearby, e.g.,
a friend of the user, should not see those messages anyway, since
the friends' personal territories will overlap. Likewise, if the
user logs in under a different account, but is still in the same
territory, the original account's messages should be filtered out
and thus not displayed to the user.
[0151] In some embodiments, the external username associated with a
given internal username (via a table or other data structure) is
changed on occasion. The user is not normally notified that a
change in external username has occurred, but may infer such a
change from a loss of contact with some other user that occurs when
the old username is disabled. An external username may be changed
or otherwise disabled (e.g., user evicted from system) on a regular
schedule, e.g., every month, on a randomized schedule, in response
to a request from the user ("I'm uncomfortable--please move me to a
new virtual bar with a fresh face and new people to meet online"),
and/or in response to heightened risk of privacy loss as indicated
by automated review of messages to/from the user for privacy
concern triggers and/or by actions by privacy quality control
reviewers (especially if the system notes a history of privacy
concerns). The new external username normally bears little or no
resemblance to the previous external username.
[0152] In some embodiments, a given internal username is associated
with more than one external username, e.g., a different external
username may be used in each of several different countries or
other territories. This may reduce the risk that when users A and B
communicate, A, and C communicate, and B and C communicate, that B
and C will together learn more than desired about A's identity. B
and C will know A under different external usernames of A, and
hence be less likely to correlate information about A.
[0153] It will be apparent that preserving one's anonymity is a way
to help reduce the risk that one will never meet in person offline
someone that one has met online. But it is not the only way.
Embodiments can also help prevent unwanted offline meetings by
limiting online interaction to members whose personal territories
118 (as stated 216, 218 by the members and/or determined 312
automatically by the system from geolocation) do not overlap.
[0154] Traditional profile elements, which contain personally
identifying information such as age, gender, race, profession, and
geographic location, will likely be used rarely if at all in some
embodiments. However, topics of interest might be specified in a
profile that is accessible to other members (at least, to those
whose personal territories do not overlap your own).
[0155] Tools and techniques presented herein may be embodied in
various ways, e.g., processes and/or hardware on a server computer
108, on a client 106 or peer 106, or on a standalone computer,
software (data instructions) in RAM or permanent storage for
performing a process, general purpose computer hardware configured
by software, special-purpose computer hardware, data produced by a
process, and so on. Computers, PDAs, cell phones, and any device
106, 108 having user interface 128 and some network transmission
134 capabilities may be part of a given embodiment. Touch screens,
keyboards, other buttons, levers, microphones, speakers, light
pens, sensors, scanners, and other I/O devices 134 may be
configured to facilitate or perform operations to achieve the
methods and systems, and method results, which are described here.
Combinations of these may also form a given embodiment.
[0156] In view of the foregoing, it will be understood that the
present disclosure describes features which can be used
independently of one another in embodiments that focus on different
approaches. Many features described here could be provided in a
given commercial product or services package, but may nonetheless
be patentably distinct. Determinations of patentable distinctness
are made after a disclosure is filed, and are made by patent
examination authorities.
[0157] It may be helpful, however, to note the following. U.S.
patent application serial no. 11870475 filed October 11, 2007
involves privacy reviews of electronic communications in an online
community, from the perspective of a member of the online
community, including for example a member manifesting consent to a
privacy review. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/870,506 filed
Oct. 11, 2007 also involves privacy reviews of electronic
communications in an online community, but from the perspective of
a service provider, including for example a service provider system
determining that an electronic communication should be submitted to
a privacy review. Each of these previous applications claims
priority to the three provisional applications identified at the
beginning of this present application, and there is some overlap in
the specifications of this present application and the other
non-provisional applications. It is respectfully submitted,
however, that the different non-provisional applications claim
different inventions.
[0158] It may also be helpful to note that one of the various ways
in which features disclosed herein can be grouped is according to
which entity acts. Some steps are unique to a role. A member does
steps that are not done by a service provider, and vice versa.
[0159] It may also be helpful to note that another way to group
features disclosed herein is according to the steps/structures
employed.
[0160] For example, some embodiments employ avoidance criteria 118
and/or take steps to limit offline interaction based on information
from online community members about their offline identity 140.
Thus, some embodiments include accepting an avoidance criterion 118
from a member (current or prospective) of a social network 102; and
limiting (reducing and/or preventing between those with overlapping
avoidance criteria, and/or favoring and/or requiring between those
with non-overlapping avoidance criteria) online interaction 110
between the member and at least one other member of the social
network based at least in part on the members' avoidance criteria.
In some, the social network accepts avoidance criteria 118
including a list of personal territories from the member, and
limits online interaction based on the personal territories of the
members.
[0161] As another example, some embodiments employ privacy concern
trigger and/or take steps to alert online community members when
their offline identity information might be disclosed by a
communication. Thus, some embodiments include automatically
scanning a communication from a member (current or prospective) of
a social network for at least one privacy concern trigger; and
submitting the communication to a privacy quality control reviewer
after finding at least one privacy concern trigger. In some, the
privacy quality control reviewer anonymously reviews the
communication and indicates an extent to which the reviewer has
concluded that the communication is likely to disclose offline
identity information of the member.
[0162] As another example, some embodiments employ username mapping
and/or take steps to hide/change usernames to make an online
community member's online identity a moving target or otherwise
difficult to permanently pin down. Thus, some embodiments include
accepting a user-visible (internal) username from a user of a
website, phone, PDA, or other networked service; and displaying a
different username (external) username for that same user to other
users of the service. Some also include dynamically changing the
external username while maintaining the associated internal
username; the change may be on an automated schedule, and/or at
specific request of the user, and/or in response to some indication
(detected automatically or manually) that the privacy of the user
may be compromised or near compromise.
[0163] As another example, some embodiments provide privacy
protection through username restrictions that limit username
content to reduce or avoid use of offline identity information in
usernames.
[0164] Features disclosed herein may also be categorizable into
patentably distinct embodiments in other ways. Regardless, we now
turn to more detailed examples of ways in which features may be
organized.
[0165] In the following examples particular attention is paid to
anonymous social networking with community-based privacy reviews,
from a reviewed person's perspective.
[0166] Some embodiments include a method for use by a first person
belonging to an online community, the first person having an online
identity published within the online community, the first person
also having an offline identity which the first person has asserted
should not be published in the online community, the method
including the first person: consenting to a privacy review of a
communication between the first person and a second person who also
belongs to the online community; and receiving a result of the
privacy review, the result indicating the extent to which the
communication was considered to pose a risk of disclosing at least
part of the first person's offline identity in the online
community.
[0167] In some cases, the first person receives notice that the
privacy review is based at least in part on scanning communications
before they are delivered to their identified destination(s) in the
online community.
[0168] In some cases, the first person receives notice that the
privacy review is based at least in part on manually and/or
automatically scanning communications for at least one of the
following: personal name, family name, phone number, offline
address, online address, geographic name, landmark name, questions
seeking geographic information, statements containing geographic
information, questions seeking employment information, statements
containing employment information, gender, race, ethnicity, age,
title, profession.
[0169] In some cases, the first person consents to privacy review
of the communication by a third person who also belongs to the
online community, and the third person has an offline identity
which is not disclosed to the first person. In some cases, the
first person consents to privacy review of the communication by a
third person, and the method further includes the first person
providing an opinion about the third person's privacy review. In
some cases, the first person consents to privacy review of the
communication by a third person, and the method further includes
the first person receiving a reputation summary indicative of the
third person's reputation for privacy reviews, based on multiple
privacy reviews performed by the third person. In some cases, the
first person consents to privacy review of the communication by a
third person who also belongs to the online community, and the
third person is at an offline location which lies outside a list of
territories specified by the first person.
[0170] Some methods further include the first person editing the
communication, in response to the privacy review, before the
communication reaches the second person. Some include the first
person submitting the edited communication to another privacy
review.
[0171] In some embodiments, the first person receives notice that
their offline identity is hidden from any person who performs a
privacy review on their communication. In some, the first person
receives notice that their online identity is hidden from any
person who performs a privacy review on their communication.
[0172] In some embodiments, the first person consents to privacy
review of some images in communications from the first person to
another person in the online community. In some, the first person
consents to privacy review of all images in communications from the
first person to another person in the online community. In some,
the first person consents to privacy review of some online
addresses in communications from the first person to another person
in the online community, and online addresses include at least
website addresses and email addresses. In some, the first person
consents to privacy review of all online addresses in
communications from the first person to another person in the
online community. In some, the first person consents to privacy
review of offline addresses in communications from the first person
to another person in the online community.
[0173] In some embodiments, the first person receives notice that
the privacy review includes automatically scanning a communication
and then submitting the communication to a person for privacy
review if a privacy concern trigger is found by the automatic
scanning.
[0174] In the following examples particular attention is paid to
anonymous social networking with offline encounter avoidance
criteria 118, from a service provider's perspective.
[0175] Some embodiments include a method to help reduce the risk of
offline encounters between members 100 of an online community 102,
the method including: obtaining a first avoidance criterion 118
from a first member of the online community, the first avoidance
criterion specifying an aspect of the first member's offline life
that is designated by the first member to be shielded from the
first member's online life; obtaining a second avoidance criterion
118 from a second member of the online community, the second
avoidance criterion specifying an aspect of the second member's
offline life that is designated by the second member to be shielded
from the second member's online life; and using the avoidance
criteria to determine 334 an offline encounter risk level 160 of
the two members, namely, a value which is based at least in part on
the extent of overlap, if any, between their avoidance
criteria.
[0176] In some embodiments, a method includes securely storing the
obtained avoidance criteria 118 such that a member's choice of
avoidance criteria is not published in the online community 102 to
other members. Some embodiments include at least one of the
following: securely storing 316 offline identity information about
members so that it is not published in the online community to
other members; informing 302 members that their offline name is not
required and then allowing them to post communications 110 in the
online community without first providing their offline names.
[0177] Some embodiments include displaying 322 to one of the
members an indication 144 of the number of members of the online
community 102 whose avoidance criteria 118 overlap at least one
avoidance criterion of that member, thereby allowing that member to
estimate the reduction in online community access which would
result from retaining the at least one avoidance criterion. An
indication 144 of the number of members may be numeric or visual
(e.g., partially filled bar or map), and may be an exact count or
an estimate.
[0178] Some embodiments include regulating 336 communication
between the first member and the second member in accordance with
their offline encounter risk level, with a goal of reducing the
risk that they will encounter each other offline as a result of
communications 110 in the online community 102.
[0179] In some embodiments, the obtaining steps obtain geographic
territory designations 118, and communication between the two
members is regulated 336 in at least one of the following ways:
direct communication between the two members is not supported 324
by online community services when their respective geographic
territory designations overlap; direct communication between the
two members is suggested 330 by an online community service when
their respective geographic territory designations do not
overlap.
[0180] In some embodiments, the obtaining steps obtain geographic
territory designations, and the method further includes submitting
a communication to the second member for privacy review when the
respective geographic territory designations of the two members do
not overlap, the communication being from the first member and also
being not addressed to the second member by the first member.
[0181] In some embodiments, the obtaining steps obtain geographic
territory designations 118, and the method further includes
informing 302 a member of at least one of the following: the
territory in which the member resides should be designated, the
territory in which the member resides must be designated, the
territory in which the member resides will be automatically
designated, at least one territory in which a member does not
reside may be designated, a territory in which the member plans to
travel should be designated, a territory in which the member plans
to travel must be designated, a territory in which the member plans
to travel may be designated.
[0182] In some embodiments, the obtaining steps obtain geographic
territory designations 118, and the method further includes
informing 302 a member of at least one of the following: at least
one territory should be designated, at least one territory must be
designated, at least N territories should be designated (N being a
stated value greater than one), at least N territories must be
designated, territories which together have at least a specified
total area should be designated, territories which together have at
least a specified total area must be designated, territories which
together have at least a specified total population should be
designated, territories which together have at least a specified
total population must be designated.
[0183] In some embodiments, the obtaining steps obtain geographic
territory designations 118, and the method further includes
automatically determining 312 a member's likely residence and then
including 310 within that member's avoidance criteria at least one
covering geographic territory, that is, a territory which includes
the member's likely residence. In some, the steps of automatically
determining the member's likely residence and including a covering
geographic territory are performed transparently to the member.
[0184] In some embodiments, the obtaining steps obtain designations
118 of at least one of the following: geographic territory,
profession, a discussion topic listed as appropriate for an
existing forum in the online community, gender, marital status,
ethnicity, race, age, offline family name, offline personal name,
organization membership, religious affiliation, membership in one
or more specified online communities, thereby allowing members 100
to designate characteristics of other members who they wish to
avoid encountering.
[0185] A specified aspect 118 of offline life may be past, present,
and/or contemplated in the future; it need not come about to be
specified as an avoidance criterion 118. It may even be intended
solely as a buffer, e.g., specifying an entire state 118 instead of
merely specifying a county within the state even if there are no
plans to travel outside the county.
[0186] In some embodiments, the first obtaining step obtains
designations of multiple avoidance criteria 118 from the first
member, and the offline encounter risk level 160 depends on at
least two of those multiple avoidance criteria. In some, the first
obtaining step obtains designations of multiple avoidance criteria
from the first member in a Boolean expression 136. Boolean
expression operators may be implicit, e.g., a blank space could be
used to denote a logical AND operator.
[0187] Some embodiments include obtaining 332 from the first member
an indication of a first acceptable level of risk, which represents
the first member's willingness to risk encountering offline some
other member of the online community, and obtaining 332 from the
second member an indication of a second acceptable level of risk,
which represents the second member's willingness to risk
encountering offline some other member of the online community.
Some include at least one of the following steps: hiding 326 online
community contact information of each of the two members from the
other member after determining that the offline encounter risk
level of the two members exceeds a level corresponding to the level
of acceptable risk indicated by at least one of two members;
displaying 330 to at least one of the two members 100 an online
community username of the other member after determining that the
offline encounter risk level of the two members is less than the
level(s) of acceptable risk indicated by the two members;
introducing 330 the first member and the second member online using
their respective usernames, after determining that the offline
encounter risk level of the two members is less than the level(s)
of acceptable risk indicated by the two members.
[0188] In some embodiments, the offline encounter risk level 160 of
the two members exceeds a predetermined value, and the method
further includes hiding 328 from each of the two members
communications 110 which are posted in the online community 102 by
the other of the two members. In some, the hiding step hides at
least one of the following: a blog posting, a forum posting, a
member profile, a member username, an electronic communication.
[0189] In some embodiments, the step of obtaining a first avoidance
criterion occurs during registration of the first member 100, and
that registration must be completed before the first member can
post any communication to other members in the online community
102. In some, the step of obtaining a first avoidance criterion 118
occurs after registration of the first member and modifies a
previously obtained set containing at least one first member
avoidance criterion, and the method further includes re-determining
334 the offline encounter risk level of the two members in view of
the modified avoidance criterion. In some embodiments, securely
storing data does not preclude data access by authorized
administrative personnel.
[0190] In the following examples particular attention is paid to
anonymous social networking with offline encounter avoidance
criteria, from an online community member's perspective.
[0191] Some embodiments include a method for an online community
102 member 100 to use to help reduce the risk of an offline
encounter with another member of the online community, the method
including the online community member: receiving notice that
communications 110 in an online community will be regulated in
order to reduce online communication between community members who
have overlapping avoidance criteria 118; and ratifying 222 an
avoidance set 116 which includes at least one avoidance
criterion.
[0192] In some embodiments, the ratifying step 222 includes at
least one of the following: the online community member selecting
216 at least one avoidance criterion from displayed selectable
avoidance criteria, the online community member communicating 232
in the online community 102 while subject to an avoidance criterion
118 which is automatically included 310 in the avoidance set 116.
Some embodiments include the online community member reviewing
selectable avoidance criteria 126 displayed by an online community
service provider. Some include the online community member
receiving 214 notice 124 that a given member's avoidance set is not
published in the online community to other members. Some include
the online community member receiving 224 an indication 144 of the
number of other members of the online community whose avoidance
criteria overlap that member's avoidance set.
[0193] In some embodiments, the receiving notice step includes
receiving 212 notice 124 that communications will be regulated with
the goal of preventing 324 any direct communication in the online
community between community members who have overlapping avoidance
criteria 118. In some, the receiving notice step includes receiving
210 notice that communications 110 in the online community will be
regulated with the goal of hiding 328, from each of two members who
have overlapping avoidance criteria 118, the online presence of the
other of the two members.
[0194] Some embodiments include the online community member
modifying the avoidance set by at least one of the following:
selecting an avoidance criterion to include in the avoidance set
116, selecting an avoidance criterion to exclude from the avoidance
set. In some, the avoidance set includes at least one geographic
territory designation, thereby indicating that the online community
member 100 will have reduced communication in the online community
102 with other members who may be physically located in the
designated geographic territory(ies).
[0195] In some embodiments, the online community member is a first
member, and the method further includes the first member consenting
to allow privacy review of one of its online communications by a
privacy reviewer if the privacy reviewer is also a member of the
online community who has designated at least one geographic
territory in a privacy reviewer avoidance set, and if the privacy
reviewer avoidance set does not overlap the geographic
territory(ies) designated in the first member's avoidance set. In
some, the avoidance set includes at least the territory in which
the online community member resides. In some, the avoidance set
includes at least one territory in which the online community
member does not reside but plans to travel.
[0196] In some embodiments, the avoidance set ratifying step 222
includes selecting a geographic territory using a Boolean
combination 136 of constituent territories. In some, the ratifying
step 222 includes selecting designations of at least one of the
following: geographic territory, profession, a discussion topic
listed as appropriate for an existing forum in the online
community, gender, marital status, ethnicity, race, age, offline
family name, offline personal name, organization membership,
religious affiliation, specified online community membership,
thereby allowing the online community member to designate
characteristics 118 of other members who the online community
member wishes to avoid encountering. In some, the ratifying step
222 includes selecting designations of multiple avoidance criteria
combined in a Boolean expression 136.
[0197] Some embodiments include the online community member
accessing the online community through a username which has been
subjected to privacy review to reduce the risk that it will
disclose information about the online community member's offline
identity.
[0198] Some embodiments include the online community member
specifying 226 an acceptable level of risk 164, which represents
the member's willingness to risk encountering offline some other
member 100 of the online community 102.
[0199] In some embodiments, the online community member is a first
member, and the method includes the first member receiving 228 an
introduction 146 to another online community member whose avoidance
criteria 118 do not overlap the first member's avoidance set 116.
In some, the online community member is a first member, and the
method includes the first member attempting 230 unsuccessfully to
communicate directly in the online community with another online
community member whose avoidance criteria 118 overlaps the first
member's avoidance set 116.
[0200] In the following examples, particular attention is paid to
privacy protection through username restrictions.
[0201] Some embodiments include a method for use by an online
service provider to help maintain the privacy of offline identities
of online users, the method including: testing a proposed username
by comparing at least a portion of its content to a set of personal
identification information tokens; and accepting the proposed
username if it satisfies a predetermined privacy criterion, the
privacy criterion being defined in terms of matches to personal
identification information tokens.
[0202] In some embodiments, the testing step compares proposed
username content to tokens using at least one of the following: an
interactive question-and-answer session; an automatic string
operation. In some embodiments, the testing step compares proposed
username content to tokens obtained from personal information
supplied by an online user, and the privacy criterion is defined in
terms of avoiding matches to those tokens. In some, the testing
step compares proposed username content to tokens obtained from at
least one of: a directory of offline addresses, a directory of
online addresses, a directory of names, a directory of phone
numbers, and the privacy criterion is defined in terms of avoiding
matches to those tokens. In some, the testing step compares
proposed username content to tokens obtained from at least one of:
a database of registrations, a database of licenses, a database of
grants, a database of government records, and the privacy criterion
is defined in terms of avoiding matches to those tokens. In some,
the testing step compares proposed username content to tokens
obtained from a collection of fictional names, and the privacy
criterion is defined in terms of matching those tokens. In some,
the testing step compares proposed username content to a result of
an online search engine search.
[0203] Some embodiments include accepting the proposed username
from an online user before testing the proposed username. Some
include automatically generating the proposed username before
testing the proposed username.
[0204] Some embodiments include a method for username selection
which reduces the risk that a username will disclose information
about an online user's offline identity, the method including:
receiving a question regarding a proposed username and its
relation, if any, to the online user's offline identity; and
answering the question. Some include receiving additional questions
regarding the proposed username and its relation, if any, to the
online user's offline identity, and answering the additional
questions.
[0205] Some embodiments include proposing a username. Some include
specifying an acceptable level of risk that the proposed username
will disclose information about the online user's offline identity.
Some include stating that the proposed username is a fictional
name.
[0206] Some embodiments include receiving and answering at least
one of the following questions: whether the proposed username
contains any part of your name, whether the proposed username
contains any part of the name of anyone in your family, whether the
proposed username contains any part of the name of anyone you have
met, whether the proposed username contains the name of a pet,
whether the proposed username contains a nickname, whether the
proposed username contains the name of your employer, whether the
proposed username contains the name of a business you are connected
with, whether the proposed username refers to your religious or
spiritual beliefs, whether the proposed username refers to your
political beliefs, whether the proposed username refers to any
organization to which you belong or which you support, whether the
proposed username contains any part of any of your email addresses,
whether the proposed username contains any part of a website
address, whether the proposed username contains any part of any of
your offline addresses, whether the proposed username contains any
part of any of your phone numbers, whether the proposed username
refers to any of your physical characteristics (e.g., height,
weight, gender, race, hair color, eye color, tattoos,
disabilities), whether the proposed username refers to your
ethnicity. Some embodiments include reading part of a search engine
search result and being asked whether it pertains to you or anyone
you know.
[0207] In the following examples, particular attention is paid to
privacy protection through username mapping.
[0208] Some embodiments include a method for use by an online
service provider to help maintain the privacy of offline identities
of online users, the method including: assigning a first user of an
online service a private username which is not kept hidden from the
first user but is kept hidden from other users of the online
service; and assigning the first user at least one public username
which is kept hidden from the first user but is not kept hidden
from at least some other users of the online service.
[0209] Some embodiments include receiving from the first user
content directed to at least one other user; and displaying the
content together with an attribution which depends on the online
service account used, namely, showing an attribution to the private
username when the first user is logged in and showing an
attribution to a public username when another user is logged
in.
[0210] Some embodiments include associating geographic territories
with users of the online service; the content is hidden from
display to other users whose associated geographic territory
overlaps the first user's associated geographic territory. Some
include associating geographic territories with users of the online
service, and all public usernames assigned to the first user are
kept hidden from other users whose associated geographic territory
overlaps the first user's associated geographic territory.
[0211] In some embodiments, at least two different public usernames
of a given user are in active use and displayed in each of at least
two respective geographic territories at one time.
[0212] In some embodiments, the private username is chosen by the
online user, in some it is assigned by the system, and in some it
is chosen by the user subject to approval by the system. The public
names are generated by the system. Different public (aka external)
usernames of a given user may be used in different geographic
regions and/or in different forums. The system may autogenerate
usernames by combining root words, numeric values, and in some
cases associated images (which do not contain realistic user
likenesses). Hiding a username does not necessarily preclude
revealing it to an authorized administrator, but in some
embodiments the correlation between users and usernames is not
readily determined even by such administrators.
CONCLUSION
[0213] Although particular embodiments are expressly illustrated
and described herein as methods or systems, it will be appreciated
that discussion of one type of embodiment also generally extends to
other embodiment types. For instance, the descriptions of methods
in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3 also help describe systems like
those described in connection with FIG. 1, and vice versa.
Likewise, example method embodiments help describe system
embodiments that operate according to those methods, product
embodiments produced by those methods (such as a listing showing
personal territories to avoid meeting members from), and configured
media embodiments in which a medium is configured by data and
instructions to perform those methods. It does not follow that all
limitations from a given embodiment are necessarily read into
another.
[0214] Components, steps, and other aspects of different examples
given herein may be combined to form a given embodiment.
[0215] Reference has been made to the figures throughout by
reference numerals. Any apparent inconsistencies in the phrasing
associated with a given reference numeral, in the figures or in the
text, should be understood as simply broadening the scope of what
is referenced by that numeral.
[0216] As used herein, terms such as "a" and "the" are inclusive of
one or more of the indicated item or step. In particular, in the
claims a reference to an item generally means at least one such
item is present and a reference to a step means at least one
instance of the step is performed.
[0217] Reference to avoidance "criteria" contemplates the plural
"criteria" and/or the singular "criterion" unless two or more
criteria are clearly required, e.g., for comparison of criteria.
Reference to avoidance "criterion" means one or more avoidance
criteria.
[0218] Headings are for convenience only; information on a given
topic may be found outside the section whose heading indicates that
topic.
[0219] All claims as filed are part of the specification. Repeated
claim language may be inserted outside the claims as needed.
[0220] While exemplary embodiments have been shown in the drawings
and described above, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill
in the art that numerous modifications can be made without
departing from the principles and concepts set forth in the claims.
Although the subject matter is described in language specific to
structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be
understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims
is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts
described above the claims. It is not necessary for every means or
aspect identified in a given definition or example to be present or
to be utilized in every embodiment. Rather, the specific features
and acts described are disclosed as examples for consideration when
implementing the claims.
[0221] All changes which come within the meaning and range of
equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope to
the full extent permitted by law.
* * * * *