Social networks service

US8271516B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Microsoft Corporation · US

Inventors

• Alexander G. Gounares · Kirkland, US
• Eric J. Horvitz · Kirkland, US
• Kenneth D. Ray · Seattle, US
• Oren Rosenbloom · Redmond, US
• Hubert Van Hoof · Seattle, US
• Chris Demetrios Karkanias · Sammamish, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 12, 2008
• Grant date: Sep 18, 2012
• Expiry date: May 12, 2030

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06Q30/02
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A social network service provides trusted, timely and managed communications between a querying individual and an informed individual by optimizing distribution of queries to reflect a requisite amount of expertise necessary (i.e., interest, background, education, demographic attribute, etc.). Those candidate recipients with a rare level of expertise or specialization can specify a desired level of participation, which is respected. In order not to exhaust their availability, those who are less qualified or part of a larger demographic category appropriate for the query are selected to handle queries of lesser difficulty or less specialization. Anonymity if desired by the recipient party can be supported by increasing the pool of candidate recipients so that the querying party cannot reasonably ascertain who is responding. Timeliness of response, as well as satisfaction in the response, is tracked in order to affect redirection of a query.