Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to generating, maintaining and presenting one or more self-marketing scores based on references from friends or acquaintances, preferably via a communication network such as the Internet. The respective scores can be generated in a standardized format making the scores comparable across different persons.
2. Background of the Invention
In the increasingly popular field of social networking services, a multitude of persons are communicating and sharing information with one another typically via the Internet.
In more detail, a social networking service focuses on the building and verifying of online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.
Most social networking services are primarily web based and provide a multitude of ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, for example.
The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and recommender systems linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with MySpace, Bebo and Facebook being the mostly widely used in 2007.
A key social need for members of a social networking environment is to express and communicate individual positive attributes as a means to build and maintain a reputation that is trusted by other members of the social networking environment.
The present invention addresses this need in a novel way providing a number of advantages.
The invented system and method allows persons to generate one or more scores suited to measure and present one or more aspects of their respective personalities, strengths, integrity and the like in a standardized, cross-person comparable form.
In order to provide utmost clarity in the following description, the following terms shall be introduced and defined:
1) a source person creates a claim relating to an aspect of himself or herself preferably via the Internet, for example, the claim comprising the following statement: “I am the best Java programmer in California”. In this case, the source person is equal to the target person.
2) the source person then asks one or more of his or her friends (source person's friends) to vouch that the claim is true.
3) an initial score regarding the claim is generated that is preferably updated each time a vouch for the respective statement is received, preferably representing a standardized measurement for the quantity and quality of received vouches as described below.
It is also an object of the present invention that two or more scores, each relating to two or more respective claims, may be aggregated as to generate one or more higher-level scores that can be used as a standardized measurement of the integrity of the target person that the two or more respective claims relate to.
As an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a claim may also be created by one person targeting another person. In this case, a score may, for example, be generated in the following sequence:
1) a source person creates a claim regarding an aspect of a target person preferably via the Internet, for example, “Tim Doe is the best Java programmer in California”. In this case, the source person is not equal to the target person.
Optionally, the target person, in this example Tim Doe, may need to approve the claim before the following steps are allowed to be performed:
2) the source person as well as the target person can then ask one or more of the target person's friends to vouch that the claim is true.
3) an initial score regarding the claim is generated that is preferably updated each time a vouch for the respective statement is received, preferably representing a standardized measurement for the quantity and quality of received vouches as illustrated below.
The present invention introduces a multitude of objects and advantages including commercially valuable features and services.
For example, one object and advantage of the present invention is to allow a person to illustrate or advertise, for example, an area of strength in order to attract, for example, new friends, partners or employers.
Another object and advantage of the present invention is to allow employers looking to hire employees with specific profiles to use the presently disclosed scores as part of their recruiting process. In this case, employers may improve the speed and quality of their recruiting processes, for example, by using the disclosed scores as readily available references.
Another object and advantage of the present invention is to allow advertisers to identify and engage with specific target audiences. In this case, an advertiser may wish to only engage with target audiences who feature, for example, scores above a specific minimum value, or strengths in a specific area.
Another object and advantage of the present invention is that the invented system and method may also be applied to generating one or more scores suited to measure and present aspects of an organization's strengths, capabilities, integrity or the like using the same or a similar process as described above and in the following description regarding persons. In this case, for example, one organization may publish a claim regarding itself or another organization and asks partner organizations of the target organization to vouch for the claim, in the same or similar way as described above.
The term organization shall be used in the context of the present invention to include a corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal for-profit or non-profit entity.
For an organization, an object and advantage of the present invention is to allow the organization to illustrate or advertise, for example, an area of its strengths in order to attract, for example, new partners, customers, or investors.
Another object and advantage of the present invention is to allow organizations to identify and engage with specific other organizations. In this case, an organization may wish to only engage with other organizations who feature, for example, scores above a specific minimum value, or strengths in a specific area.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a multitude of non-commercial and commercial services may be enabled by applying the invented system and method, including, but not limited to, research services, entertainment services, partnership services, recruiting services and advertisement services.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the following drawings and detailed description.
In the context of the present invention, the term source identifier shall be used as a preferably unambiguous reference to a source person and the term target identifier shall be used as a preferably unambiguous reference to a target person.
Examples for an identifier for a person shall include a combination of a first name, optionally middle name and a last name, a number or series of numbers and characters, such as a user name that is linked to a particular person, or the like.
The term timestamp shall be used to refer to the date and time when a claim was created.
The term statement shall be used to refer to a verbal description of one or more aspects of, for example, a target person's strengths, conduct, or integrity.
The term score is defined above. A score in the spirit of the present invention is preferably intended to be used as a metric for a claim's credibility and is preferably designed to allow easy readability and comparability across two or more claims.
Timestamp 20 depicts the date and time when claim 16 was created. In the illustrated case, for usability reasons, timestamp 20 only shows a date, which is Aug. 17, 2007. Of course, timestamp 20 could also be expressed in a much more comprehensive and granular form, for example, as “2007-08-17 13:27:44 PST” which includes a date, time and respective time zone.
In addition, claim 16 includes a statement 22 “I am the best Java Programmer in California”.
Furthermore, claim 16 includes a score 24 called “Vouchoo Index”. Score 24 consists of a quantity indicator 26 and a quality indicator 28. Quantity indicator 26 shows that 537 vouches have been received so far regarding claim 16. Quality indicator 28 shows that 96% of the friends of the target person at the time claim 16 was published have vouched for claim 16 so far. Or, as expressed in more general terms:
X=total number of vouches received regarding a claim z so far;
y=total number of the claim z's target person's friends at the time when the claim z was published (the target person is the person that the claim z relates to);
Quantity indicator value=x;
Quality indicator value [%]=100* x/y
Exceptions:
Vouchoo Index for the claim z:
Quantity indicator value for claim z (Quality indicator for claim z [%]).
Example 1: for x=5 and y=10: Vouchoo index=5 (50%);
Example 2: for x=300 and y=10: Vouchoo index=300 (100%);
Example 3: for x=0 and y=10: Vouchoo index=0 (0%);
Example 4: for x=50 and y=0: Vouchoo index=0 (0%).
While the above described way to compute and present a score is an object of the present invention, there is a multitude of alternative ways. For example, the value of quality indicator 28 may also be influenced by how slow or fast vouches for claim 16 have been received, the time elapsed since claim 16 has been created as to account for aging effects that may influence the validity of statement 22 over time, for how long friends that vouched for claim 16 were registered as friends of Barney Rubble upon vouching for claim 16 and the like.
Of course, score 24 may also be expressed in a multitude of alternative formats. For example, score 24 may include additional or alternative indicators or indicators with additional or alternative value spaces.
Timestamp 36 depicts the date and time when claim 30 was created, in this case formatted as “2007-09-23 11:05:01 PST” which includes a date, time and respective time zone.
In addition, claim 30 includes a statement 38 “Barney Rubble can run one mile in under 4 minutes”.
Furthermore, claim 30 includes a score 39 called “Vouchoo Index” that is computed and presented in the same way as score 24 described above. Comparing score 24 with score 39, it will be apparent that only 33 vouches have been received for claim 30 thus far (versus 537 for claim 16) and also that only 38% of friends asked to vouch for claim 30 have done so as of yet (versus 96% for claim 16). Thus, claim 16 features a much higher credibility ranking than claim 30 at this time.
In step 42, an initial score is computed and included in the claim by a system in the spirit of the present invention, the initial score being, for example, a Vouchoo Index with the quantity and quality values 0 (0%), since no vouches have been received for the claim yet.
In step 44, at least one of, the source person and the target person, ask the target person's friends to vouch for the claim.
In step 46, if a vouch regarding the claim has been received, the score related to the claim is updated in step 48 at least partly influenced by the respective quantity and quality of all vouches received at that time.
Either if no vouch is received in step 46, or upon updating the score in step 48, step 50 is performed. In step 50, if there are to be performed actions such as, for example, alerting subscribed persons about the changed score, these actions are being performed in step 52.
Either if there are no actions to be performed in step 50, or upon performing actions in step 52, step 54 is performed. In step 54, if the process of generating a score is not to be ended, step 46 is performed . In step 54, if the process of generating a score is to be ended, the process is ended in step 56.
Form 100 comprises a step indicator 102 that is currently indicating a step 1. Furthermore, form 100 comprises a selector for choosing a target person comprising an option “Yourself” 104 and an option “A Friend” 106. Option 104 is selected meaning that the source person selected to create a claim relating to himself or herself.
In addition, form 100 comprises a button “Next” 108 and a link “Cancel” 110. Clicking on link 110 allows to leave form 100 without further processing. In this case, the source person clicks on button 108 in order to move to step 2 of form 100 depicted in
In addition, form 100 comprises a button 128 that leads back to step 1 depicted in
In addition, form 100 comprises a button 160 that leads back to step 2 depicted in
Form 100 comprises a step indicator 102 that is currently indicating a step 1. Furthermore, form 100 comprises a selector for choosing a target person comprising an option “Yourself” 104 and an option “A Friend” 106. Option 106 is selected meaning that the source person selected to create a claim relating to a friend of the source person.
In addition, form 100 comprises a button “Next” 108 and a link “Cancel” 110. Clicking on link 110 allows to leave form 100 without further processing. In this case, the source person clicks on button 108 in order to move to step 2 of form 100 depicted in
In addition, form 100 comprises a button “Previous” 210, a button “Next” 212 and a link “Cancel” 214. Clicking on link 214 allows to leave form 100 without further processing. Clicking on button “Previous” 210 leads back to step 1 depicted in
In addition, form 100 comprises a button “Previous” 238 that leads back to step 2 depicted in
As an alternative embodiment, of course, the present claim may also be published directly without the need to ask for the target person's consent, much as illustrated in
In either case, as soon as the present claim has been added to the target person's profile, the target person may ask one or more of the target person's friends to vouch for the present claim.
Form 270 contains a vouch control 272, a friends control 278, a comment control 279, a quick link control 286 and a function control 292.
Claim control 272 depicts a claim 271, the claim's 271 current score 273, a help link 274 and a vouch button 276. Upon clicking on help link 274, for example, an explanation of how the score 273 is being computed may be presented (not shown).
Upon clicking on vouch button 276, score 273 is updated accordingly and the vouch button 276 may, for example, become inactive (not shown) as to prevent multiple vouches from the same person.
Friends control 278 shows a list of icons representing none or more friends who already vouched for claim 271.
Comment control 279 allows to publish one or more comments regarding claim 271. In this case, a comment may be input into text control 280 and then published using button “Post” 282. Upon posting a comment, the comment may be listed as part of the comment control, for example, in the same way as comment 284.
Quick link control 286 shows one or more links that may be of particular interest for a person using form 270. For example, link “Top claims” 288 may bring up a list of the claims with the currently highest scores across all friends of the person using form 270. As another example, link “Wilma's Other Claims” 290 may bring up a list of all other claims relating to the target person of claim 271.
Function control 288 shows one or more links that enable additional functionality. For example, link “Send to a mutual friend” 294 may allow to forward a vouch request regarding claim 271 to a friend of both, the target person of claim 271 as well as the person currently using form 270.
As another example, link “Report this Claim” 296 may allow the person currently using form 270 to raise a concern, for example, in case the nature or wording of claim 271 is perceived offensive.
Form 300 comprises a search term input field 302, a “Make a New Claim” button 303, a “My Claims” tab control 304 that is currently selected, a “My Composite Index” indicator 306 and a “How to improve my index” link 308. In addition, form 300 contains two claim list controls 310 and 326.
Search term input field 302 allows to input a search term that is used to filter claims that are presented in claim list controls 310 and 326 in such a way that only claims containing the search term are shown.
“Make a New Claim” button 303 links to a form allowing input of a new claim, such, for example, illustrated in
“My Composite Index” indicator 306 shows the current composite score of the person using form 300.
The term composite score shall be used to refer to an aggregation of two or more scores relating to the person using form 300. A composite score may, for example, be computed by adding all quantity indicator values of all claims that relate to the same target person, as well as adding all respective quality indicators and dividing the result by the total number of quantity indicators. For example, as illustrated in
Clicking on “How to improve my index” link 308 may present information to the person using form 300 that explains how to improve the person's present composite score 306 as, for example, to nurture adoption of the composite score as a means to demonstrate a high level of integrity. Composite score 306 may, for example, be used by a person that the composite score is related to, as a reference when the person applies for a job. Additionally, composite scores may be used by businesses to identify a candidate for a job with the highest level of integrity. Of course, a number of additional or alternative applications of a composite score are possible as a composite score can be understood and used as an indicator for the quality of the reputation of a person.
Claim list control 310 shows a list of the claims that relate to the present source person (the person who is currently logged in) and are currently visible to other persons that can see the present source person's profile. In the illustrated case, claim list control 310 comprises two claims 312 and 314.
The term profile shall be used here to refer to one or more pieces of information that relate to a person in the context of a social network service, typically comprising, for example, the person's name or identifier, location, number of friends and such.
Claim list control 326 shows a list of the claims that relate to the present source person (the person who is currently logged in) and are currently not visible to other persons that can see the present source person's profile. In the illustrated case, claim list control 310 comprises claim 328.
Using function link “Show on Profile” 330, the source person can make claim 328 visible on the source person's profile. In this case, claim 328 would be added to claim list control 310 and removed from claim list control 326.
Using function link “Hide from Profile” 318, the source person can make claim 312 invisible on the source person's profile. In this case, claim 312 would be added to claim list control 326 and removed from claim list control 310.
Using function link “Request a Vouch” 316, the source person can send a request to a selection of the source person's friends to vouch for claim 312.
Using function link “Request a Vouch” 316, the source person can delete claim 312. In this case, claim 312 would be removed from both, claim list control 310 and claim list control 326. In addition, claim 312 would be hidden from the source person's profile.
Form 350 comprises a “Friends' Claims” tab control 351 that is currently selected, a sort control 352 and a claim list control 354.
Claim list control 354 comprises a list of the claims that friends of the present source person (the person who is currently logged in) have published. In the illustrated case, claim list control 310 currently shows three claims 356, 360 and 364. Navigation control 353 allows to show additional claims that are listed as part of claim list control 310 but are currently not visible, for example, due to space limitations.
Using sort control 352, the list of presented claims may be sorted according to a selected criteria, for example, in order to show the claim with the currently highest score on top of the list, the claim with the second highest score below and so forth.
Using function link 358, the present source person can vouch for claim 356. Upon vouching for a claim, no further vouching on the claim by the present source person shall be possible. Indicator 362 illustrates this case related to claim 360 as the present source person already vouched for claim.
Form 380 comprises a “Browse Claims” tab control 381 that is currently selected, a view control 382, a sort control 384 and a claim list control 386.
Claim list control 386 comprises a list of the claims that the present source person (the person who is currently logged in) has access to. In the illustrated case, claim list control 386 currently shows three claims 388, 390 and 392. View control 382 allows to filter the claims presented in claim list control 386, for example, in order to only show claims related to a person with the name “Barney Rubble” (as illustrated). Of course, additional or alternative filter values may be provided.
In addition, using sort control 384, the list of presented claims may be sorted according to a selected criteria, for example, in order to show the claim with the currently highest score on the top of the list, the claim with the second highest score below and so forth.
Form 400 comprises a “Vouchoo Home” tab control 402 that is currently selected, a “Recent Activity” list control 404, a “My Stats” control 406, a “Top Claims” control 408 and a “Friends° Claims” control 410.
“Recent Activity” list control 404 may comprise, for example, a list of recent vouches, messages from friends related to claims, comments received and the like (not shown).
“My Stats” control 406 may comprise, for example, the current number of claims published by the present source person (the person who is currently logged in), the number of received vouches and the current composite score of the present source person.
“Top claims” control 408 may comprise, for example, the two claims with the currently highest scores that the present source person has access to.
“Friends' claims” control 410 may comprise, for example, the two claims with the currently highest scores that relate to friends of the source person.
Source person 500 is a member of a social networking service 508 as are three friends of the source person 500: friend 502, friend 504 and friend 506.
Claim service 512, vouch service 514 and score service 516 are operationally connected with social networking service 508 via the Internet and allow social networking service 508 to provide the above described functionality to its members in the spirit of the present invention as described above.
Claim service 512, vouch service 514 and score service 516 use data storage 518 to store and retrieve data, such as claim data, vouch data, comments, score data and the like.
Score requester 510, for example an employer looking to hire a person with a desired minimum score from among the members of social networking service 508, may request a list of members of social networking service 508 adhering to the desired minimum score from score service 516 for a fee.
The inventions set forth above are subject to many modifications and changes without departing from the spirit, scope or essential characteristics thereof. Other embodiments of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art in view of the above disclosure. Thus, the embodiments explained above should be considered in all respect as being illustrative rather than restrictive of the scope of the inventions as defined in the appended claims.
Not Applicable
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61020739 entitled “Self-Marketing System and Method”, filed on Jan. 13, 2008.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61020739 | Jan 2008 | US |