Contributor reputation-based message boards and forums

Abstract

System and method for operating reputation-based communication or content service. Method includes obtaining metric related to first user contributor reputation; identifying communication or content having association with first user contributor; and processing communication or content to generate processed communication or content based on the obtained objective contributor reputation. Service is broadly defined and may be selected from bulletin board, message board, chat room, forum, information provision service, content delivery service, email service, information provision service, search engine service, content delivery service, communication or content screening service, communication or content screening service, or other. System for providing reputation processed based on-line communication or content. Communication or content provided or generated by the inventive system or method. Business method for operating a communications or content provision service. Computer program and computer program product stored either on a tangible media or in an electronically accessible and readable form to implement method.

1 . A method for operating a reputation-based communication or content service, the method comprising: 
 obtaining at least one metric related to a first user contributor reputation;    identifying a communication or content having an association with the first user contributor; and    processing the communication or content to generate a processed communication or content based on the obtained objective contributor reputation.    
     
     
         2 . A method as in  claim 1 , further including processing the communication or content along with other different communications or content from other different contributors based at least in part on the objective contributor reputation of one or of a plurality of contributors.  
     
     
         3 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the service is selected from the set of services consisting of an online bulletin board, an online message board, a chat room, a forum, a information provision service, a content delivery service, an email service, an information provision service, a search engine service, a content delivery service, a communication or content screening service, a communication or content screening service, and any combination of these.  
     
     
         4 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the obtaining at least one metric related to a first user contributor reputation comprises the step of collecting the at least one metric related to a first user contributor reputation.  
     
     
         5 . A method as in  claim 4 , wherein the collecting the at least one metric related to a first user contributor reputation is performed automatically by the method without a separate conscious input by the user contributor.  
     
     
         6 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the obtaining at least one metric related to a first user contributor reputation comprises obtaining the at least one metric related to a first user contributor reputation from an external source.  
     
     
         7 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the communication or content comprises: at least one of: (i) receiving a first communication or content from the first user contributor; and (ii) identifying a contribution or content attributed at least in part to the first user contributor.  
     
     
         8 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of a communication or content having an association with the first user contributor comprises  
     
     
         9 . A method as in  claim 1 , further comprising sending a second communication to a user that includes the generated processed communication or content or portion thereof.  
     
     
         10 . A method as in  claim 1 , further comprising: obtaining at least one metric related to a plurality of different user contributor reputations; identifying a communication or content having an association with each of the plurality of user contributors; and processing the plurality of communications or contents to generate a processed communication or content based on the obtained objective contributor reputation for the plurality of different user contributors.  
     
     
         11 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the processing based on objective reputation comprises a processing selected from the set consisting of filtering, sorting, ordering, screening, compiling, grouping, deleting, flagging, hiding, highlighting, promoting, and any combination of these based on objective reputation of a contributor or a plurality of contributors.  
     
     
         12 . A method as in  claim 11 , wherein the processing may be different for different contributors or for different groups of contributors.  
     
     
         13 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the processing based on objective reputation includes a processing selected from the set consisting of: filtering to include some items and not others based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, filtering based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, filtering to exclude some items and not others based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, compiling a set of relevant content based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, ordering based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, ordering from low to high based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, ordering from high to low based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, selecting or not selecting based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, processing based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, generating derivative objective reputation data based on objective reputation of the contributor or group of contributors, and any combination of these.  
     
     
         14 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the service is a communication forum selected from the set of forums consisting of a network site, an Intranet site, an Internet site, a world wide web site, an electronic mail or email, an interactive electronic bulletin board, an interactive electronic message board, an online information exchange, a set of email or comment threads, an online interactive stock prediction forum, an online forum, and any combination of these.  
     
     
         15 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the reputation metric comprises a factually based objective contributor reputation established in the same field of endeavor as the contribution being communicated.  
     
     
         16 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the objective contributor reputation comprises a historical accuracy-based reputation.  
     
     
         17 . A method as in  claim 16 , wherein the historical accuracy-based reputation is for a contribution in the same field as the reputation was established.  
     
     
         18 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the step of collecting objective metrics, comprises collective objective metrics automatically without compelling a user take separate actions to provide objective metrics of information from which objective metrics are derived.  
     
     
         19 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprising matching these reputation metrics closely to the topic of the particular communication forum.  
     
     
         20 . A method as in  claim 1 , further comprising filtering contributor postings with a predetermined objective accuracy and without a conscious human input contribution relative to a filtering metric.  
     
     
         21 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the method further includes automatically tracking the accuracy of contributors who provide an online prediction or forecast of an element and generating a prediction accuracy result by comparing the prediction of the element with the actual value of the element at the predicted time and date, and automatically generating a prediction accuracy for the contributor based on that comparison.  
     
     
         22 . A method as in  claim 21 , wherein the element is an online stock price prediction.  
     
     
         23 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein reputation metrics are be subjected to aging or other refinement so that recent objective history is given a greater objective weight or older performance may be discounted or not considered at all.  
     
     
         24 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein collected or otherwise directly or indirectly available reputation metrics are processed to make them more useful.  
     
     
         25 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the processing to make them more useful comprises applying a statistical processing to a least one objective reputation metric.  
     
     
         26 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the applied statistical processing is selected from the set of statistical processing comprising: computing a weighted average over time, normalizing the reputation or plurality of reputations so that one contributor's reputation can be compared with another contributor's reputation according to some defined comparison criteria.  
     
     
         27 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the defined comparison criteria comprises an objective comparison criteria.  
     
     
         28 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the objective reputations comprise raw reputations, processed reputations, or any combination of raw reputations and processed reputations.  
     
     
         29 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the method further includes filtering or automatically selecting contributions to be seen or presented to a user based on an objective metric or combination of a plurality of metrics.  
     
     
         30 . A system for providing a reputation processed based on-line communication or content, the system comprising: 
 a contributor reputation metric collection component;    a communication or content medium identification component; and    a communication or content reputation processing component.    
     
     
         31 . A system as in  claim 30 , wherein the collection component comprises a automatic collection component for collecting the reputation metric related to a contributor reputation automatically without a separate conscious input by a user contributor.  
     
     
         32 . A system as in  claim 31 , wherein the at least one reputation metric is obtained from an external source.  
     
     
         33 . A system as in  claim 30 , wherein the contributor reputation metric identification component includes means for identifying of the communication or content selected from the set consisting of: (i) receiving a first communication or content from the first user contributor; and (ii) identifying a contribution or content attributed at least in part to the first user contributor.  
     
     
         34 . A system as in  claim 33 , wherein the communication or content reputation processing component comprises a processing unit adapted for processing selected from the set of processing schemes consisting of filtering, sorting, ordering, screening, compiling, grouping, deleting, flagging, hiding, highlighting, promoting, and any combination of these based on objective reputation of a contributor or a plurality of contributors.  
     
     
         35 . A system as in  claim 34 , wherein the processing may be different for different contributors or for different groups of contributors.  
     
     
         36 . A system as in  claim 35 , wherein the communication or content reputation processing component comprises a processing unit adapted for processing selected from the set of processing schemes consisting of filtering, sorting, ordering, screening, compiling, grouping, deleting, flagging, hiding, highlighting, promoting, and any combination of these based on objective reputation of a contributor or a plurality of contributors.  
     
     
         37 . A system as in  claim 30 , wherein the communication or content medium component is selected from the set consisting of a network site, an Intranet site, an Internet site, a world wide web site, an electronic mail or email, an interactive electronic bulletin board, an interactive electronic message board, an online information exchange, a set of email or comment threads, an online interactive stock prediction forum, an online forum, and any combination of these.  
     
     
         38 . A system as in  claim 30 , wherein the communication or content medium component further includes (a) means and for entering information, and (b) means for displaying information.  
     
     
         39 . A system as in  claim 30 , wherein the communication or content filtering component provides means for sorting, limiting, compiling, or otherwise modifying {other wise modifying is good, otherwise it sounds like only limiting and filtering and we are missing other forms of processing like compiling} the display of information that has been entered based on metrics that have been collected.  
     
     
         40 . A communication or content processed according to the method of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         41 . A computer program product stored in an electronically accessible media for altering the operation of a computer system or computer network, the computer program product including executable computer program instructions for causing the computer to generate a processed reputation-based communication or content and comprising instructions for: 
 obtaining at least one metric related to a first user contributor reputation;    identifying a communication or content having an association with the first user contributor; and    processing the communication or content to generate a processed communication or content based on the obtained objective contributor reputation.    
     
     
         42 . A business method for operating a reputation-based communication or content provision service, the business method comprising: 
 obtaining at least one metric related to a first user contributor reputation;    identifying a communication or content having an association with the first user contributor;    processing the communication or content to generate a processed communication or content based on the obtained objective contributor reputation;    providing the processed communication or content to a subscriber; and    receiving a renumeration from the subscriber in exchange for the provided processed communication or content.    
     
     
         43 . A business method as in  claim 42 , wherein the renumeration is a financial renumeration, a service renumeration, a commission renumeration, a referral renumeration, or any combination of these.