System and method for dynamically generating, maintaining, and growing an online social network

Abstract

An on-line community/social network system and method for provide a novel technique that enables an on-line community system to obtain information necessary to provide additional and more robust features to its users, solely from the user's participation in the community, and without requiring the users to do anything else (i.e., to explicitly provide the needed information). From this core approach, a number of advantageous novel techniques are provided by the inventive system to greatly enhance the quality and usefulness of various features and services that can be offered to community users as well as to provide them with entirely new and unique features as a result of user-specific data generated by the system's novel infrastructure.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for identifying a relationship between members of a content sharing service, comprising:
 receiving, by a computing device comprising a processor, a first digital content comprising digital imagery from a computer associated with a first member of the content sharing service, wherein the first digital content includes a tag element that identifies an individual depicted in the first digital content;   determining, by the computing device, based on the tag element that the individual depicted in the first digital content is a second member of the content sharing service;   generating, by the computing device, a relationship link comprising:
 a member identification field that contains data identifying the second member; and 
 a relationship strength field containing a relationship strength value quantifying a relationship strength between the first member and the second member based on the determination that the individual depicted in the first digital content is the second member; and 
   storing, by the computing device, the relationship link in a profile associated with the first member.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 altering the relationship strength value based on a second digital content which includes a second tag element that identifies the individual. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the second digital content is received from a computer associated with the second member. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the computing device, a plurality of digital contents, each of which comprises digital imagery, each digital content including a corresponding tag element of a plurality of tag elements, each corresponding tag element identifying a corresponding individual depicted in the each digital content who is different from an individual depicted in any other of the plurality of digital contents;   for each digital content of the plurality of digital contents:
 determining based on the corresponding tag element that the corresponding individual depicted in the digital content is a member of the content sharing service; 
 generating a corresponding relationship link of a plurality of relationship links, the corresponding relationship link comprising:
 a member identification field that contains data identifying the member identified in the digital content; and 
 a relationship strength field containing the relationship strength value quantifying the relationship strength between the first member and the member identified in the digital content; and 
 
 storing the relationship link in the profile. 
   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein each of the plurality of tag elements further includes geographic data identifying a location of the individual depicted in the corresponding digital content, and further comprising associating the location with the corresponding relationship link. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 accessing the plurality of relationship links in the profile;   based on the plurality of relationship links, obtaining a plurality of corresponding locations, wherein each corresponding location is associated with the member identified by the member identification field of the corresponding relationship link;   displaying a map of a geographic area that encompasses the plurality of corresponding locations; and   for each location of the plurality of corresponding locations, indicating on the map:
 the member who corresponds to the location; and 
 indicia quantifying the relationship strength between the first member and the member who corresponds to the location. 
   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 determining that a particular member corresponding to a particular relationship link has submitted a new digital content to the content sharing service;   determining that the relationship strength value of the relationship link that corresponds to the particular member exceeds a threshold; and   notifying the first member that the particular member has submitted the new digital content.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein notifying the first member comprises generating and sending an email to the first member indicating that the particular member has submitted the new digital content. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 4 , comprising:
 accessing the plurality of relationship links in the profile;   based on the plurality of relationship links, obtaining a plurality of corresponding email addresses, wherein each corresponding email address is associated with the member identified by the member identification field of the corresponding relationship link; and   generating a safe sender list comprising the plurality of corresponding email addresses, wherein the safe sender list identifies email addresses from which email may be safely received.   
     
     
         10 . A computer server for identifying a relationship between members of a content sharing service, comprising:
 a network interface adapted to interface with a network; and   a controller comprising a processor and coupled to the network interface, the controller adapted to:
 receive a first digital content comprising digital imagery from a computer associated with a first member of the content sharing service, wherein the first digital content includes a tag element that identifies an individual depicted in the first digital content; 
 determine based on the tag element that the individual depicted in the first digital content is a second member of the content sharing service; 
 generate a relationship link comprising:
 a member identification field that contains data identifying the second member; and 
 a relationship strength field containing a relationship strength value quantifying a relationship strength between the first member and the second member based on the determination that the individual depicted in the first digital content is the second member; and 
 
 store the relationship link in a profile associated with the first member. 
   
     
     
         11 . The computer server of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:
 alter the relationship strength value based on a second digital content which includes a second tag element that identifies the individual.   
     
     
         12 . The computer server of  claim 11 , wherein the second digital content is received from a computer associated with the second member. 
     
     
         13 . The computer server of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:
 receive a plurality of digital contents, each digital content of the plurality of digital contents comprising digital imagery that includes a corresponding tag element of a plurality of tag elements that identifies a corresponding individual depicted in the each digital content who is different from an individual depicted in any other of the plurality of digital contents;   for each digital content of the plurality of digital contents:
 determine based on the corresponding tag element that the corresponding individual depicted in the digital content is a member of the content sharing service; 
 generate a corresponding relationship link of a plurality of relationship links, the corresponding relationship link comprising:
 a member identification field that contains data identifying the member identified in the digital content; and 
 a relationship strength field containing a relationship strength value quantifying a relationship strength between the first member and the member identified in the digital content; and 
 
 store the corresponding relationship link in the profile. 
   
     
     
         14 . The computer server of  claim 13 , wherein each of the plurality of tag elements further includes geographic data identifying a location of the individual depicted in the corresponding digital content, and wherein the controller is further adapted to associate the location with the corresponding relationship link. 
     
     
         15 . The computer server of  claim 14 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:
 access the plurality of relationship links in the profile;   based on the plurality of relationship links, obtain a plurality of corresponding locations, wherein each corresponding location is associated with the member identified by the member identification field of the corresponding relationship link;   display a map of a geographic area that encompasses the plurality of corresponding locations; and   for each location of the plurality of corresponding locations, indicate on the map:
 the member who corresponds to the location; and 
 indicia quantifying the relationship strength between the first member and the member who corresponds to the location. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computer server of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:
 determine that a particular member corresponding to a particular relationship link has submitted a new digital content to the content sharing service;   determine that the relationship strength value of the relationship link that corresponds to the particular member exceeds a threshold; and   notify the first member that the particular member has submitted the new digital content.   
     
     
         17 . The computer server of  claim 16 , wherein to notify the first member the controller is further adapted to generate and send an email to the first member indicating that the particular member has submitted the new digital content. 
     
     
         18 . The computer server of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:
 access the plurality of relationship links in the profile;   based on the plurality of relationship links, obtain a plurality of corresponding email addresses, wherein each corresponding email address is associated with the member identified by the member identification field of the corresponding relationship link; and   generate a safe sender list comprising the plurality of corresponding email addresses, wherein the safe sender list identifies email addresses from which email may be safely received.   
     
     
         19 . A method for identifying a relationship between members of a content sharing service, comprising:
 receiving, by a computing device, from a computer associated with a first member, a plurality of digital contents, each of which comprises digital imagery, each digital content including a corresponding tag element of a plurality of tag elements, each corresponding tag element identifying a corresponding individual depicted in the each digital content who is different from an individual depicted in any other of the plurality of digital contents and geographic data identifying a location of the corresponding individual;   for each digital content of the plurality of digital contents:
 determining based on the corresponding tag element that the corresponding individual depicted in the digital content is a member of the content sharing service; 
 generating a corresponding relationship link of a plurality of relationship links, the corresponding relationship link comprising:
 a member identification field that contains data identifying the member identified in the digital content; 
 a relationship strength field containing a relationship strength value quantifying a relationship strength between the first member and the member identified in the digital content; and 
 the geographic data identifying the location of the member identified in the digital content; and 
 
 storing the relationship link in a profile associated with the first member. 
   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 accessing the plurality of relationship links in the profile;   based on the plurality of relationship links, obtaining a plurality of corresponding locations, wherein each corresponding location is associated with the corresponding member identified by the member identification field of the corresponding relationship link;   displaying a map of a geographic area that encompasses the plurality of corresponding locations; and   for each location of the plurality of corresponding locations, indicating on the map:
 the corresponding member who corresponds to the location; and 
 indicia quantifying the relationship strength between the first member and the corresponding member.