Reputation evaluation of online users in a social networking scheme

Abstract

A method and system for evaluating the reputation of a member of a social networking system is disclosed. Consistent with an embodiment of the invention, one or more attributes associated with a social networking profile of a member of a social network are analyzed. Based on the analysis, a ranking, rating or score is assigned to a particular category of reputation. When requested, the ranking, rating or score is displayed to a user of the social network.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 analyzing, at a server hosting a social networking system, an attribute associated with a social networking profile of a member of the social networking system, the analyzing of the attribute including aggregating responses provided by other members of the social networking system with respect to the attribute;   based on the analysis of the attribute associated with the social networking profile, assigning an aggregate rating score to the attribute,   aggregating the aggregate rating score with one or more other aggregate rating scores to arrive at an aggregate endorsement indicator score for the social networking profile, the other aggregate rating scores associated with other attributes of the social networking profile; and   communicating the endorsement indicator score to be displayed as an aggregate reputation indicator score of a set of aggregate reputation indicator scores associated with the social networking profile, the communicating based on a request being received to view the social networking profile.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the aggregating of the responses includes counting a number of open positive endorsements the member has received from the other members of the social networking system with respect to the attribute. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the aggregating of the responses includes counting a number of positive, sealed endorsements the first member has received from the other members of the social networking system based on the first member having received a threshold number of sealed endorsements. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein whether the aggregating of the responses includes the counting of the number of positive, sealed endorsement is further based on the member indicating a preference for allowing sealed endorsements. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein an additional aggregate reputation indicator score of the set of aggregate reputation indicator scores represents a measure of reputation based on activities performed by the member within the social networking system. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein an additional aggregate reputation indicator score of the set of aggregate reputation indicator scores is based on the number of mutual direct connections the member has established with other members of the social networking system. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein an additional aggregate reputation indicator score of the set of aggregate reputation indicator scores is an aggregate activity indicator score that represents at least one of the number of requests for contact received by the member or the percentage of the number of requests for contact received by the member that are accepted by the member. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one rating is based on one of: the number of requests for contact sent by the member, or the percentage of the number of requests for contact sent by the member that are accepted by the receiving member. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein an additional aggregate reputation indicator score of the set of aggregate reputation indicator scores is an aggregate activity indicator score that represents at least one of the number of requests to forward a request for contact sent by the member, the percentage of the number of requests to forward a request for contact received by the member that are forwarded by the member, the number of requests forwarded by the member that are forwarded by the receiving member, or the percentage of the number of requests forwarded by the member that are forwarded by the receiving member. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising analyzing a profile of each member who has provided an endorsement for the member, the analyzing including determining an aggregate endorsement reliability score for each member; and weighting the responses based on the aggregate endorsement reliability score for each member. 
     
     
         11 . A system comprising
 one or more modules implemented by one or more processors, the one or more modules configured to:   analyze, at a server hosting a social networking system, an attribute associated with a social networking profile of a member of the social networking system, the analyzing of the attribute including aggregating responses provided by other members of the social networking system with respect to the attribute;   based on the analysis of the attribute associated with the social networking profile, assign an aggregate rating score to the attribute,   aggregate the aggregate rating score with one or more other aggregate rating scores to arrive at an aggregate endorsement indicator score for the social networking profile, the other aggregate rating scores associated with other attributes of the social networking profile; and   communicate the endorsement indicator score to be displayed as an aggregate reputation indicator score of a set of aggregate reputation indicator scores associated with the social networking profile, the communicating based on a request being received to view the social networking profile.   
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a machine, perform operations, the operations comprising:
 analyzing, at a server hosting a social networking system, an attribute associated with a social networking profile of a member of the social networking system, the analyzing of the attribute including aggregating responses provided by other members of the social networking system with respect to the attribute;   based on the analysis of the attribute associated with the social networking profile, assigning an aggregate rating score to the attribute,   aggregating the aggregate rating score with one or more other aggregate rating scores to arrive at an aggregate endorsement indicator score for the social networking profile, the other aggregate rating scores associated with other attributes of the social networking profile; and   communicating the endorsement indicator score to be displayed as an aggregate reputation indicator score of a set of aggregate reputation indicator scores associated with the social networking profile, the communicating based on a request being received to view the social networking profile.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising aggregating reputation scores associated with the other members of the social networking system with the aggregate rating score and the one or more other aggregate rating scores to arrive at the reputation indicator score. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising aggregating reputation scores associated with direct contacts of the other members of the social networking system with the aggregate rating score and the one or more other aggregate rating scores to arrive at the reputation indicator score. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising aggregating measures of independency and objectivity of the other members of the social networking system with the aggregate rating score and the one or more other aggregate rating scores to arrive at the reputation indicator score. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising representing in the reputation indicator score measures of qualifications of the other members of the social networking system in terms of a relevance to a type of search that led to the request to view the social networking profile is received. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising aggregating measures of closeness of the other members of the social networking system to the with the aggregate rating score and the one or more other aggregate rating scores to arrive at the reputation indicator score.