Managing Interactions in a Network Communications Environment

Abstract

A network communications environment has advanced interaction management functionality that enables the opportunities for users to interact with one another to be expanded beyond the opportunities that exist with closed interaction management approaches while still providing reasonable privacy and security protections that are not available with open interaction management approaches. The advanced interaction management functionality also encourages the proliferation of trust-based interactions.

1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 querying records describing realtime network interactions between a user and other communicants in one or more virtual areas of a network communications environment;   determining one or more relationship attribute values each characterizing a respective social network tie between the user and a respective one of the other communicants, wherein the determining comprises deriving the one or more relationship attribute values based on (i) a statistical analysis of results of the querying describing storing the one or more relationship attribute values in at least one computer-readable medium; and   managing communicant interactions in the network communications environment based on the one or more relationship attribute values, wherein the managing comprises receiving from a network node at which one of the user and the other communicants is operating a first network communication comprising a request for an interaction in the network communications environment, and transmitting a second network communication enabling the requested interaction in response to satisfaction of a condition dependent at least in part on the one or more relationship attribute values.   
     
     
         2 .- 62 . (canceled)