Method and apparatus for social network qualification systems

Abstract

There is provided a method and system for qualification testing in a social network service. Qualification testing provides access control into a social network, wherein qualification is based on answers to questions related to a topic. In one example, members admitted to the network provide guidance, notes and research assistance to another member. The social network members access the social network from an external networked computing service, such as another social network, to facilitate easy connection to potential members. The social network may be implemented as an application overlay to the external service, or may access connections in the external network.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer implemented method for automated group generation and network access, the method comprising:
 automatically analyzing, by a server, database information from one or more database servers, to identify a first user account associated with a first client machine;   automatically communicating, from the server to the first client machine of the first user account in response to identification of the user, a user interface for generating a qualification assessment, the qualification assessment being used to determine admittance to a collaborative group;   receiving, at the server from the first client machine, a set of criteria that forms the qualification assessment;   providing, by the server, the qualification assessment including the set of criteria to a second client machine associated with a second user account;   computing a score for the second user account based on a qualification assessment response received from the second client machine in response presenting the set of criteria to the second user account;   determining that the computed score satisfies an access criterion associated with the qualification assessment; and   in response to determining that the computed score satisfies the access criterion, automatically providing, by the server, network access to the second user account as a member to the collaborative group to enable the second user account to access information associated with the collaborative group.   
     
     
         2 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the collaborative group comprises enables group members to access information describing an item, and wherein the qualification assessment comprises questions testing specific knowledge about the item. 
     
     
         3 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising automatically storing, by the server, a set of qualified group member information in the one or more database servers, the qualified group member information associated with one or more members of the collaborative group. 
     
     
         4 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the collaborative group enables group members to access information describing an item type available for purchase via an ecommerce system that is external to a social network service. 
     
     
         5 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the qualification assessment comprises questions testing knowledge about at least one current member of the collaborative group. 
     
     
         6 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 assigning a rating to the second user account based on the computed score; and   assigning one or more privileges to the second user account based on the assigned rating.   
     
     
         7 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing instructions for a user interface having a first view to present a collaborative space to members of the collaborative group, and having a second view to present an editing space for a given member of the collaborative group to edit the qualification assessment. 
     
     
         8 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing instructions for a user interface to present the qualification assessment and the score on the qualification assessment. 
     
     
         9 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing instructions for a user interface to present a first set of options to modify the qualification assessment and a second set of options to modify the access criterion. 
     
     
         10 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the access criterion comprises a minimum score on the qualification assessment. 
     
     
         11 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a request to access the collaborative group;   receiving at least one user credential from a social networking service; and   causing the qualification assessment to be provided to the second client machine in response to receiving the request and the at least one user credential.   
     
     
         12 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 computing the score after completing a first portion of the qualification assessment to determine an interim score, and   admitting the second user account as a member of the collaborative group based on the interim score satisfying an interim admittance criterion.   
     
     
         13 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 automatically analyzing, by a server, database information from one or more database servers, to identify a first user account associated with a first client machine;   automatically communicating, from the server to the first client machine of the first user account in response to identification of the user, a user interface for generating a qualification assessment, the qualification assessment being used to determine admittance to a collaborative group;   receiving, at the server from the first client machine, a set of criteria that forms the qualification assessment;   providing, by the server, the qualification assessment including the set of criteria to a second client machine associated with a second user account;   computing a score for the second user account based on a qualification assessment response received from the second client machine in response presenting the set of criteria to the second user account;   determining that the computed score satisfies an access criterion associated with the qualification assessment; and   in response to determining that the computed score satisfies the access criterion, automatically providing, by the server, network access to the second user account as a member to the collaborative group to enable the second user account to access information associated with the collaborative group.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the collaborative group comprises enables group members to access information describing an item, and wherein the qualification assessment comprises questions testing specific knowledge about the item. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise automatically storing, by the server, a set of qualified group member information in the one or more database servers, the qualified group member information associated with one or more members of the collaborative group. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the collaborative group enables group members to access information describing an item type available for purchase via an ecommerce system that is external to a social network service. 
     
     
         17 . A device for automated group generation and network access comprising:
 one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored on a storage device for performing operations comprising:   automatically analyzing, by a server, database information from one or more database servers, to identify a first user account associated with a first client machine;   automatically communicating, from the server to the first client machine of the first user account in response to identification of the user, a user interface for generating a qualification assessment, the qualification assessment being used to determine admittance to a collaborative group;   receiving, at the server from the first client machine, a set of criteria that forms the qualification assessment;   providing, by the server, the qualification assessment including the set of criteria to a second client machine associated with a second user account;   computing a score for the second user account based on a qualification assessment response received from the second client machine in response presenting the set of criteria to the second user account;   determining that the computed score satisfies an access criterion associated with the qualification assessment; and   in response to determining that the computed score satisfies the access criterion, automatically providing, by the server, network access to the second user account as a member to the collaborative group to enable the second user account to access information associated with the collaborative group.   
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 17 , wherein the collaborative group comprises enables group members to access information describing an item, and wherein the qualification assessment comprises questions testing specific knowledge about the item. 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise automatically storing, by the server, a set of qualified group member information in the one or more database servers, the qualified group member information associated with one or more members of the collaborative group. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 17 , wherein the collaborative group enables group members to access information describing an item type available for purchase via an ecommerce system that is external to a social network service.