1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of social web sites on global computer networks and in particular to a system and method for managing information personal to individual users of social web sites.
2. Statement of the Problem
The Internet started as an information source and communication tool, and these functions remain important aspects of the Internet. It is also a truism that the Internet is a powerful sales tool. Companies that provide useful internet services have cash flows of more then ten billion dollars a year, much of which comes from advertising. The Internet has become the most important medium for distribution of music, and is rapidly becoming the most important medium for distribution of videos. The Internet has also become an important vehicle for telecommunications, including telephone communication. Because the Internet lends itself to immediate feedback to advertisers and service providers, new Internet uses, such as directed advertising are rapidly evolving.
The Internet has also grown to become an important social network. From one point of view, the Internet is the largest social network on the planet. Moreover, on a more explicit level, there are scores, if not hundreds of social network sites on the Internet, and millions of blogs. Social network sites are defined as web sites or applications that provide people with designated relationships to each other access to information that is not available to others who do not have such designated relationships. Because the Internet can be accessed from a myriad of points, such as desktop computers connected to wires, laptop computers connected to wireless networks, hand-helds, cell phones, and integrated products such as Ipods™, for many individuals, the Internet has become their primary means of communication. The explicit social web sites encourage individuals to share their ideas, experiences and thoughts with their friends, sometimes on an hourly or more frequent basis. These social web sites are uniquely different from conventional informational and shopping web sites in that they provide interactions between the web site users, and not just between the web site and individual users. The actions on these web sites are more complex, including actions such as adding a contact, deleting a contact, sending a message to a contact, inviting, such as to a social event, blocking, staring, which also is called bookmarking or placemarking, depending on the web site, linking as in assigning an attribute or giving credit, set a trust level, and voting.
The Internet permits individuals to live in many different social circles that would not be available without the Internet. However, it also creates problems in that it is difficult to control identities on the internet. A person may select an identity, and find that the identity may be taken by another.
An even greater problem is created by the fact that after an individual or company registers an identity on one site, others may intentionally usurp that identity on another site. The proliferation of sites makes it difficult for an individual or company to capture an identity on all sites.
All of the above problems are particularly exacerbated in social network sites. The key purpose of such sites is social networking, and if a user's identity is not known or varies, such social networking becomes difficult to impossible. Moreover, reconnecting among friends on new social network sites is laborious and thus seriously impedes social networking.
For the above and other reasons, it would be highly desirable if a method and apparatus were available that allowed an individual, corporation or other entity to better control their identities on the internet.