Control for inviting an unauthenticated user to gain access to display of content that is otherwise accessible with an authentication mechanism

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly encoded with computer-executable instructions, that when executed by a computing device, performs a method comprising:

• associating electronic content with an authenticated user, said authenticated user is a member of a computerized, online social network, said social network hosted by an electronic service and enabled for communication to and from authenticated users of the social network in addition to communication to and from authenticated and unauthenticated users, said unauthenticated users are not currently members of the social network;
• associating the electronic content with a user relationship involving the authenticated user, said user relationship is created and controlled by the authenticated user;
• transmitting an invitation token comprising a request generated by the authenticated user to an unauthenticated user that is currently not a member of the social network, said request comprising information enabling the unauthenticated user to join the user relationship according to a relationship category without joining the social network, said request further comprising information that, based on said relationship category, enables the unauthenticated user to independently access the electronic content on the social network without joining the social network, said relationship category designated by said authenticated user and relates to an updated version of said electronic content and associations between said content and said user relationship, said request further comprising an invitation identifier and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to the updated version of said electronic content, said invitation identifier comprises an inviter identifier, an invitee identifier, a relationship category identifier, a content identifier identifying an updated version of the electronic content, and expiration information;
• receiving a response to said request from said unauthenticated user, said response comprising information representative that said unauthenticated user intends to join said user relationship without joining the social network;
• and
• establishing the user relationship between the authenticated user and unauthenticated user, said established user relationship enabling the unauthenticated user access to at least a portion of said electronic content associated with the user relationship based at least in part upon said relationship category, said electronic content associated at least with a predetermined degree of user relationship level created and controlled by the authenticated user.

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising:
• association logic executed by the processor for associating electronic content with an authenticated user, said authenticated user is a member of a computerized, online social network, said social network hosted by an electronic service and enabled for communication to and from authenticated users of the social network in addition to communication to and from authenticated and unauthenticated users, said unauthenticated users are not currently members of the social network;
• association logic executed by the processor for associating the electronic content with a user relationship involving the authenticated user, said user relationship is created and controlled by the authenticated user;
• transmission logic executed by the processor for transmitting an invitation token comprising a request generated by the authenticated user to an unauthenticated user that is currently not a member of the social network, said request comprising information enabling the unauthenticated user to join the user relationship according to a relationship category without joining the social network, said request further comprising information that, based on said relationship category, enables the unauthenticated user to independently access the electronic content on the social network without joining the social network, said relationship category designated by said authenticated user and relates to an updated version of said electronic content and associations between said content and said user relationship, said request further comprising an invitation identifier and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to the updated version of said electronic content, said invitation identifier comprises an inviter identifier, an invitee identifier, a relationship category identifier, a content identifier identifying an updated version of the electronic content, and expiration information;
• receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving a response to said request from said unauthenticated user, said response comprising information representative that said unauthenticated user intends to join said user relationship without joining the social network;
• and
• relationship logic executed by the processor for establishing the user relationship between the authenticated user and unauthenticated user, said established user relationship enabling the unauthenticated user access to at least a portion of said electronic content associated with the user relationship based at least in part upon said relationship category, said electronic content associated at least with a predetermined degree of user relationship level created and controlled by the authenticated user.