Advocate advice

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• a database having stored thereon a plurality of data about members, objects, and connections within a social network;
• an application programming interface (API) server to receive requests to identify advocates based on a specified topic, wherein the advocates have joined an advocate network by self-identifying with one or more topics;
• an identification module to access the advocate network and generate, using the processor, a set of advocates identified with the specified topic based on the members, objects, and connections within the social network;
• a permissions module communicably coupled to the identification module and configured to identify permissions set by each advocate regarding information that can be shared within the social network;
• and
• a graphical user interface generation module configured to generate, using the processor, a graphical user interface screen to present a profile of the set of advocates in accordance with the permissions set by each advocate.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions to cause one or more processors to:

• generate an advocate network accessible by members of a social network, wherein the advocate network includes a set of advocates that are each associated with one or more topics;
• receive a request from a first member of the social network to identify advocates from the advocate network having knowledge of a specified topic;
• identify, using a social graph from the social network, a subset of advocates from the set of advocates that match the specified topic;
• populate a graphical user interface with profile information regarding the subset of advocates;
• receive a connection request within the graphical user interface to connect the first member to a specific advocate;
• and
• facilitate communications between the first member and the specific advocate.