Simultaneous formation of associations among multiple members of a social network
AssigneeLinkedln Corporation
InventorsFei Xiao, Lifeng Sang, Ting Chen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system, apparatus, and method are provided for facilitating simultaneous formation of associations or connections among multiple users of a professional network service, a social network service or other application or service in which users form relationships with each other. One user submits a request or suggestion to the system and identifies the multiple users (e.g., by username, by electronic mail address, by telephone number). The system dispatches invitations to some or all of the users to allow them to endorse connections with all of the other users, with none of the users, or with some specific subset. The system receives the responses and forms the approved associations.
Claims20
A method of facilitating simultaneous formation of connections among multiple users of an online service, the method comprising:
- receiving a message requesting formation of the connections, wherein the message includes identifiers of the multiple users;
- and
- for each user in the multiple users:
- transmitting to the user an invitation to form connections with each of the other users in the multiple users;
- and
- forming connections between the user and each of the other users who accept the invitation to connect with the user.
A system for facilitating simultaneous formation of connections among multiple users of an online service, comprising:
- a message server operated to:
- receive a message requesting formation of the connections, wherein the message includes identifiers of the multiple users;
- and
- for each user in the multiple users, transmit to the user an invitation to form connections with each of the other users in the multiple users;
- and
- a connection server operated to:
- for each user in the multiple users, form connections between the user and each of the other users who accept the invitation to connect with the user.
An apparatus for facilitating simultaneous formation of connections among multiple users of an online service, the apparatus comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
- receive a message requesting formation of the connections, wherein the message includes identifiers of the multiple users;
- and
- for each user in the multiple users:
- transmit to the user an invitation to form connections with each of the other users in the multiple users;
- and
- form connections between the user and each of the other users who accept the invitation to connect with the user.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.