Yahoo! Inc.

Michael Holzer

Jeffrey Bonforte

Christopher T Szeto

Techniques for creating a social network are provided. Private relationships that are established (e.g., in the context of instant messaging) may become public by the action of a single user. Each user determines whether they want to be 'social' to (or discoverable by) friends of the user's friends. For example, user A is a friend of (i.e., has established a relationship with) user B and user B is a friend of user C, but user A and user C are not friends of each other (i.e., user A and user C have not established a relationship with each other). If user C unilaterally takes an action, then user A is able to see that user C is a friend of user B. User A may then take further actions to attempt to establish a relationship with user C or otherwise contact user C.

Expanding a social network by the action of a single user

A second user interface screen is presented to a user in response to detection of a predefined user motion associated with a first user interface screen. In one embodiment, a method includes: presenting, via a display of an end-user device, a first user interface screen; detecting, via a user input device of the end-user device, a predefined user motion associated with the first screen, wherein the user motion is substantially in a direction of movement in a plane parallel to the display; and in response to detecting the user motion, presenting a second user interface screen via the display, the second screen including information corresponding to the first screen.

Presenting a new user screen in response to detection of a user motion

Information is presented to a user based on a current state of an end-user device (e.g., a mobile phone). In one embodiment, a method includes: detecting, via a user device, a predefined user motion of a user (e.g., a flick of a trackball or gesture on a touch screen); determining a current state of the user device based on at least one characteristic; and in response to detecting the user motion, presenting, via a display of the user device, information (e.g., a person profile) to the user based on the current state.

Presenting information to a user based on the current state of a user device

A portable electronic device is described that permits a user to easily share one or more network IDs with others, even when the user has an obscure, hard-to-remember network ID and/or a large number of different network IDs. A system, method and device is also described that permits a user to aggregate network IDs into different groups depending on the type of networking that the user is seeking to accomplish and to selectively share such groups of network IDs with other users. A system and method is further described that permits a user to easily obscure or otherwise control access to network IDs that have been designated for sharing with an intended recipient.

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Michael Holzer