ASSESSING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS IN ONLINE COMMUNITY

摘要

A relationship between participants in an on-line community, such as a social networking site or on-line marketplace, may be determined based on various facts. The nature of the relationship may be represented in a user interface (UI) by a visual element that shows the extent or depth of the relationship. Facets of the relationship may be used to facilitate interaction between participants (e.g., if two participants both like a particular band, then information relevant to the band may be shown as part of the UI when the participants interact with each other). The nature of the relationship may be determined or characterized based on commonality of activities, commonality of interests, the extent to which the participants have interacted with each other in the past, or other facts.