Patent ID: 7933810
Filing Date: 2011-04-26
Classification: G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for collectively giving a gift in a social network environment, the method comprising: receiving, at a collective gift engine, a request from a requesting user of the social network environment to receive a respective contribution value for purchasing the gift for a recipient user of the social network environment; wherein the request does not identify the gift to be purchased; receiving, at the collective gift engine, the respective contribution value from each contributing user of a plurality of contributing users of the social network environment for purchasing the gift; determining, by the collective gift engine, a sum of the respective contribution values received from the contributing users; identifying, by the collective gift engine, a list of assets costing less than or equal to the determined sum; providing the list of assets to one or more of the contributing users; receiving a selection of an asset from the provided list of assets; deducting, from a social network account associated with each of the contributing users, the respective contribution values; and facilitating the purchase of the selected asset as the gift for the recipient user from a vendor using the received contribution values.