Patent Publication Number: US-2015066689-A1

Title: Method and system for providing social media ecosystem compensation

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This U.S. utility application is a Continuation-In-Part (CIP) of U.S. utility patent application Ser. No. 14/011,954, filed on Aug. 28, 2013, which is a CIP of U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 14/011,164, filed on Aug. 27, 2013, the contents of all of which are incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This invention relates to selling goods and services over a computer network. More specifically, it relates to a method and system for providing social media ecosystem compensation. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     “Electronic commerce,” commonly known as “e-commerce,” is a type of industry where the buying and selling of products or services is conducted over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks such as cloud networks. 
     Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one point in the transaction&#39;s life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices social media, etc. 
     “Social commerce” is a subset of electronic commerce that involves using social media, online media that supports social interaction, and user contributions to assist in the online buying and selling of products and services. More succinctly, social commerce is the use of social network(s) in the context of e-commerce transactions. 
     Examples of social commerce include customer ratings and reviews, user recommendations and referrals, social shopping tools (sharing the act of shopping online), forums and communities, social media optimization, social applications and social advertising. 
     A “social media ecosystem” is a system form by an interaction of a community of social media users with their environment including the Internet and social media sites (e.g., FACEBOOK, TWITTER, E-HARMONY, MATCH.COM, SOCIAL LIVING, GROUPON, etc.). It is a system of interconnecting and interacting parts. A social media ecosystem centers on a consumer experience. Participants in the ecosystem are based on five different types of social behaviors: Creators (e.g., publish, maintain, upload electronic content); Critics (e.g., comment, rate); Collectors (e.g., save, share); Joiners (e.g., connect, unite); and Spectators (e.g., read). While the platforms provide transmission of messages, the spheres of influence now become the consumers who engage in conversations about products and services via the various social media platforms. 
     There are many problems associated with social media ecosystems with respect to compensation. A first problem is that most social media connections do not provide any compensation at all. A second problem is the most social commerce connections do not provide compensation just creating connections or for others who connect purchasers to a social media merchant via social media connections. Another problem is that most social media compensation systems do not provide a compensation hierarchy or structure for purchases made from social media connections. 
     Thus, it is desirable to solve some of the problems associated with compensation made for purchases made via social media connections. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, some of the problems associated with search engines are overcome. A method and system for providing social media ecosystem compensation is presented. 
     The social media ecosystem includes compensation services for social media connectors, social media purchasers and social media merchants. The social media ecosystem compensation services include social commerce compensation structures with a pre-determined hierarchy (e.g., binary, X×Y matrix, unilevel, stair step breakaway, etc.) Compensation is provided with the pre-determined hierarchy and for largest social media index values and the large number of social commerce connections. Memberships can be purchased to increase compensation payments. The social media ecosystem compensation services are provided on a cloud communications network for mobile and non-mobile devices. 
     The foregoing and other features and advantages of preferred embodiments of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description. The detailed description proceeds with references to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary social media ecosystem system and cooperative marketplace; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary social media display system; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary networking protocol stack; 
         FIG. 4  is block diagram illustrating an exemplary cloud communications network; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary cloud storage object; 
         FIG. 6A  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary social media index; 
         FIG. 6B  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary social commerce connection; 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  are a flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem searching; 
         FIGS. 8A and 8B  are a flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem searching; 
         FIGS. 9A and 9B  are a flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem searching; 
         FIGS. 10A and 10B  are a flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem searching; 
         FIG. 11  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem searching; 
         FIGS. 12A ,  12 B and  12 C are a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing a social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace; 
         FIG. 13  are a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing a social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace; 
         FIG. 14  are a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing a social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace; 
         FIGS. 15A and 15B  are a flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem compensation; 
         FIGS. 15A and 15B  are a flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem compensation; 
         FIGS. 16A and 16B  are a flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem compensation; 
         FIG. 17  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem compensation; 
         FIG. 18  is flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem compensation; and 
         FIG. 19  is flow diagram illustrating a method for social media ecosystem compensation; and 
         FIG. 20  is a block diagram illustrating exemplary pre-determined compensation hierarchies. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Exemplary Cloud Social Media Ecosystem 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace  10 . The exemplary system  10  includes, but is not limited to, one or more target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  (only three of which are illustrated) each with one or more processors and each with a non-transitory computer readable medium. 
     The one or more target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  include, but are not limited to, multimedia capable desktop and laptop computers, tablet computers, facsimile machines, mobile phones, non-mobile phones, smart phones, Internet phones, Internet appliances, personal digital/data assistants (PDA), two-way pagers, digital cameras, portable game consoles (Play Station Portable by Sony, Game Boy by Sony, Nintendo DSI, etc.), non-portable game consoles (Xbox by Microsoft, Play Station by Sony, Wii by Nintendo, etc.), cable television (CATV), satellite television (SATV) and Internet television set-top boxes, digital televisions including high definition television (HDTV), three-dimensional (3DTV) televisions and other types of network devices. 
     The one or more smart network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  include smart phones such as the iPhone by Apple, Inc., Blackberry Storm and other Blackberry models by Research In Motion, Inc. (RIM), Droid by Motorola, Inc. HTC, Inc. other types of smart phones, etc. However, the present invention is not limited to such smart phone devices, and more, fewer or other devices can be used to practice the invention. 
     A “smart phone” is a mobile phone that offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary basic feature phone. Smart phones and feature phones may be thought of as handheld computers integrated with a mobile telephone, but while most feature phones are able to run applications based on platforms such as Java ME, a smart phone usually allows the user to install and run more advanced applications. Smart phones and/or tablet computers run complete operating system software providing a platform for application developers. 
     The operating systems include the iPhone OS, Android, Windows, etc. iPhone OS is a proprietary operating system for the Apple iPhone. Andriod is an open source operating system platform backed by Google, along with major hardware and software developers (such as Intel, HTC, ARM, Motorola and Samsung, etc.), that form the Open Handset Alliance. 
     The one or more smart network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  include tablet computers such as the iPad, by Apple, Inc., the HP Tablet, by Hewlett Packard, Inc., the Playbook, by RIM, Inc., the Tablet, by Sony, Inc. 
     The target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  are in communications with a cloud communications network  18  via one or more wired and/or wireless communications interfaces. The cloud communications network  18 , is also called a “cloud computing network” herein and the terms may be used interchangeably. 
     The plural target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  request desired electronic content  13 ,  15 , etc. stored on the cloud communications network  18 . 
     The cloud communications network  18  includes, but is not limited to, communications over a wire connected to the target network devices, wireless communications, and other types of communications using one or more communications and/or networking protocols. 
     Plural server network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  (only four of which are illustrated) each with one or more processors and a non-transitory computer readable medium include one or more associated databases  20 ′,  22 ′,  24 ′,  26 ′. The plural network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  are in communications with the one or more target devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  via the cloud communications network  18 . 
     Plural server network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  (only four of which are illustrated) are physically located on one more public networks  76  (See  FIG. 4 ), private networks  72 , community networks  74  and/or hybrid networks  78  comprising the cloud network  18 . 
     One or more server network devices (e.g.,  20 , etc.) securely stores a cloud content location map  17  and other plural server network devices (e.g.,  22 ,  24 ,  26 , etc.) store portions  13 ′,  15 ′ of desired electronic content  13 ,  15  as cloud storage objects  82  ( FIG. 5 ) as is described herein. 
     The plural server network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24   26 , include, but are not limited to, World Wide Web servers, Internet servers, search engine servers, vertical search engine servers, social networking site servers, file servers, other types of electronic information servers, and other types of server network devices (e.g., edge servers, firewalls, routers, gateways, etc.). 
     The plural server network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  also include, but are not limited to, network servers used for cloud computing providers, etc. 
     The cloud communications network  18  includes, but is not limited to, a wired and/or wireless communications network comprising one or more portions of: the Internet, an intranet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WiLAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) and other types of wired and/or wireless communications networks  18 . 
     The cloud communications network  18  includes one or more gateways, routers, bridges and/or switches. A gateway connects computer networks using different network protocols and/or operating at different transmission capacities. A router receives transmitted messages and forwards them to their correct destinations over the most efficient available route. A bridge is a device that connects networks using the same communications protocols so that information can be passed from one network device to another. A switch is a device that filters and forwards packets between network segments based on some pre-determined sequence (e.g., timing, sequence number, etc.). 
     An operating environment for the network devices of the exemplary social media ecosystem  10  include a processing system with one or more high speed Central Processing Unit(s) (CPU), processors, one or more memories and/or other types of non-transitory computer readable mediums. In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in the art of computer programming, the present invention is described below with reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations or instructions that are performed by the processing system, unless indicated otherwise. Such acts and operations or instructions are referred to as being “computer-executed,” “CPU-executed,” or “processor-executed.” 
     It will be appreciated that acts and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electrical information by the CPU or processor. An electrical system represents data bits which cause a resulting transformation or reduction of the electrical information or biological information, and the maintenance of data bits at memory locations in a memory system to thereby reconfigure or otherwise alter the CPU&#39;s or processor&#39;s operation, as well as other processing of information. The memory locations where data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to the data bits. 
     The data bits may also be maintained on a non-transitory computer readable medium including magnetic disks, optical disks, organic memory, and any other volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM)) or non-volatile (e.g., Read-Only Memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.) mass storage system readable by the CPU. The non-transitory computer readable medium includes cooperating or interconnected computer readable medium, which exist exclusively on the processing system or can be distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to the processing system. 
     Exemplary Social Media Ecosystem Display System 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary social media ecosystem  10  display system  28 . The exemplary social media ecosystem display system includes, but is not limited to a target network device (e.g.,  12 , etc.) with a cloud application  30  and a display component  32 . The cloud application  30  presents a graphical user interface (GUI)  34  on the display  32  component. The GUI  32  presents a multi-window  36 ,  38 , etc. (only two of which are illustrated) interface to a user. 
     In one embodiment of the invention, the cloud application  30  is a software application. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and the cloud application  30  can be hardware, firmware, hardware and/or any combination thereof. However, the present invention is not limited these embodiments and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention 
     In another embodiment, a portion of the cloud application  30  is executing on the target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  and another portion of the application  30 ′ is executing on the server network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  However, the present invention is not limited these embodiments and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     Exemplary Networking Protocol Stack 
       FIG. 3  a block diagram illustrating a layered protocol stack  38  for network devices in the social media ecosystem  10 . The layered protocol stack  38  is described with respect to Internet Protocol (IP) suites comprising in general from lowest-to-highest, a link  42 , network  44 , transport  48  and application  56  layer. However, more or fewer layers could also be used, and different layer designations could also be used for the layers in the protocol stack  38  (e.g., layering based on the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model including from lowest-to-highest, a physical, data-link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layer.). 
     The network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  are connected to the communication network  18  with Network Interface Card (NIC) cards including device drivers  40  in a link layer  42  for the actual hardware connecting the network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  to the cloud communications network  18 . For example, the NIC device drivers  40  may include a serial port device driver, a digital subscriber line (DSL) device driver, an Ethernet device driver, a wireless device driver, a wired device driver, etc. The device drivers interface with the actual hardware being used to connect the network devices to the cloud communications network  18 . The NIC cards have a medium access control (MAC) address that is unique to each NIC and unique across the whole cloud network  18 . The Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is used to provide a data link layer of an Ethernet LAN system and for other network systems. 
     Above the link layer  42  is a network layer  44  (also called the Internet Layer for Internet Protocol (IP) suites). The network layer  44  includes, but is not limited to, an IP layer  46 . 
     IP  46  is an addressing protocol designed to route traffic within a network or between networks. However, more fewer or other protocols can also be used in the network layer  44 , and the present invention is not limited to IP  46 . For more information on IP  54  see IETF RFC-791, incorporated herein by reference. 
     Above network layer  44  is a transport layer  48 . The transport layer  48  includes, but is not limited to, an optional Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) layer  50 , a Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) layer  52 , a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) layer  52  and a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layer  54 . However, more, fewer or other protocols could also be used in the transport layer  48 . 
     Optional IGMP layer  50 , hereinafter IGMP  50 , is responsible for multicasting. For more information on IGMP  50  see RFC-1112, incorporated herein by reference. ICMP layer  52 , hereinafter ICMP  52  is used for IP  46  control. The main functions of ICMP  52  include error reporting, reachability testing (e.g., pinging, etc.), route-change notification, performance, subnet addressing and other maintenance. For more information on ICMP  52  see RFC-792, incorporated herein by reference. Both IGMP  50  and ICMP  52  are not required in the protocol stack  38 . ICMP  52  can be used alone without optional IGMP layer  50 . 
     TCP layer  54 , hereinafter TCP  54 , provides a connection-oriented, end-to-end reliable protocol designed to fit into a layered hierarchy of protocols which support multi-network applications. TCP  54  provides for reliable inter-process communication between pairs of processes in network devices attached to distinct but interconnected networks. For more information on TCP  54  see RFC-793, incorporated herein by reference. 
     UDP layer  56 , hereinafter UDP  56 , provides a connectionless mode of communications with datagrams in an interconnected set of computer networks. UDP  56  provides a transaction oriented datagram protocol, where delivery and duplicate packet protection are not guaranteed. For more information on UDP  56  see RFC-768, incorporated herein by reference. Both TCP  54  and UDP  56  are not required in protocol stack  38 . Either TCP  54  or UDP  56  can be used without the other. 
     Above transport layer  48  is an application layer  56  where application programs  58  (e.g.,  30 ,  30 ′, etc.) to carry out desired functionality for a network device reside. For example, the application programs  54  for the client network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  may include a web-browsers or other application programs, cloud application program  30 , while application programs for the server network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  may include other application programs (e.g.,  30 ′, etc.). 
     However, the protocol stack  38  is not limited to the protocol layers illustrated and more, fewer or other layers and protocols can also be used in protocol stack  38 . In addition, other protocols from the Internet Protocol suites (e.g., Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, (SMTP), Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), DNS, etc.) and/or other protocols from other protocol suites may also be used in protocol stack  38 . 
     Wireless Interfaces 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the wireless interfaces on network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  include but are not limited to, 3G and/or 4G IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.15.4 (ZigBee), “Wireless Fidelity” (Wi-Fi), “Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access” (WiMAX), ETSI High Performance Radio Metropolitan Area Network (HIPERMAN) or “RF Home” wireless interfaces. In another embodiment of the present invention, the wireless sensor device may include an integral or separate Bluetooth and/or infra data association (IrDA) module for wireless Bluetooth or wireless infrared communications. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment and other 802.11xx and other types of wireless interfaces can also be used. 
     802.11b is a short-range wireless network standard. The IEEE 802.11b standard defines wireless interfaces that provide up to 11 Mbps wireless data transmission to and from wireless devices over short ranges. 802.11a is an extension of the 802.11b and can deliver speeds up to 54M bps. 802.11g deliver speeds on par with 802.11a. However, other 802.11XX interfaces can also be used and the present invention is not limited to the 802.11 protocols defined. The IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g standards are incorporated herein by reference. 
     Wi-Fi is a type of 802.11xx interface, whether 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, etc. Wi-Fi devices include an RF interfaces such as 2.4 GHz for 802.11b or 802.11g and 5 GHz for 802.11a. More information on Wi-Fi can be found at the domain name www.weca.net. 
     802.15.4 (Zigbee) is low data rate network standard used for mesh network devices such as sensors, interactive toys, smart badges, remote controls, and home automation. The 802.15.4 standard provides data rates of 250 kbps, 40 kbps, and 20 kbps., two addressing modes; 16-bit short and 64-bit IEEE addressing, support for critical latency devices, such as joysticks, Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance, (CSMA-CA) channel access, automatic network establishment by a coordinator, fully handshaked protocol for transfer reliability, power management to ensure low power consumption for multi-month to multi-year battery usage and up to 16 channels in the 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band (Worldwide), 10 channels in the 915 MHz (US) and one channel in the 868 MHz band (Europe). The IEEE 802.15.4-2003 standard is incorporated herein by reference. More information on 802.15.4 and ZigBee can be found at the domain name “www.ieee802.org” and “www.zigbee.org” respectively. 
     WiMAX is an industry trade organization formed by leading communications component and equipment companies to promote and certify compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless access equipment that conforms to the IEEE 802.16XX and ETSI HIPERMAN. HIPERMAN is the European standard for metropolitan area networks (MAN). 
     The IEEE The 802.16a and 802.16g standards are wireless MAN technology standard that provides a wireless alternative to cable, DSL and T1/E1 for last mile broadband access. It is also used as complimentary technology to connect IEEE 802.11XX hot spots to the Internet. 
     The IEEE 802.16a standard for 2-11 GHz is a wireless MAN technology that provides broadband wireless connectivity to fixed, portable and nomadic devices. It provides up to 50-kilometers of service area range, allows users to get broadband connectivity without needing direct line of sight with the base station, and provides total data rates of up to 280 Mbps per base station, which is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support hundreds of businesses with T1/E1-type connectivity and thousands of homes with DSL-type connectivity with a single base station. The IEEE 802.16g provides up to 100 Mbps. 
     The IEEE 802.16e standard is an extension to the approved IEEE 802.16/16a/16g standard. The purpose of 802.16e is to add limited mobility to the current standard which is designed for fixed operation. 
     The ESTI HIPERMAN standard is an interoperable broadband fixed wireless access standard for systems operating at radio frequencies between 2 GHz and 11 GHz. 
     The IEEE 802.16a, 802.16e and 802.16g standards are incorporated herein by reference. More information on WiMAX can be found at the domain name “www.wimaxforum.org.” WiMAX can be used to provide a WLP. 
     The ETSI HIPERMAN standards TR 101 031, TR 101 475, TR 101 493-1 through TR 101 493-3, TR 101 761-1 through TR 101 761-4, TR 101 762, TR 101 763-1 through TR 101 763-3 and TR 101 957 are incorporated herein by reference. More information on ETSI standards can be found at the domain name “www.etsi.org.” ETSI HIPERMAN can be used to provide a WLP. 
     In one embodiment, the plural server network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  include a connection to plural network interface cards (NICs) in a backplane connected to a communications bus. The NIC cards provide gigabit/second (1×10 9  bits/second) communications speed of electronic information. This allows “scaling out” for fast electronic content retrieval. The NICs are connected to the plural server network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  and the cloud communications network  18 . However, the present invention is not limited to the NICs described and other types of NICs in other configurations and connections with and/or without a buses can also be used to practice the invention. 
     In one embodiment, network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  and wired and wireless interfaces including the NICs include “4G” components. “4G” refers to the fourth generation of wireless communications standards and speeds of 100 megabits/second to gigabits/second or more. 4G includes peak speed requirements for 4G service at least 100 Mbit/s for high mobility communication (e.g., trains, vehicles, etc.) and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility communication (e.g., pedestrians and stationary users, etc.). 
     4G technologies are a successor to 3G and 2G standards. The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service. The first was the move from analogue (1G) to digital (2G) transmission. This was followed by multi-media support, spread spectrum transmission and at least 200 kbits/second (3G). The 4G NICs include IP packet-switched NICs, wired and wireless ultra-broadband (i.e., gigabit speed) access NICs, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) NICs WiMAX Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or multi-carrier transmission NICs. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and 1G, 2G and 3G and/or any combination thereof, with or with 4G NICs can be used to practice the invention. 
     In one embodiment of the invention, the WiMAX interfaces includes WiMAX 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) interfaces. The ITU announced in December 2010 that WiMAX and LTE are 4G technologies. One of the benefits of 4G LTE is the ability to take advantage of advanced topology networks including those on cloud communications networks  18  such as optimized heterogeneous networks with a mix of macrocells with low power nodes such as picocells, femtocells and new relay nodes. LTE further improves the capacity and coverage, and helps ensures user fairness. 4G LTE also introduces multicarrier technologies for ultra-wide bandwidth use, up to 100 MHz of spectrum supporting very high data rates. 
     In one embodiment, of the invention, the wireless interfaces also include wireless personal area network (WPAN) interfaces. As is known in the art, a WPAN is a personal area network for interconnecting devices centered around an individual person&#39;s devices in which the connections are wireless. A WPAN interconnects all the ordinary computing and communicating devices that a person has on their desk (e.g. computer, etc.) or carry with them (e.g., PDA, mobile phone, smart phone, table computer two-way pager, etc.) 
     A key concept in WPAN technology is known as “plugging in.” In the ideal scenario, when any two WPAN-equipped devices come into close proximity (within several meters and/or feet of each other) or within a few miles and/or kilometers of a central server (not illustrated), they can communicate via wireless communications as if connected by a cable. WPAN devices can also lock out other devices selectively, preventing needless interference or unauthorized access to secure information. Zigbee is one wireless protocol used on WPAN networks such as cloud communications network  18 . 
     VoIP is a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using IP packets. In general, VoIP is used to send voice information in digital form in discrete data packets (i.e., IP packets) over data networks rather than using traditional circuit-switched protocols used on the PSTN. VoIP is used on both wireless and wired data networks. 
     VoIP typically comprises several applications (e.g., Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Service Location Protocol (SLP), H.323, H.324, Domain Name System (DNS), Authentication Authorization and Accounting (AAA), codecs (G.7xx), etc.) that convert a voice signal into a stream of packets (e.g., IP packets) on a packet network and back again. VoIP allows voice signals to travel over a stream of data packets over a communications network. 
     Short Message Service (SMS) is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages of up to 160 characters, or more. 
     Instant messaging (IM) is a type of messaging which offers real-time text transmission over a local area network (LAN). 
     The one or more target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  and one or more server network devices  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  may communicate with each other and other network devices with near field communications (NFC) and/or machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. 
     “Near field communication (NFC)” is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few centimeters. Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi. Communication is also possible between an NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip, called a “tag” including radio frequency identifier (RFID) tags. 
     NFC standards cover communications protocols and data exchange formats, and are based on existing radio-frequency identification (RFID) standards including ISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa. These standards include ISO/IEC 1809 and those defined by the NFC Forum, all of which are incorporated by reference. 
     “Machine to machine (M2M)” refers to technologies that allow both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same ability. M2M uses a device to capture an event (such as option purchase, etc.), which is relayed through a network (wireless, wired cloud, etc.) to an application (software program), that translates the captured event into meaningful information. Such communication was originally accomplished by having a remote network of machines relay information back to a central hub for analysis, which would then be rerouted into a system like a personal computer. 
     However, modern M2M communication has expanded beyond a one-to-one connection and changed into a system of networks that transmits data many-to-one and many-to-many to plural different types of devices and appliances. The expansion of IP networks across the world has made it far easier for M2M communication to take place and has lessened the amount of power and time necessary for information to be communicated between machines. 
     However, the present invention is not limited to such wireless interfaces and wireless networks and more, fewer and/or other wireless interfaces can be used to practice the invention. 
     Wired Interfaces 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the wired interfaces include wired interfaces and corresponding networking protocols for wired connections to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and/or a cable television network (CATV) and/or satellite television networks (SATV) and/or three-dimensional television (3DTV), including HDTV that connect the network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  via one or more twisted pairs of copper wires, digital subscriber lines (e.g. DSL, ADSL, VDSL, etc.) coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, other connection media or other connection interfaces. The PSTN is any public switched telephone network provided by AT&amp;T, GTE, Sprint, MCI, SBC, Verizon and others. The CATV is any cable television network provided by the Comcast, Time Warner, etc. However, the present invention is not limited to such wired interfaces and more, fewer and/or other wired interfaces can be used to practice the invention. 
     Television Services 
     In one embodiment, the cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′ provide cloud social media ecosystem  10  searching services from television services over the cloud communications network  18 . The television services include digital television services, including, but not limited to, cable television, satellite television, high-definition television, three-dimensional, televisions and other types of network devices. 
     However, the present invention is not limited to such television services and more, fewer and/or other television services can be used to practice the invention. 
     Internet Television Services 
     In one embodiment, the cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′ provide cloud social media ecosystem  10  search services from Internet television services over the cloud communications network  18 . The television services include Internet television, Web-TV, and/or Internet Protocol Television (IPtv) and/or other broadcast television services. 
     “Internet television” allows users to choose a program or the television show they want to watch from an archive of programs or from a channel directory. The two forms of viewing Internet television are streaming content directly to a media player or simply downloading a program to a viewer&#39;s set-top box, game console, computer, or other mesh network device. 
     “Web-TV” delivers digital content via non-mesh broadband and mobile networks. The digital content is streamed to a viewer&#39;s set-top box, game console, computer, or other mesh network device. 
     “Internet Protocol television (IPtv)” is a system through which Internet television services are delivered using the architecture and networking methods of the Internet Protocol Suite over a packet-switched network infrastructure, e.g., the Internet and broadband Internet access networks, instead of being delivered through traditional radio frequency broadcast, satellite signal, and cable television formats. 
     However, the present invention is not limited to such Internet Television services and more, fewer and/or other Internet Television services can be used to practice the invention. 
     General Search Engine Services 
     In one embodiment, the cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′ provide cloud social media ecosystem  10  search services from general search engine services. A search engine is designed to search for information on a cloud communications network  18  such as the Internet including World Wide Web servers, HTTP, FTP servers etc. The search results are generally presented in a list of electronic results. The information may consist of web pages, images, electronic information, multimedia information, and other types of files. Some search engines also mine data available in databases or open directories. Unlike web directories, which are maintained by human editors, search engines typically operate algorithmically and/or are a mixture of algorithmic and human input. 
     In one embodiment, the cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′ provide cloud Social media ecosystem  10  search services from general search engine services. In another embodiment, the cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′ provide general search engine services by interacting with one or more other public search engines (e.g., GOOGLE, BING, YAHOO, etc.) and/or private search engine services. 
     In another embodiment, the cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′ provide social media ecosystem  10  search services from specialized search engine services, such as vertical search engine services by interacting with one or more other public vertical search engines (e.g., GALAXY.COM, etc.) and/or private search engine services 
     However, the present invention is not limited to such general and/or vertical search engine services and more, fewer and/or other general search engine services can be used to practice the invention. 
     Social Networking Services 
     In one embodiment, the cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′ provide cloud social media ecosystem  10  search services from one more social networking services including to/from one or more social networking web-sites (e.g., FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, TWITTER, MY-SPACE, MATCH.COM, E-HARMONY, GROUP ON, SOCIAL LIVING, PINREST, etc.). The social networking web-sites also include, but are not limited to, social couponing sites, dating web-sites, blogs, RSS feeds, and other types of information web-sites in which messages can be left or posted for a variety of social activities. 
     However, the present invention is not limited to the social networking services described and other public and private social networking services can also be used to practice the invention. 
     Music Downloading Services 
     In one embodiment, the cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′ provide cloud social media ecosystem  10  search services from one more music downloading services (e.g., iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.) at one or more music downloading sites. 
     However, the present invention is not limited to the music downloading services described and other public and private social networking services can also be used to practice the invention. 
     Preferred embodiments of the present invention include network devices and wired and wireless interfaces that are compliant with all or part of standards proposed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), U.S. National Institute of Security Technology (NIST), American National Standard Institute (ANSI), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum, Bluetooth Forum, or the ADSL Forum. 
     Security and Encryption 
     Network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  with wired and/or wireless interfaces of the social media ecosystem  10  include one or more of the security and encryptions techniques discussed herein for secure communications on the cloud communications network  18 . 
     Application programs  58  ( FIG. 2 ) include security and/or encryption application programs integral to and/or separate from the cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′ Security and/or encryption programs may also exist in hardware components on the network devices ( 12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 ) described herein and/or exist in a combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. 
     Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP) (also called “Wired Equivalent Privacy) is a security protocol for WiLANs defined in the IEEE 802.11b standard. WEP is cryptographic privacy algorithm, based on the Rivest Cipher 4 (RC4) encryption engine, used to provide confidentiality for 802.11b wireless data. 
     RC4 is cipher designed by RSA Data Security, Inc. of Bedford, Mass., which can accept encryption keys of arbitrary length, and is essentially a pseudo random number generator with an output of the generator being XORed with a data stream to produce encrypted data. 
     One problem with WEP is that it is used at the two lowest layers of the OSI model, the physical layer and the data link layer, therefore, it does not offer end-to-end security. One another problem with WEP is that its encryption keys are static rather than dynamic. To update WEP encryption keys, an individual has to manually update a WEP key. WEP also typically uses 40-bit static keys for encryption and thus provides “weak encryption,” making a WEP device a target of hackers. 
     The IEEE 802.11 Working Group is working on a security upgrade for the 802.11 standard called “802.11i.” This supplemental draft standard is intended to improve WiLAN security. It describes the encrypted transmission of data between systems 802.11X WiLANs. It also defines new encryption key protocols including the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). The IEEE 802.11i draft standard, version 4, completed Jun. 6, 2003, is incorporated herein by reference. 
     The 802.11i is based on 802.1x port-based authentication for user and device authentication. The 802.11i standard includes two main developments: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and Robust Security Network (RSN). 
     WPA uses the same RC4 underlying encryption algorithm as WEP. However, WPA uses TKIP to improve security of keys used with WEP. WPA keys are derived and rotated more often than WEP keys and thus provide additional security. WPA also adds a message-integrity-check function to prevent packet forgeries. 
     RSN uses dynamic negotiation of authentication and selectable encryption algorithms between wireless access points and wireless devices. The authentication schemes proposed in the draft standard include Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). One proposed encryption algorithm is an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption algorithm. 
     Dynamic negotiation of authentication and encryption algorithms lets RSN evolve with the state of the art in security, adding algorithms to address new threats and continuing to provide the security necessary to protect information that WiLANs carry. 
     The NIST developed a new encryption standard, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to keep government information secure. AES is intended to be a stronger, more efficient successor to Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES). More information on NIST AES can be found at the domain name “www.nist.gov/aes.” 
     DES is a popular symmetric-key encryption method developed in 1975 and standardized by ANSI in 1981 as ANSI X.3.92, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. As is known in the art, 3DES is the encrypt-decrypt-encrypt (EDE) mode of the DES cipher algorithm. 3DES is defined in the ANSI standard, ANSI X9.52-1998, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. DES modes of operation are used in conjunction with the NIST Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) for data encryption (FIPS 46-3, October 1999), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     The NIST approved a FIPS for the AES, FIPS-197. This standard specified “Rijndael” encryption as a FIPS-approved symmetric encryption algorithm that may be used by U.S. Government organizations (and others) to protect sensitive information. The NIST FIPS-197 standard (AES FIPS PUB 197, November 2001) is incorporated herein by reference. 
     The NIST approved a FIPS for U.S. Federal Government requirements for information technology products for sensitive but unclassified (SBU) communications. The NIST FIPS Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules (FIPS PUB 140-2, May 2001) is incorporated herein by reference. 
     RSA is a public key encryption system which can be used both for encrypting messages and making digital signatures. The letters RSA stand for the names of the inventors: Rivest, Shamir and Adleman. For more information on RSA, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,829, now expired, incorporated herein by reference. 
     “Hashing” is the transformation of a string of characters into a usually shorter fixed-length value or key that represents the original string. Hashing is used to index and retrieve items in a database because it is faster to find the item using the shorter hashed key than to find it using the original value. It is also used in many encryption algorithms. 
     Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), is used for computing a secure condensed representation of a data message or a data file. When a message of any length &lt;2 64  bits is input, the SHA-1 produces a 160-bit output called a “message digest.” The message digest can then be input to other security techniques such as encryption, a Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) and others which generates or verifies a security mechanism for the message. SHA-512 outputs a 512-bit message digest. The Secure Hash Standard, FIPS PUB 180-1, Apr. 17, 1995, is incorporated herein by reference. 
     Message Digest-5 (MD-5) takes as input a message of arbitrary length and produces as output a 128-bit “message digest” of the input. The MD5 algorithm is intended for digital signature applications, where a large file must be “compressed” in a secure manner before being encrypted with a private (secret) key under a public-key cryptosystem such as RSA. The IETF RFC-1321, entitled “The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm” is incorporated here by reference. 
     Providing a way to check the integrity of information transmitted over or stored in an unreliable medium such as a wireless network is a prime necessity in the world of open computing and communications. Mechanisms that provide such integrity check based on a secret key are called “message authentication codes” (MAC). Typically, message authentication codes are used between two parties that share a secret key in order to validate information transmitted between these parties. 
     Keyed Hashing for Message Authentication Codes (HMAC), is a mechanism for message authentication using cryptographic hash functions. HMAC is used with any iterative cryptographic hash function, e.g., MD5, SHA-1, SHA-512, etc. in combination with a secret shared key. The cryptographic strength of HMAC depends on the properties of the underlying hash function. The IETF RFC-2101, entitled “HMAC: Keyed-Hashing for Message Authentication” is incorporated here by reference. 
     An Electronic Code Book (ECB) is a mode of operation for a “block cipher,” with the characteristic that each possible block of plaintext has a defined corresponding cipher text value and vice versa. In other words, the same plaintext value will always result in the same cipher text value. Electronic Code Book is used when a volume of plaintext is separated into several blocks of data, each of which is then encrypted independently of other blocks. The Electronic Code Book has the ability to support a separate encryption key for each block type. 
     Diffie and Hellman (DH) describe several different group methods for two parties to agree upon a shared secret in such a way that the secret will be unavailable to eavesdroppers. This secret is then converted into various types of cryptographic keys. A large number of the variants of the DH method exist including ANSI X9.42. The IETF RFC-2631, entitled “Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Method” is incorporated here by reference. 
     The HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP) Secure (HTTPs), is a standard for encrypted communications on the World Wide Web. HTTPs is actually just HTTP over a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). For more information on HTTP, see IETF RFC-2616 incorporated herein by reference. 
     The SSL protocol is a protocol layer which may be placed between a reliable connection-oriented network layer protocol (e.g. TCP/IP) and the application protocol layer (e.g. HTTP). SSL provides for secure communication between a source and destination by allowing mutual authentication, the use of digital signatures for integrity, and encryption for privacy. 
     The SSL protocol is designed to support a range of choices for specific security methods used for cryptography, message digests, and digital signatures. The security method are negotiated between the source and destination at the start of establishing a protocol session. The SSL 2.0 protocol specification, by Kipp E. B. Hickman, 1995 is incorporated herein by reference. More information on SSL is available at the domain name See “netscape.com/eng/security/SSL — 2.html.” 
     Transport Layer Security (TLS) provides communications privacy over the Internet. The protocol allows client/server applications to communicate over a transport layer (e.g., TCP) in a way that is designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, or message forgery. For more information on TLS see IETF RFC-2246, incorporated herein by reference. 
     In one embodiment, the security functionality includes Cisco Compatible EXtensions (CCX). CCX includes security specifications for makers of 802.11xx wireless LAN chips for ensuring compliance with Cisco&#39;s proprietary wireless security LAN protocols. As is known in the art, Cisco Systems, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. is supplier of networking hardware and software, including router and security products. 
     However, the present invention is not limited to such security and encryption methods described herein and more, fewer and/or other types of security and encryption methods can be used to practice the invention. The security and encryption methods described herein can also be used in various combinations and/or in different layers of the protocol stack  38  with each other. 
     Cloud Computing Networks 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram  60  illustrating an exemplary cloud computing network  18 . The cloud computing network  18  is also referred to as a “cloud communications network”  18 . However, the present invention is not limited to this cloud computing model and other cloud computing models can also be used to practice the invention. The exemplary cloud communications network includes both wired and/or wireless components of public and private networks. 
     In one embodiment, the cloud computing network  18  includes a cloud communications network  18  comprising plural different cloud component networks  72 ,  74 ,  76 ,  78 . “Cloud computing” is a model for enabling, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., public and private networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that are shared, rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. 
     This exemplary cloud computing model for electronic information retrieval promotes availability for shared resources and comprises: (1) cloud computing essential characteristics; (2) cloud computing service models; and (3) cloud computing deployment models. However, the present invention is not limited to this cloud computing model and other cloud computing models can also be used to practice the invention. 
     Exemplary cloud computing essential characteristics appear in Table 1. However, the present invention is not limited to these essential characteristics and more, fewer or other characteristics can also be used to practice the invention. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 1. On-demand social media ecosystem 10 compensation services. Social  
               
               
                 media ecosystem searchers can unilaterally provision computing 
               
               
                 capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed 
               
               
                 automatically without requiring human interaction with each network 
               
               
                 server on the cloud communications network 18. 
               
               
                 2. Broadband network access. Social media ecosystem compenstation 
               
               
                 capabilities are available over plural broadband communications networks 
               
               
                 and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by 
               
               
                 heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, smart 
               
               
                 phones 14, tablet computers 12, laptops, PDAs, etc.). The broadband 
               
               
                 network access includes high speed network access such as 3G and/or 4G 
               
               
                 wireless and/or wired and broadband and/or ultra-broad band (e.g., 
               
               
                 WiMAX, etc.) network access. 
               
               
                 3. Resource pooling. Social media ecosystem 10 compensation computing 
               
               
                 resources are pooled to serve multiple requesters using a multi-tenant 
               
               
                 model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned 
               
               
                 and reassigned according to social media ecosystem demand. There is 
               
               
                 location independence in that an requester of a search has no control and/ 
               
               
                 or knowledge over the exact location of the provided by social media 
               
               
                 ecosystem 10 compensation resources but may be able to specify location 
               
               
                 at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or data center). 
               
               
                 Examples of pooled resources include storage, processing, memory, 
               
               
                 network bandwidth, virtual server network device and virtual target 
               
               
                 network devices. 
               
               
                 4. Rapid elasticity. Capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, 
               
               
                 in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released to 
               
               
                 quickly scale for the social media ecosystem compensation. To the social 
               
               
                 media ecosystem 10 purchaser and merchants the social media ecosystem 
               
               
                 10 compensation capabilities available for provisioning appear to be 
               
               
                 unlimited and can be used in any quantity at any time. 
               
               
                 5. Measured Services. Cloud computing systems automatically control and 
               
               
                 optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of 
               
               
                 abstraction appropriate to the type of social media ecosystem 10 
               
               
                 compensation service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, custom social 
               
               
                 media ecosystem 10 searching, etc.). Social media ecosystem 10 
               
               
                 searching usage is monitored, controlled, and reported providing 
               
               
                 transparency for both the social media compensation provider and the 
               
               
                 social media search requester of the utilized social media ecosystem 10 
               
               
                 compensation service. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Exemplary cloud computing service models illustrated in  FIG. 4  appear in Table 2. However, the present invention is not limited to these service models and more, fewer or other service models can also be used to practice the invention. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 1. Cloud Computing Software Applications 62 for a social media  
               
               
                 ecosystem 10 compensation service (CCSA 64). The capability to use  
               
               
                 the provider&#39;s applications 30, 30′ running on a cloud infrastructure 66. 
               
               
                 The cloud computing applications 62, are accessible from the server 
               
               
                 network device 20 from various client devices 12, 14, 16 through 
               
               
                 a thin client interface such as a web browser, etc. The user does not 
               
               
                 manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure 66 including  
               
               
                 network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual  
               
               
                 application 30, 30′ capabilities, with the possible exception of 
               
               
                 limited user-specific application configuration settings. 
               
               
                 2. Cloud Computing Infrastructure 66 for the social media ecosystem 10 
               
               
                 compensation service (CCI 68). The capability provided to the user is to 
               
               
                 provision processing, searching storage and retrieval, networks 18, 72, 74, 
               
               
                 76, 78 and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is 
               
               
                 able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating 
               
               
                 systems and applications 30, 30′. The user does not manage or control the 
               
               
                 underlying cloud infrastructure 66 but has control over operating systems, 
               
               
                 storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select 
               
               
                 networking components (e.g., host firewalls, etc.). 
               
               
                 3. Cloud Computing Platform 70 for the social media ecosystem 10 
               
               
                 compensation service (CCP 71). The capability provided to the user to 
               
               
                 deploy onto the cloud infrastructure 66 created or acquired applications 
               
               
                 created using programming languages and tools supported servers 20, 22, 
               
               
                 24, 26, etc.. The user not manage or control the underlying cloud 
               
               
                 infrastructure 66 including network, servers, operating systems, or storage, 
               
               
                 but has control over the deployed applications 30, 30′ and possibly 
               
               
                 application hosting environment configurations. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Exemplary cloud computing deployment models appear in Table 3. However, the present invention is not limited to these deployment models and more, fewer or other deployment models can also be used to practice the invention. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 1. Private cloud network 72. The cloud network infrastructure is operated  
               
               
                 solely for social media ecosystem 10 compensation. It may be managed  
               
               
                 by the electronic content retrieval or a third party and may exist on  
               
               
                 premise or off premise. 
               
               
                 2. Community cloud network 74. The cloud network infrastructure is  
               
               
                 shared by several different organizations and supports a specific social 
               
               
                 media ecosystem 10 compensation community that has shared  
               
               
                 concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, compliance 
               
               
                 considerations, etc.). It may be managed by the different organizations 
               
               
                 or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise. 
               
               
                 3. Public cloud network 76. The cloud network infrastructure such as the 
               
               
                 Internet, PSTN, SATV, CATV, Internet TV, etc. is made available to the 
               
               
                 general public or a large industry group and is owned by one or more 
               
               
                 organizations selling cloud services. 
               
               
                 4. Hybrid cloud network 78. The cloud network infrastructure 66 is a 
               
               
                 composition of two and/or more cloud networks 18 (e.g., private 72, 
               
               
                 community 74, and/or public 76, etc.) and/or other types of public and/or 
               
               
                 private networks (e.g., intranets, etc.) that remain unique entities but are 
               
               
                 bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data 
               
               
                 and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between 
               
               
                 clouds, etc.). 
               
               
                 5. Cloud network 18. The cloud communications network further includes  
               
               
                 cable television networks (CATV), satellite television networks 
               
               
                 (SATV), three-dimensional television (3DTV) networks, Internet 
               
               
                 television networks, Web-TV networks and/or Internet Protocol 
               
               
                 Television (IPtv) networks. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Cloud software  64  for electronic content retrieval takes full advantage of the cloud paradigm by being service oriented with a focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability for social media ecosystem  10  searching services. However, cloud software services  64  can include various states. 
     Cloud storage of social media ecosystem  10  searching on a cloud computing network  18  includes agility, scalability, elasticity and multi-tenancy. Although a storage foundation may be comprised of block storage or file storage such as that exists on conventional networks, cloud storage is typically exposed to requesters of desired electronic content as cloud objects. 
     In one exemplary embodiment, the cloud application  30 ′, offers cloud services for social media ecosystem  10  compensation services. The application  30 ,  30 ′ offers the cloud computing Infrastructure  66 ,  68  as a Service  62  (IaaS), including a cloud software infrastructure service  62 , the cloud Platform  70 ,  71  as a Service  62  (PaaS) including a cloud software platform service  62  and/or offers Specific cloud software services as a Service  62  (SaaS) including a specific cloud software service  62  for social media ecosystem  10  compensation services. The IaaS, PaaS and SaaS include one or more of cloud services  62  comprising networking, storage, server network device, virtualization, operating system, middleware, run-time, data and/or application services, or plural combinations thereof, on the cloud communications network  18 . 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram  80  illustrating an exemplary cloud storage object  82 . 
     The cloud storage object  82  includes an envelope portion  84 , with a header portion  86 , and a body portion  88 . However, the present invention is not limited to such a cloud storage object  82  and other cloud storage objects and other cloud storage objects with more, fewer or other portions can also be used to practice the invention. 
     The envelope portion  84  uses unique namespace Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) and/or Uniform Resource Names (URNs), and/or Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) unique across the cloud communications network  18  to uniquely specify, location and version information and encoding rules used by the cloud storage object  82  across the whole cloud communications network  18 . For more information, see IETF RFC-3305, Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), URLs, and Uniform Resource Names (URNs), the contents of which are incorporated by reference. 
     The envelope portion  84  of the cloud storage object  82  is followed by a header portion  86 . The header portion  86  includes extended information about the cloud storage objects such as authorization and/or transaction information, etc. 
     The body portion  88  includes methods  90  (i.e., a sequence of instructions, etc.) for using embedded application-specific data in data elements  92 . The body portion  88  typically includes only one portion of plural portions of application-specific data  92  and independent data  94  so the cloud storage object  82  can provide distributed, redundant fault tolerant, security and privacy features described herein. 
     Cloud storage objects  82  have proven experimentally to be a highly scalable, available and reliable layer of abstraction that also minimizes the limitations of common file systems. Cloud storage objects  82  also provide low latency and low storage and transmission costs. 
     Cloud storage objects  82  are comprised of many distributed resources, but function as a single storage object, are highly fault tolerant through redundancy and provide distribution of desired electronic content across public communication networks  76 , and one or more private networks  72 , community networks  74  and hybrid networks  78  of the cloud communications network  18 . Cloud storage objects  82  are also highly durable because of creation of copies of portions of desired electronic content across such networks  72 ,  74 ,  76 ,  78  of the cloud communications network  18 . Cloud storage objects  82  includes one or more portions of desired electronic content and can be stored on any of the  72 ,  74 ,  76 ,  78  networks of the cloud communications network  18 . Cloud storage objects  82  are transparent to a requester of desired electronic content and are managed by cloud applications  30 ,  30 ′. 
     In one embodiment, cloud storage objects  82  are configurable arbitrary objects with a size up to hundreds of terabytes, each accompanied by with a few kilobytes of metadata. Cloud objects are organized into and identified by a unique identifier unique across the whole cloud communications network  18 . However, the present invention is not limited to the cloud storage objects described, and more fewer and other types of cloud storage objects can be used to practice the invention. 
     Cloud storage objects  82  present a single unified namespace or object-space and manages desired electronic content by user or administrator-defined policies storage and retrieval policies. Cloud storage objects includes Representational state transfer (REST), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and/or Application Programming Interface (API) objects and/or other types of cloud storage objects. However, the present invention is not limited to the cloud storage objects described, and more fewer and other types of cloud storage objects can be used to practice the invention. 
     REST is a protocol specification that characterizes and constrains macro-interactions storage objects of the four components of a cloud communications network  18 , namely origin servers, gateways, proxies and clients, without imposing limitations on the individual participants. 
     SOAP is a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of cloud services with storage objects. SOAP has at least three major characteristics: (1) Extensibility (including security/encryption, routing, etc.); (2) Neutrality (SOAP can be used over any transport protocol such as HTTP, SMTP or even TCP, etc.), and (3) Independence (SOAP allows for almost any programming model to be used, etc.) 
     LDAP is a software protocol for enabling storage and retrieval of electronic content and other resources such as files and devices on the cloud communications network  18 . LDAP is a “lightweight” version of Directory Access Protocol (DAP), which is part of X.500, a standard for directory services in a network. LDAP may be used with X.509 security and other security methods for secure storage and retrieval. X.509 is public key digital certificate standard developed as part of the X.500 directory specification. X.509 is used for secure management and distribution of digitally signed certificates across networks. 
     An API is a particular set of rules and specifications that software programs can follow to communicate with each other. It serves as an interface between different software programs and facilitates their interaction. 
     Search Engine Ecosystem 
     An electronic search engine ecosystem includes one or more content providers (e.g., web-site providers, etc.), one or more public and/or private search engines (e.g., GOOGLE, BING, YAHOO, etc.) and/or one or more users (e.g., searchers, etc.) However, the present invention is not limited the components describe and more, fewer and/or other components can be used to practice the invention as a search engine ecosystem. 
     The one more public and/or private search engines  98  include, electronic information gatherers, a search query parser, a search query gatherer, a search query ranker, a search query formatter, 
     A “search engine” is a software system that is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web. The search results are generally presented and referred to as Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). The information includes web pages, images, information and other types of files. Some search engines also mine data available in databases or open directories. Unlike web directories, which are maintained only by human editors, search engines also maintain real-time information by running different types of search algorithms on web crawlers. 
     Web search engines function by storing information about many web pages, which they retrieve from the markup language (e.g., HTML, XML, etc.) the web pages are written in. These pages are retrieved by an automated program called a spider, web-crawler, web-bot, that follows every link on the site. The contents of each page are then analyzed to determine how it should be indexed (for example, words can be extracted from the titles, page content, headings, or special fields called meta tags). Data about web pages are stored in an index database for use in later queries. A query from a user can be a single word. The index helps find information relating to the query as quickly as possible. 
     Some search engines, such as GOOGLE, store all or part of the source page (referred to as a cache) as well as information about the web pages, whereas other search engines store every word of every page they find. This cached page holds the actual search text since it is the one that was actually indexed, so it can be very useful when the content of the current page has been updated and the search terms are no longer in it. 
     When a user enters a query into a search engine using one or more keywords, the search engine examines its index and provides a listing of best-matching web pages according to its criteria, usually with a short summary containing the document&#39;s title and sometimes parts of the text. The index is built from the information stored with the data and the method by which the information is indexed. 
     Most search engines support the use of the Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT to further specify the search query. Boolean operators are for literal searches that allow the user to refine and extend the terms of the search. The engine looks for the words or phrases exactly as entered. Some search engines provide an advanced feature called proximity search, which allows users to define the distance between keywords. There is also concept-based searching where the research involves using statistical analysis on pages containing the words or phrases you search for. As well, natural language queries allow the user to type a question in the same form one would ask it to a human. 
     The usefulness of a search engine depends on the relevance of the search result set it gives back. While there may be millions of web pages that include a particular word or phrase, some pages may be more relevant, popular, or authoritative than others. Most search engines employ methods to rank the results to provide the “best” results first. How a search engine decides which pages are the best matches, and what order the results should be shown in, varies widely from one engine to another. 
     “Search engine optimization (SEO)” is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine&#39;s “natural” or un-paid (“organic”) search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine&#39;s users. 
     Social Media Ecosystem 
     An “ecosystem” with respect to a communications network  18 , is a community of participates (e.g., web page providers, indexers (e.g., search engines, etc.) and searchers in conjunction with the technology components of their environment (e.g., servers, gateways, routers, switches, wired interfaces, wireless interfaces, target network devices, (e.g., smart phones, tablets, etc.), etc.), interacting as a system. The ecosystem components are regarded as linked together through communications and data flows. Ecosystems are controlled by both internal and external factors. 
     A “digital social media ecosystem” is a distributed, adaptive, open socio-technical system with properties of self-organization, scalability and sustainability inspired from natural ecosystems. Digital ecosystem models are informed by knowledge of natural ecosystems, especially for aspects related to competition and collaboration among diverse entities. 
     One framework for digital ecosystems includes three distinct levels. Level 1 of the framework describes what drives individuals to carry out actions in online communities such as posting messages and adding electronic content. Level 2 looks at the cognitions participants use to determine whether or not to take such actions. Level 3 looks at the methods by which participates go about carrying out the action in the digital ecosystem environment. 
     A “social search ecosystem” typically operates within three perspectives: content providers, indexers, and searchers. That is, each member of the search ecosystem has a set of objectives and priorities that determine criteria when participating in the ecosystem. Participates will only participate in a search ecosystem if there is a tangible benefit, i.e., a payoff or return on investment (ROI). 
     Any member of the search ecosystem may reorganize (e.g., optimize, etc.) a search resource according to his own perspective. Searchers do this by changing the way they search. Indexers (e.g., search engines, etc.) do this by (excluding or including content, changing indexing structures, adjusting ranks, etc.). Content providers do this by changing content. 
     Social media ecosystems facilitate and automate vast interactions, connections and networks of people by enabling collaboration at any time. This new ecosystem almost completely eliminates the need for travel and direct personal interactions. Within this new ecosystem there are individual influencer ecosystems with their own dynamics interrelationships, characteristics and influence models. 
     Social media ecosystems include a new business-to-person (B2P) paradigm. Mohan Sawhney, author of The Global Brain reinforces this in his book, “social customers are driving innovation, they are empowered and collaborative, they are the drivers and initiators of innovation and are increasingly viewed as a strategic asset to companies. Today&#39;s customer is looking for a personalized experience and relationship, demanding solutions rather than products,” in what he calls the global Bazaar. 
     As social media ecosystem  10  is also a place to present social “needs” in social, career or leisure activities, for the benefit of oneself and others individuals and businesses that feel that can satisfy that need, per search, and review of a public profile. 
     Social Media Index 
     There are a number of definitions of Social Indicators (SI) both from self evaluation, to physical activity data capture to expression of others feedback or recommendations. SIs are forms of evidence that help assessment of present position and future directions. An SI is also a “direct and valid statistical measure which monitors levels and changes over time in a fundamental social concern.” A social concern is “an identifiable and definable aspiration or concern of fundamental and direct importance to human well-being.” Indicators may be material, such as numbers related to economic growth, and/or immaterial, such as values or goals. An SI includes statistics which are intended to provide a basis for making concise, comprehensive and balanced judgments about the conditions of social connections. 
     The kind of indicators chosen for SI empirical measurement depends on the purpose of the measure. While “objective social indicators” are statistics which represent social facts independent of personal evaluations, “subjective social indicators” are measures of individual perceptions and evaluations of social conditions. 
     “Objective social indicators” represent social facts independently of personal evaluations. “Subjective social indicators” are based on individual perception and evaluation of social conditions. Generally, SI perform one or more of three functions: (1) providing a basis for information for decision-making; (2) monitoring and evaluating policies; and/or (3) searching for a common goal and deciding how to reach it. 
     A “social media index” and/or a “social inclusion index” is a framework for measuring multiple dimensions of social connections. It measures social connections with public figures in politics, sports, entertainment, etc. and with private figures such as friends, relatives, real and virtual acquaintances. In one embodiment, it includes both objective and subjective social indicators. In another embodiment, it includes only objective social indicators. In another embodiment, it includes only subjective social indicators. However, the present invention is not limited to the social indices described, and more fewer and other types of social indices can be used to practice the invention. 
     In one embodiment of the invention, an exemplary social media index includes a measure of a person&#39;s connections to “friends.” Table 4 illustrates an exemplary four dimensional (4D) or four deep friend social media index. This 4D social media index is exemplary only and other types and more, fewer or other dimensions can be used for the social media index. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 4 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 SUSAN ORLEAN-Social media index - The New Yorker - Nov. 5, 2010 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 1. The friend you know well, have encountered frequently in the flesh, perhaps even 
               
               
                 hugged, have visited domestically, and would invite to your child&#39;s wedding, 
               
               
                 and with whom, coincidentally, you might occasionally communicate 
               
               
                 via social media in addition to more traditional friend channels such as lunch 
               
               
                 dates, telephone calls, et cetera (formerly known simply as “a friend”) 
               
               
                 2. The friend you sort of know, because you have friends in common and have 
               
               
                 maybe attended the same events-not together, but you&#39;ve both ended up there 
               
               
                 because you know a lot of the same people. You perhaps would not have thought to 
               
               
                 invite this person to a small party, and yet you do include him in your wider 
               
               
                 sense of your social circle-and you now communicate with him via social 
               
               
                 media more than you ever did before such a thing existed, and you now have a 
               
               
                 surprising intimacy after years of static, unenergetic just-sort-of-knowing one another 
               
               
                 (formerly known as “an acquaintance”) 
               
               
                 3. The friend, or friend-like entity, whom you met initially via FACEBOOK or 
               
               
                 TWITTER or GOOREADS or, heaven help us, MySpace. You met-online, that 
               
               
                 is-because . . . well, who remembers now, anyway? Maybe through some friend 
               
               
                 of a friend of a friend, or because some algorithm on Facebook “suggested” that 
               
               
                 you should be friends. In any case, you now interact with this person/stranger 
               
               
                 frequently-in fact, maybe many times a day-and, as a result, she enters your 
               
               
                 conversation the way anyone would with whom you exchange chitchat several 
               
               
                 times a day. When a real flesh-based friend asks you who this person is, you 
               
               
                 describe her as a friend, for lack of a better word. It&#39;s an awkward description 
               
               
                 because you have a) never met in real life b) might not actually know this 
               
               
                 person&#39;s full name or profession or background. Yet you look forward to 
               
               
                 interacting with this person, and if/when she mentions experiencing a sad event, 
               
               
                 a birthday, a job loss, a cute baby experience, or a car accident, you have a 
               
               
                 strong, actual reaction (this sort of friendship formerly had no name at all, since 
               
               
                 the only kind of liaison that even comes close to this in the history of human 
               
               
                 relations is that of pen pals) 
               
               
                 4. The friend-like entity mentioned in No. 3-that is, someone whom you know 
               
               
                 only virtually-but in this instance you and this person have actually met. The 
               
               
                 meeting was probably brief and a one-off encounter and it probably occurred 
               
               
                 because one of you happened to be passing through the other&#39;s hometown. When 
               
               
                 you finally meet, you spend most of your time chuckling over how much 
               
               
                 smaller/taller you look in your profile picture. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG. 6A  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary four dimensional (4D) social media index  96 . The social media index  96  includes a first set of connections  98 , a second set of connections  100 , a third set of connections  102  and a fourth set of connections  104 . However, the present invention is not to the social indices described, and more fewer and other types of social indices can be used to practice the invention. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the social media index  96 , the first set of connections  98  is a most important set of connections and is assigned a largest numeric percentage. The second set of connections  100  is second most important and is assigned a second numeric percentage. The third set of connections  102  is third most important and is assigned a third numeric percentage. The fourth set of connections  104  is least important and is assigned a smallest numeric percentage. However, the present invention is not to a social media index  96  described, and more fewer and other types of set of connections can be used to practice the invention. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, an exemplary social media index  96  includes a four deep measure of social, career and leisure categories. Such an embodiment is illustrated in  FIG. 6A .  FIG. 6A  illustrates four categories or spheres of influence. As an example for the social category sphere: (1) or the closet sphere  98  to the center illustrates people who you call in emergency and/or are highly influential and supportive in daily life; (2) includes a second sphere  100  of people whom you have contact with at least monthly for meaningful experience; (3) includes a third sphere  102  of people know on a first name basis, no set pattern of interaction with but put would gladly accept your contact or phone call or communication; (4) includes a fourth sphere  104  of people you have a direct connection with but do not fall into the above definition or pattern of contact of influential meaning in your life. However, the present invention is not to the social indices described, and more fewer and other types of social indices can be used to practice the invention 
     Table 5 illustrates an exemplary four dimensional (4D) and/or friend social media index  96 . This 4D social media index  96  is exemplary only and other types and more, fewer or other percentages can be used for the social media index  96 . 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 5 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 1. First set of connections 98 = 60% 
               
               
                   
                 2. Second set of connections 100 = 25% 
               
               
                   
                 3. Third set of connection 102 = 10% 
               
               
                   
                 4. Fourth set of connections 104 = 5% 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     A simple social media index  96  value is calculated by Equation (1). However, the present invention is not to a social media index  96  described, and more fewer and other types of set of connections can be used to practice the invention. 
       social media index value=(number of connections in the first set of connections*0.60)+(number of connections in the second set of connections*0.25)+(number of connections in the third set of connections*0.10)+(number of connections in the fourth set of connections*0.05)  (1)
 
     For example, if person A had 44 people in her first set of connections  98 , 10 people in her second set of connections  100 , 99 people in her third set of connections  102  and 1,302 people in her fourth set of connections, using Equation (1) her exemplary social media index  96  value would be (44*0.60)+(10*0.25)+(99*0.10)+(1,032*0.05)=90.4. 
     For example, if person B had 1,032 people in her first set of connections  98 , 10 people in her second set of connections  100 , 99 people in her third set of connections  102  and 5,001 people in her fourth set of connections, using Equation (1) her exemplary social media index  96  value would be (1,032*0.60)+(10*0.25)+(99*0.10)+(5001*0.05)=972.05. 
     In one embodiment, the first set of connections  98  includes only other people that are “well-known” and/or “famous” in politics, entertainment, sports, etc. that would recognize the person by name and consider them a friend if asked. However, the present invention is not to a social media index  96  described, and more fewer and other types of set of connections can be used to practice the invention. In such an embodiment, first cloud application  30 ′ dynamically maintains a list of “well-known” and/or “famous” people. 
     For example, in such an embodiment, the first set of connections  98  for a person may include President Obama, because the person took a class from Professor Obama when he was law school professor at the University of Chicago, include Tom Brady, Quarterback of the New England Patriots because he was a classmate at the University of Michigan, and include Jennifer Aniston the actress, because she was the next store neighbor of his sister, etc. 
     In another embodiment, the first set of connections  98  includes only other people that would recognize the person by name and consider them a friend if asked. Such people would also have some type of contact information for the person include an e-mail address, a phone number, etc. 
     However, the present invention is not to a social media index  96  described, and more fewer and other types of set of connections can be used to obtain a social media index value to practice the invention. 
     Social Commerce Connections 
     “Social commerce” is a subset of electronic commerce that involves using social media, online media that supports social interaction, and user contributions to assist in creating social connection as well as the online buying and selling of products and services. 
       FIG. 6B  is a block diagram  105  illustrating an exemplary social commerce connection  107 . However, the present invention is not to the social commerce connect described, and more fewer and other types of social commerce connections can be used to practice the invention 
     A social commerce connection  107  ( FIG. 6B ) is the use of social network(s) for e-commerce transactions. Social commerce include online collaborative tools such as shared pick lists, viewing advertising, user ratings and other user-generated content-sharing of online goods and services information and advice. 
     Examples of social commerce include, but are not limited to, customer ratings and reviews, user recommendations and referrals, social shopping tools (e.g., sharing the act of shopping online, etc.), forums and communities, social media optimization, social applications and social advertising. 
     One way to categorize social commerce is Offsite and Onsite social commerce. “Offsite social commerce” includes activities that happen outside of a good or service provider&#39;s website. These may include electronic storefronts, posting products on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, PINREST and other social networks, advertisement etc. However, many large brands seem to be abandoning that approach. The poor performance has been attributed to the lack of purchase intent when users are engaged on social media sites which were designed to interact with other people and not to purchase products. 
     “Onsite social commerce” refers to retailers including social sharing and other social functionality on their website. Some notable examples include ZAZZLE which enables users to share their purchases, MACY&#39;S which allows users to create a poll to find the right product, and FAB.COM which shows a live feed of what other shoppers are buying. Onsite user reviews are also considered a part of social commerce. 
     The 2011 BankInter Foundation for Innovation conference on Social Technologies discussed six C&#39;s of Social Technologies including content, community, commerce, context, connection and conversation. 
     Content—The basic need to engage with customers, prospects and stakeholders through valuable published content on the web. Early examples of this were the brochure sites for organizations and this has matured into a vast and growing body of material being published in real time onto the web. GOOGLE and UNITTUS are organizations that have been at the forefront of indexing and making findable content on the web. 
     Community—Treating the audience as a community with the objective of building sustainable relationships by providing tangible value. Early incarnations of Community were mobilized through registration and engaged via email programs, this evolved into online forums, chat-rooms and membership groups where users were able to interact with each other, an early example being YAHOO GROUPS. Social Networks are the latest incarnation of community and of the many networks FACEBOOK and TWITTER are the leading organization providing the platform for interpersonal interactions. 
     Commerce—Being able to fulfill customers&#39; needs via a transactional web presence, typically online retailers, banks, insurance companies, travel sales sites provide the most useful business-to-consumer services. Business-to-business sites range from online storage and hosting to product sourcing and fulfillment services. AMAZON.com emerged in the 90&#39;s and has gone on to dominate the B2C commerce space extending its services beyond traditional retail commerce. 
     Context—The online world is able to track real-world events and this is primarily being enabled by mobile devices. An online bill payment via Google Checkout or a check in at a physical location via FACEBOOK or FOURSQUARE links a real world event to an online data entity such as a business or a place. This is a vital element to Social Commerce where the data is now available to organizations wishing to provide products and services to consumers. 
     Connection—The new online networks are defining and documenting the relationships between people—these relationships may originate in the physical world or online and may manifest in the other as a result of a connection in the first. LINKEDIN, FACEBOOK, TWITTER and UNITTUS are prime examples of online networks—Professional, Social and Casual. The relationships, the scope of those relationships and the interactions between individuals are a basis for the actions of Social Commerce. UNITUS uWorld Community includes search, connect, communicate and prosper together, instantly with an open public format, so people can connect with and individual or the community at large instantly. 
     Conversation—All markets are conversations—this may now be reversed for Social Commerce to say that all conversations are markets. A conversation between two parties will likely surface a need that could be fulfilled, thus providing a potential market for supplier organizations. The challenge is for suppliers to be able to tap into those conversations and map those into the range of products and services that they supply. Simple examples of such ‘conversations that indicate demand’ are where people place objects of desire on their PINTERST board, a “LIKE” of an item inside FACEBOOK or re-tweeting a TWEET on TWITTER. 
     The elements of social commerce include but are not limited to, reciprocity, community, social proof, authority, liking and scarcity. 
     Reciprocity—When a company gives a person something for free, that person will feel the need to return the favor, whether by buying again or giving good recommendations for the company. 
     Community—When people find an individual or a group that shares the same values, likes, beliefs, etc., they find community. People are more committed to a community that they feel accepted within. When this commitment happens, they tend to follow the same trends as a group and when one member introduces a new idea or product, it is accepted more readily based on the previous trust that has been established 
     Social proof—To receive positive feedback, a company needs to be willing to accept social feedback and to show proof that other people are buying, and like, the same things that I like. This can be seen in a lot of online companies such as eBay and Amazon, that allow public feedback of products and when a purchase is made, they immediately generate a list showing purchases that other people have made in relation to my recent purchase. It is beneficial to encourage open recommendation and feedback. This creates trust for you as a seller. 55% of buyers turn to social media when they&#39;re looking for information. 
     Authority—Many people need proof that a product is of good quality. This proof can be based on the recommendations of others who have bought the same product. If there are many user reviews about a product, then a consumer will be more willing to trust their own decision to buy this item. 
     Liking—People trust based on the recommendations of others. If there are a lot of “likes” of a particular product, then the consumer will feel more confident and justified in making this purchase. 
     Scarcity—If a person is convinced that they are purchasing something that is unique, special, or not easy to acquire, they will have more of a willingness to make a purchase. If there is trust established from the seller, they will want to buy these items immediately. This can be seen in the cases of ZARA and APPLE who create demand for their products by convincing the public that there is a possibility of missing out on being able to purchase them. 
     In a social commerce and social media ecosystem everybody is connected from a economic/financial standpoint regardless of how they became a member. Everything they do would have a financial connection to others within the platform on a global basis. 
     Social Media Ecosystem Information Creation and Searching 
       FIGS. 7A and 7B  are a flow diagram illustrating a Method  106  for social media ecosystem searching. In  FIG. 7A  at step  108 , plural electronic information is received from plural target applications on plural target network devices each with one or more processors on a first cloud application stored in a first non-transitory computer readable medium on a cloud server network device with the one or more processors via a cloud communications network comprising: one or more public communication networks, one or more private networks, one or more community networks and one or more hybrid networks. The plural electronic information includes plural personal electronic information input into the plural target network devices by a plural individual people using search categories and search keywords uniquely created by the plural individual people. At Step  110 , the first cloud application stores the received plural electronic information for the plural individual people in plural pre-determined search index structures in plural cloud storage objects. At Step  112 , the first cloud application calculates plural social media index values for the plural pre-determined search index structures with electronic information from the stored plural cloud storage objects. At Step  114 , the first cloud application stores the calculated social media index values in the plural pre-determined search index structures in the stored plural cloud storage objects. At Step  116 , the first cloud application provides access to plural public search engines and to plural social media sites via the cloud communications network the plural pre-determined search index structures stored in the plural cloud storage objects and accept search requests for any of the plural individual people. This allows any other person on the cloud communications network to publically search for and privately communicate with any of the plural the individual people by name or by using search categories and keywords uniquely created by the plural individual people or by social search index values calculated for the plural individual people. 
     Method  106  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment in  FIG. 7A  at Step  108 , plural electronic information  13 ,  15  is received from plural target applications  30  on plural target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  each with one or more processors on a first cloud application  30 ′ stored in a first non-transitory computer readable medium on a cloud server network  20  device with the one or more processors via a cloud communications network  18  comprising: one or more public communication networks  76 , one or more private networks  72 , one or more community networks  74  and one or more hybrid networks  78 . The plural electronic information  13 ,  15  includes plural personal electronic information input into the plural target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  by plural individual people using search categories including a full name of a desired person, etc. and search keywords uniquely created by the plural individual people. 
     In one embodiment, the plural electronic information  13 ,  15  includes professional information, personal information, social information and hobby/leisure information. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and more, fewer or other types of information can be used to practice the invention. 
     In one embodiment, the plural electronic information  13 ,  15 , is fully visible and/or fully publically available anywhere on the cloud communications network. In such an embodiment, users of the target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 , cannot create aliases and/or post their information anonymously and must use their real name. This allows the plural electronic information  13 ,  15  to be publically available but any communications to be private. This helps ensure any person who enters his/her information can be publically located, but the individual person decides whether or not he/she will privately communicate with a person who has located them and now desires to communicate with them. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention 
     For example, Miss Katherine A, a user of target device  12  is a divorced 40 year old female who loves kids, but has no kids of her own has a desire to find a man to date. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, is a runner that only runs in NIKE Free running shoes. She only drinks ICE MOUTAIN water. She has a brown MIKI dog. She hates baseball, but is an avid CHICAGO BEARS football fan. She only drinks coffee on Wednesday mornings from 8:00 am until 8:30 am. She only wears JIMMY CHO high heel shoes to work. 
     So Miss Katherine A will send her in her electronic information a unique set of key words and search categories she creates. Her unique set of key words will include, divorced, 40 year old female, runner, NIKE FREE running shoes, ICE MOUNTAIN water, brown MIKI, CHICAGO BEARS fan, coffee Wednesday mornings only from 8:00 am until 8:30 pm; Work Shoes—JIMMY CHO only. Her search categories will include, dating, running, running shoes, dogs, football, am coffee, high-heel shoes, etc. They will all be connected to Miss A by the exact spelling of her full name. 
     In one embodiment, the plural electronic information  13 ,  15  received from the plural target applications  30  on the plural target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  includes a list of social connections for the user of the target network device  12 ,  14 ,  16 . In such an embodiment the list of social connections are automatically categorized by the first cloud application  30 ′ into four categories to be used with a social media index  96  as is illustrated in  FIG. 6A . However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In another embodiment, the plural electronic information  13 ,  15  received from the plural target applications  30  on the plural target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  includes a list of social connections for the user of the target network device  12 ,  14 ,  16 . In such an embodiment the list of social connections are manually categorized by users of the target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  into categories to be used with the social media index  96  as is illustrated in  FIG. 6A . In such an embodiment, the users of the target devices calculate their own social media index  96  values and send them to the first cloud application  30 ′ for storage. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     At Step  110 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the received plural electronic information  13 ,  15  for the plural individual people in plural pre-determined search index structures  88  in plural cloud storage objects  82 . However, the present invention is not limited to cloud storage objects  82  of the search index structures  88  described and other data structures, for cloud and non-cloud communication networks can be used to practice the invention. 
     In one embodiment, at Step  100 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically translates the received plural electronic information into a plural different languages (e.g., automatically translates a user base language, such as English into French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Swahili, and 30+ other languages) and also stores the translated plural electronic information in the plural cloud storage objects  82 . In such an embodiment, the received plural electronic information can be searched globally in virtually any language from anywhere on the cloud communications network  18 . However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention which does not include automatic translation. 
     At Step  112 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically calculates plural social media index values  96  for the plural pre-determined search index structures  88  with electronic information from the stored plural cloud storage objects  82  (e.g., see Table 2 and Equation (1)). 
     At Step  114 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the calculated social media index values  96  in the plural pre-determined search index structures  88  in the stored plural cloud storage objects  82 . 
     At Step  116 , the first cloud application  30 ′ provides access to plural public search engines  22 ,  26  (e.g., GOOGLE, BING, ASK, YAHOO, UNITTUS, etc.) and to plural social media sites  24  (e.g., FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, TWITTER, MATCH.COM, E-HARMONY.COM, PINREST, etc.), to cable and Internet television services, to music downloading services, etc. via the cloud communications network  18  the plural pre-determined search index structures  88  stored in the plural cloud storage objects  82  and accept search requests for any of the plural individual people. This allows any other person on the cloud communications network  18  to publically search for and privately communicate with any of the plural the individual people directly by name and/or by using search categories and keywords uniquely created by the plural individual people or by social search index values  96  calculated for the plural individual people. The private communication requirement also provides several layers of privacy and security for the individual people being search for by member of the general public. 
     For example, Mr. B, a single 42 year old wants to date woman 40 years old with blonde hair and has mixed breed dog that only gets along with brown MIKI dogs. Because of his schedule, he can only meet for coffee on Wednesday mornings and would like to meet a woman who also likes JIMMY CHO shoes because he is a salesman for JIMMY CHO. Brown JIMMY CHO shoes are her favorite. 
     When Mr. B enters his search request in GOOGLE, the search results GOOGLE returns will include the social profile for Miss Katherine A as the keywords and search criteria entered by Miss A will match the search string entered by Mr. B. 
     As another example, Mr. B happens to see a magazine article that includes a story about Miss Katherine A and her brown MIKI dog. So Mr. B can search for Miss Katherine A directly by name. 
     Although it is possible to search some of the categories and/or keywords on existing search engines and social medial sites, most sites do not allow a user to create unique and custom keywords, categories or their own search strings and connect them directly to a person&#39;s name. In addition, such search engines and sites do not allow the unique level of detail as the present invention. For example, no site would allow a color of a dog, or a day and time period for drinking coffee, to be entered and searched in association with a search for a person by the exact spelling of their name. 
     As another example, Ms. C a 50 year old divorced woman only wants to date men who are very socially connected. So she will enter a search request in GOOGLE for man with a social media index  96  value of 980 or more when a social media index  96  values include a range of zero to 1000. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     A desired person is located directly by name and/or by unique search words and/or search criteria created by the desired person searched in part with cascading searching and posted publically to search engines and social media sites. The search results are publically viewable. However, communication with the desired person is on a private system  20 ,  26  for which another person desiring to communicate with the desired person must provide login information to communicate. 
     “Cascading searching” includes accessing one or more search criteria and/or unique search words in the social media ecosystem  10  and triggering searching of another totally different set and/or a related set of search criteria and/or search terms that in turn triggers another totally different set of search criteria and/or search terms, etc. However, the present invention is not limited to this exemplary embodiment and other embodiments and other types of searching methods can be used to practice the invention. 
     In the example above, a search for brown MIKI dogs may cascade to brown JIMMY CHO shoes, a search for Wednesday mornings may cascade to coffee and find Ms. Katherine A, etc. 
     Social Media Ecosystem Searching 
       FIGS. 8A and 8B  are a flow diagram illustrating a Method  118  for social media ecosystem searching. In  FIG. 8A  at Step  120 , the first cloud application receives from a first target application on a first target network device for a person via the cloud communications network a request to communicate with a desired person from the plural individual people located using one or more search categories or one or more keywords uniquely created by the desired person. At Step  122 , the first cloud application automatically creates a new social commerce connection between the desired person and the first user. At Step  124 , the first cloud application stores the new social commerce connection in the pre-determined search index structures in the stored plural cloud storage objects for the desired person. At Step  126 , the first cloud application re-calculates the social media index value associated with the desired person based on the request to communicate from the first user. In  FIG. 8B  at Step  128 , the first cloud application stores the re-calculated social search index values in the pre-determined search index structures in the stored plural cloud storage objects for the desired person. At Step  130 , the first cloud application sends to the first target network device a private connection request via the cloud communications network. The private connection request requires the first user of the first target network device to enter information to log into a private system to communicate the desired person. 
     Method  118  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment in  FIG. 8A  at Step  120 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from a first target application  30  on a first target network device  12  from a first user via the cloud communications network  18  a request to communicate with a desired person from the plural individual people located using one or more search categories or one or more keywords uniquely created by the first user. 
     At Step  122 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically creates a new social commerce connection  107  between the desired person and the first user sending the connection request from the first target network device  12 . In one embodiment, the new social commerce connection  107  includes a social connection. In another embodiment, the new social commerce connection  107  includes a social linking connection and an e-commerce connection. In another embodiment, the new social commerce connection  107  includes other types of social commerce connections  107 . However, the present invention is not limited to such connection and more, fewer or other social commerce connections  107  can be used to practice the invention. 
     In another embodiment, at Step  122 , the user of the first target network device  12  manually creates new social commerce connections  107  with application  30  on the first target network device  12 . However, the present invention is not limited to such connection and more, fewer or other social commerce connections  107  can be used to practice the invention. 
     At Step  124 , the first cloud application stores the new social commerce connection  107  in the pre-determined search index structures  88  in the stored plural cloud storage objects  82  for the desired person. 
     In  FIG. 8B  at Step  126 , the first cloud application  30 ′ re-calculates the social media index value  96  associated with the desired person based on the request to communicate from the first user. 
     At Step  128 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the re-calculated social search index value  96  in the pre-determined search index structures  88  in the stored plural cloud storage objects  82  for the desired person. 
     At Step  130 , the first cloud application  30 ′ sends to the first target network device  12  a private connection request via the cloud communications network  18 . The private connection request requires the first user of the first target network device  18  to enter information to log into a private system  20 ,  26  to communicate the desired person. 
     Social Media Ecosystem Searching with a Social Media Index 
       FIGS. 9A and 9B  are a flow diagram illustrating a Method  132  for social media ecosystem searching. In  FIG. 9A  at Step  134 , the first cloud application receives from a first target application on first target network device for a first user via the cloud communications network a request to communicate with a desired person from the plural individual people located using a social media index value. At Step  136 , the first cloud application automatically creates a new social commerce connection between the desired person and the first user sending the connection request from the first target network device. At Step  138 , the first cloud application automatically stores the new social commerce connection in the pre-determined search index structures in the stored plural cloud storage objects for the desired person. At Step  140 , the first cloud application re-calculates the social media index value associated with the desired person based on the request to communicate from the first user. In  FIG. 9B  at Step  142 , the first cloud application stores the re-calculated social search index value in the pre-determined search index structures in the stored plural cloud storage object for the desired person. At Step  144 , the first cloud application sends to the first application on the first target network device a private connection request via the cloud communications network. The private connection request requires the first user of the first target network device to enter information to log into a private system to privately communicate with the desired person. 
     Method  132  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment in  FIG. 9A  at Step  134 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from a first target application  30  on a first target network device  12  via the cloud communications network  18  a request to communicate with a desired person from a first user located using a social media index value  96 . 
     At Step  136 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically creates a new social commerce connection  107  between the desired person and the first user sending the connection request from the first target network device  12 . 
     In another embodiment, at Step  136 , the user of the first target network device  12  manually creates new social commerce connections  107  with application  30  on the first target network device  12 . However, the present invention is not limited to such connection and more, fewer or other social commerce connections  107  can be used to practice the invention. 
     At Step  138 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically stores the new social commerce connection  107  in the pre-determined search index structures  88  in the stored plural cloud storage objects  92  for the desired person. 
     At Step  140 , the first cloud application  30 ′ re-calculates the social media index value  96  associated with the desired person based on the request to communicate. 
     In  FIG. 9B  at Step  142 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the re-calculated social search index value  96  in the pre-determined search index structures in the stored plural cloud storage object  82  for the desired person. 
     At Step  144 , the first cloud application  30 ′ sends to the first target application on the first target network device  12  a private connection request via the cloud communications network  18 . The private connection request requires first user of the first target network device  12  to enter information to log into a private system  20 ,  26  to privately communicate with the desired person. 
     Social Media Ecosystem Searching for an Advertiser 
       FIGS. 10A and 10B  are a flow diagram illustrating a Method  146  for social media ecosystem searching. In  FIG. 10A  at Step  148 , the first cloud application receives a request from an advertiser on another network device with one or more processors to provide electronic advertising to selected ones of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures stored in the plural cloud storage objects based on a desired social media index value and/or unique keyword or search category and/or social commerce connection. At Step  150 , the first cloud application provides electronic advertising to selected ones of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures stored in the plural cloud storage objects based on a desired social media index value and/or unique keyword or search category and/or social commerce connection. At Step  152 , the first cloud application receives one or more electronic indications from one or more selected ones of the individual people who view the electronic advertising for the advertiser. At Step  154 , the first cloud application automatically creates a new social commerce connection between any of the ones of the plural individual people who view the electronic advertising and the advertiser. In  FIG. 10B  at Step  156 , the first cloud application automatically stores the new social commerce connection in the pre-determined search index structure in the stored plural cloud storage objects. At Step  158 , the first cloud application automatically provides an electronic payment to an electronic account for any of the selected ones of the plural individual people who view the electronic advertising. 
     Method  146  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment in  FIG. 10A  at Step  148 , Step  148 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives a request from an advertiser on another network device  26  to provide electronic advertising to selected ones of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures  88  stored in the plural cloud storage objects  82  based on a desired social media index value  96  and/or unique keyword or search category and/or social commerce connection  107 . 
     At Step  150 , the first cloud application provides electronic advertising to selected ones of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures  88  stored in the plural cloud storage objects  82  based on desired social media index value  96  and/or unique keyword or search category and/or social commerce connection  107 . 
     At Step  152 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives one or more electronic indications from target devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  of one or more selected ones of the individual people who view the electronic advertising for the advertiser. 
     In  FIG. 10B  at Step  154 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically creates a new social commerce connection  107  between any of the ones of the plural individual people who view the electronic advertising and the advertiser. 
     At Step  156 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically stores the new social commerce connection  107  in the pre-determined search index structures  88  in the stored plural cloud storage objects  92 . 
     At Step  158 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically provides an electronic payment to an electronic account for any of the selected ones of the plural individual people who view the electronic advertising. 
     Social Media Ecosystem Searching with a Social Commerce Connection 
       FIG. 11  is flow diagram illustrating a Method  160  for social media ecosystem searching. In  FIG. 11  at Step  162 , the first cloud application receives from a first target application on first target network device for a first user via the cloud communications network a request to communicate with a desired person from the plural individual people located using a social commerce connection. At Step  164 , the first cloud application re-calculates the social media index value associated with the desired person based on the request to communicate from the first user. At Step  166 , the first cloud application stores the re-calculated social search index value in the pre-determined search index structures in the stored plural cloud storage object for the desired person. At Step  168 , the first cloud application sends to the first application on the first target network device a private connection request via the cloud communications network. The private connection request requires the first user of the first target network device to enter information to log into a private system to privately communicate with the desired person. 
     Method  160  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment in  FIG. 11  at Step  162 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from a first target application  30  on first target network device  12  for a first user via the cloud communications network  18  a request to communicate with a desired person from the plural individual people located using a social commerce connection  107 . 
     At Step  164 , the first cloud application  30 ′ re-calculates the social media index value  96  associated with the desired person based on the request to communicate from the first user. 
     At Step  166 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the re-calculated social search index value  96  in the pre-determined search index structures  88  in the stored plural cloud storage object  82  for the desired person. 
     At Step  168 , the first cloud application  30 ′ sends to the first target application  30  on the first target network device  12  a private connection request via the cloud communications network  18 . The private connection request requires the first user of the first target network device  12  to enter information to log into a private system  20 ,  26  to privately communicate with the desired person. 
     With methods  118 ,  132   160 , a desired person is located using information publically to search engines and/or social media sites. However, communication with the desired person is on a private system for which another person desiring to communicate with the desired person must provide login information to communicate with the desired person. The private system helps ensure that social media index values and social commerce connections  107  are properly recorded and/or updated and/or established. 
     Presented herein is a method and system for social media ecosystem searching. A desired person can be searched for from public search engines and social media sites directly by name and/or by unique search keywords and search categories created and publically published by the desired person, a social media index of the desired person or a social commerce connection associated with the desired person. The search results are publically viewable. However, communication with the desired person located within the social media ecosystem is via a private system in which a searcher must provide login information to privately communicate with the desired person. The private system helps ensure that social media index values and social commerce connections are properly established, recorded and updated for the desired person and provides a layer of security and privacy. The social media searching ecosystem is provided on a cloud communications network for mobile and non-mobile devices. 
     Social Media Ecosystem Cooperative Marketplaces 
       FIGS. 12A ,  12 B and  12 C are a flow diagram illustrating a Method  170  for providing social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace. In  FIG. 12A  at step  172 , plural electronic information is received from a plural applications on plural network devices each with one or more processors on a first cloud application stored in a first non-transitory computer readable medium on a cloud server network device with the one or more processors via a cloud communications network for a social media ecosystem comprising: one or more public communication networks, one or more private networks, one or more community networks and one or more hybrid networks. The plural electronic information includes plural goods and services offered by plural different social media merchants and a social media ecosystem sharing discount percentage. The social media ecosystem sharing discount percentage is used to provide lower purchase prices for the plural goods and services by social media purchasers in the social media ecosystem and to support a social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace for social media purchasers and social media merchants. At Step  174 , the first cloud application stores the received plural electronic information in plural pre-determined search index structures in plural cloud storage objects. At Step  176 , the first cloud application receives from a first target application on a first target network device via the cloud communications network a request to purchase one or more of the plural goods or services offered by a selected social media merchant. In  FIG. 12B  at Step  178 , the first cloud application automatically creates a new social commerce connection between the selected social media merchant and a first user sending the purchase request from the first target network device. At Step  180 , the first cloud application stores the new social commerce connection in a pre-determined search index structures in the stored cloud storage objects for the selected social media merchant and for the first user. In  FIG. 12B  at Step  182 , first cloud application receives from the first target application on the first target network device via the cloud communications network an electronic fee to purchase a good or service offered by a selected social media merchant. At Step  184 , the first cloud application subtracts a social media ecosystem sharing discount fee from the electronic fee for the selected electronic merchant. In  FIG. 12C  at Step  186 , the first cloud application deposits in an electronic account for the social media ecosystem marketplace the subtracted social media ecosystem sharing discount fee support a social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace for social media purchasers and social media merchants. At Step  188 , the first cloud application deposits in another electronic account for the selected merchant the remaining portion of the electronic fee for the purchase of the good or service offered by the selected social media merchant. 
     Method  170  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment, in  FIG. 12A  at Step  172 , plural electronic information  13 ,  15  is received from plural applications  30 ′ on a plural network devices  22 ,  24 ,  26  each with one or more processors on a first cloud application  30 ′ stored in a first non-transitory computer readable medium on a cloud server network device  20  with the one or more processors via a cloud communications network  18  for a social media ecosystem  10  comprising: one or more public communication networks  76 , one or more private networks  72 , one or more community networks  74  and one or more hybrid networks  78 . The plural electronic information includes plural goods and services offered by plural different social media merchants and a social media ecosystem  10  sharing discount percentage. The social media ecosystem  10  sharing discount percentage is used to provide lower purchase prices for the plural goods and services by social media purchasers in the social media ecosystem  10  and to support a social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace for social media purchasers and social media merchants. 
     In one embodiment, Step  172  includes translating from the first cloud application  30 ′ the received plural received electronic information from the plural merchant into plural different supported languages and storing from the first cloud application  30 ′ the translated plural information in the plural cloud storage objects  82 . The translated merchant information is available globally for searching in the plural supported languages from anywhere on the cloud communications network for social media purchasers of the goods and surfaces of the plural different merchants. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and the invention can be practiced without language translation. 
     In one embodiment, the social media ecosystem  10  sharing discount percentage is used to provide lower purchase prices for plural goods and services provided to social media purchasers in the social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace and to support the social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace itself on a global scale for social media purchasers and social media merchants. In exchange for providing the sharing discount percentage, the social media merchants are provided with access to a larger number of global social media purchasers and with new social commerce connections that can be used for existing, new and/or other goods and/or services provided by the social media merchant. The new social commerce connections can be used immediately for immediate sales and in the future for future sales. 
     In one embodiment, the social media ecosystem  10  sharing discount percentage includes a first portion for supporting the social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace for the social media purchasers and the social media merchants and a second portion for pay potential social media purchasers to view advertising for new or existing goods or services offered by the plural social media merchants. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and the discount percentage can include more, fewer or different portions. 
     In one embodiment, the social media ecosystem  10  sharing discount percentage (e.g., 10% to 60%, etc.) is a percent discount a social media merchant is willing to accept to be part of the social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace. The consideration for this discount is the ability to connect to a large number of social media purchasers, change and/or improve a social index value of the social media merchant, create new social commerce connections that can be used for new and/or other goods and/or services and/or to be a participate in the social media ecosystem  10 . 
     For example, if a merchant selling a product for $20.00, offered a social media ecosystem  10  sharing discount percentage of 10%, $2.00 would go to support the social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace. 
     In one embodiment, the social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace includes plural merchants who offer social media ecosystem  10  sharing discount on goods and services available for purchase, plural purchasers and plural social commerce connections between selected ones of the plural merchants and the plural purchasers. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and the discount percentage can include more, fewer or different components. 
     At Step  174 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the received plural electronic information  13 ,  15  in plural pre-determined search index structures  88  in plural cloud storage objects  82 . 
     At Step  176 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from a first target application  30  on a first target network device  12  via the cloud communications network  18  a request to purchase one or more of the plural goods or services offered by a selected social media merchant. 
     At Step  178 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically creates a new social commerce connection  107  between the selected social media merchant and a first user sending the purchase request from the first target network device  12 . 
     At Step  180 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the new social commerce connection  107  in a pre-determined search index structures  88  in the stored cloud storage objects  82  for the selected social media merchant and for the first user. 
     In  FIG. 12B  at Step  182 , first cloud application  30 ′ receives from the first target application  30  on the first target network device  12  via the cloud communications network  18  an electronic fee to purchase a good or service offered by a selected social media merchant  22 ,  24 ,  26 . 
     At Step  184 , the first cloud application  30 ′ subtracts a social media ecosystem  10  sharing discount fee from the electronic fee for the selected electronic merchant. 
     In  FIG. 12C  at Step  186 , the first cloud application  30 ′ deposits in an electronic account for the social media ecosystem  10  marketplace the subtracted social media ecosystem  10  sharing discount fee support a social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace for social media purchasers and social media merchants. 
     At Step  188 , the first cloud application  30 ′ deposits in another electronic account for the selected merchant the remaining portion of the electronic fee for the purchase of the good or service offered by the selected social media merchant. 
     In one embodiment, Method  170  further includes the steps of: re-calculating automatically from the first cloud application  30 ′ a social media index value  107  associated with the selected social media merchant  22 ,  24 ,  26  and storing from the first cloud application  30 ′ the re-calculated social search index value  107  in the pre-determined search index structure  88  in the stored cloud storage objects  82  for the social media merchant  22 ,  24 ,  26 . However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and the invention can be practiced with and/or without the additional steps. 
       FIG. 13  is a flow diagram illustrating a Method  190  for providing a social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace. At Step  192 , the first cloud application receives from an advertiser on another network device with one or more processors a request to provide electronic advertising to selected ones of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures stored in the plural cloud storage objects based on a desired social commerce connection. At Step  194 , the first cloud application provides electronic advertising to selected ones of the target network devices of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures stored in the plural cloud storage objects based on the desired social commerce connection. At Step  196 , the first cloud application receives one or more electronic indications from one or more selected ones of the target network devices of the individual people who view the electronic advertising for the advertiser. At Step  198 , the first cloud application automatically creates a new social commerce connection between any of the ones of the plural individual people who view the electronic advertising and the advertiser. At Step  200 , the first cloud application deposits an electronic payment to an electronic account on the first cloud server network device for any of the selected ones of the plural individual people who view the electronic advertising. 
     Method  190  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment, in  FIG. 13  at step  192 , At Step  192 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives a request from an advertiser  22 ,  24 ,  26  on another network device  24  with one or more processors to provide electronic advertising  13 ,  15  to selected ones of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures  88  stored in the plural cloud storage objects  82  based on a desired social commerce connection  107  and/or a desired social media index value  96 . 
     In one embodiment, the sponsoring advertiser will as part of its advertising fee portion will contribute a monetary payment to anyone that views, takes action, or responds to the advertising based on the terms and conditions specified by the advertiser. As an example, if an advertiser wants a person to watch a 5 minute movie trailer for a new movie, not only is the trailer delivered for viewing, but an amount that the advertiser is willing to pay for the recipient to watch the trailer is paid to the recipient by the advertiser. However, the present invention is not limited to tis exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     Another example is a public relations and/or marketing company that wants to do surveys and they select their exact demographic and they can offer an additional bonus payment to the first 5000 people but actually fill it out, so on the 5001st person that tried to open it would simply say that this campaign is now closed and filled and is not an opportunity to get paid on. Such bonus payment provides additional incentives for people to view advertising of an advertiser. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     At Step  194 , the first cloud application  30 ′ provides electronic advertising  13 ,  15  to selected ones of the target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures  88  stored in the plural cloud storage objects  82  based on the desired social commerce connection  107 . 
     At Step  196 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives one or more electronic indications from one or more selected ones of the target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  of the individual people who view the electronic advertising  13 ,  15  for the advertiser  22 ,  24 ,  26 . 
     At Step  198 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically creates a new social commerce connection  109 ′ between any of the ones of the plural individual people who view the electronic advertising  13 ,  15  and the advertiser  22 ,  24 ,  26 . 
     At Step  200 , the first cloud application  30 ′ deposits an electronic payment to an electronic account on the first cloud server network device  20  for any of the selected ones of the plural individual people who view the electronic advertising. 
     In one embodiment, Method  190  further includes the steps of: re-calculating automatically from the first cloud application  30 ′ a social media index value  107  associated with the selected social media merchant  22 ,  24 ,  26  and storing from the first cloud application  30 ′ the re-calculated social search index value  107  in the pre-determined search index structure  88  in the stored cloud storage objects  82  for the social media merchant  22 ,  24 ,  26 . However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and the invention can be practiced with and/or without the additional steps. 
       FIG. 14  is a flow diagram illustrating a Method  202  for providing a social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace. At Step  204 , the first cloud application receives from an advertiser on another network device with one or more processors a request to provide an electronic survey to selected ones of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures stored in the plural cloud storage objects based on a desired social commerce connection. At Step  206 , the first cloud application provides the electronic survey to selected ones of the target network devices of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures stored in the plural cloud storage objects based on the desired social commerce connection. At Step  208 , the first cloud application receives one or more electronic indications from one or more selected ones of the target network devices of the individual people who view the electronic advertising for the advertiser. At Step  210 , the first cloud application automatically creates a new social commerce connection between any of the ones of the plural individual people who completed the electronic survey and the advertiser. At Step  212 , the first cloud application deposits an electronic payment to an electronic account on the first cloud server network device for any of the selected ones of the plural individual people who completed the electronic survey. 
     Method  202  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment, in  FIG. 14  at step  204 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from an advertiser on another network device  22 ,  24 ,  26  with one or more processors a request to provide an electronic survey  13 ,  15  to selected ones of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures  88  stored in the plural cloud storage objects  82  based on a desired social commerce connection  107 . 
     In such an embodiment, the electronic survey is used to instantly identify a potential target audience across all sectors of consumer interests and activities, create and or deliver an electronic content, HTML, e-book, electronic brochure, survey in any other electronically messaging technique directly on a single delivery bases to the identified audience. Content of delivery is created, reviewed, invoiced, and delivered as a guaranteed survey campaign. 
     At Step  206 , the first cloud application  30 ′ provides the electronic survey  13 ,  15  to selected ones of the target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  of the plural individual people included in the plural pre-determined search index structures  88  stored in the plural cloud storage objects  82  based on the desired social commerce connection  107 . 
     At Step  208 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives one or more electronic indications from one or more selected ones of the target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  of the individual people who have completed the electronic survey  13 ,  15  for the advertiser  22 ,  24 ,  26 . 
     At Step  210 , the first cloud application  30 ′ automatically creates a new social commerce connection  107 ′ between any of the ones of the plural individual people who completed the electronic survey  13 ,  15  and the advertiser  22 ,  24 ,  26 . 
     At Step  212 , the first cloud application  30 ′ deposits an electronic payment to an electronic account on the first cloud server network device  20  for any of the selected ones of the plural individual people who completed the electronic survey  13 ,  15  for the advertiser  22 ,  24 ,  26 . 
     In one embodiment, Method  202  further includes the steps of: re-calculating automatically from the first cloud application  30 ′ a social media index value  107  associated with the selected social media merchant  22 ,  24 ,  26  and storing from the first cloud application  30 ′ the re-calculated social search index value  107  in the pre-determined search index structure  88  in the stored cloud storage objects  82  for the social media merchant  22 ,  24 ,  26 . However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and the invention can be practiced with and/or without the additional steps. 
     In one embodiment, social commerce success in a social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace can be measured by: (1) Return on Investment (ROI), as ROI measures an effect or action of social media on sales; (2) Reputation indices, that measure the influence of social media investment in terms of changes to online reputation—made up of the volume and valence of social media mentions and/or including social media index values for the merchants; (3) Reach metrics, that use media advertising metrics to measure the exposure rates and levels of an audience with social media; and (4) new social commerce connections  107  created. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     Described herein is a method and system for providing a social media ecosystem  10  cooperative marketplace. To participate in the social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace, a sharing discount percentage is requested from participating social media merchants. The sharing discount percentage is used to provide lower purchase prices for plural goods and services provided to social media purchasers in the social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace and to support the social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace itself on a global scale for social media purchasers and social media merchants. Social media purchasers are searched for with social media index values and/or with social commerce connections and/or other connections. Social media purchasers are paid to view advertising or complete surveys for the social media merchants. The social media ecosystem cooperative marketplace is provided on a cloud communications network for mobile and non-mobile devices. 
     Social Media Ecosystem Compensation 
       FIGS. 15A and 15B  are a flow diagram illustrating a Method  214  for social media ecosystem compensation. In  FIG. 15  at Step  216 , plural requests are received from plural target applications on plural target network devices each with one or more processors for plural users on a first cloud application stored in a first non-transitory computer readable medium on a cloud server network device with the one or more processors via a cloud communications network for a social media ecosystem comprising: one or more public communication networks, one or more private networks, one or more community networks and one or more hybrid networks. The plural electronic information includes a request for creating a social commerce compensation structure in the social media ecosystem. The plural the social media ecosystem includes social media ecosystem compensation services for social media connectors, social media purchasers and social media merchants. At Step  218 , the first cloud application creates plural social commerce compensation structures with a pre-determined hierarchy for plural users of the plural target network devices. The pre-determined hierarchy includes a social media index value for the plural users calculated from social media connections in the pre-determined hierarchy. At Step  220 , the first cloud application stores the created plural social commerce compensation structures in a plural cloud storage objects. In  FIG. 15B , at Step  222 , the first cloud application receives from a first target application on a first target network device for a first user via the cloud communications network a request to add a new social media ecosystem connection between the first user and a second user. At Step  224 , the first cloud application stores the new social media ecosystem connection at a first level in a pre-determined hierarchy in a social commerce compensation structure in cloud storage objects created for the first user. At Step  226 , the first cloud application re-calculates a social media index value associated with the first user based on the request to add a new social media ecosystem connection. At Step  228 , the first cloud application stores the re-calculated social media index value in a social commerce compensation structure created for the first user. At Step  230 , the first cloud application receives from a second target application on a second target network device with one or more processors for the second user via the cloud communications network an electronic fee to purchase a good or service offered by a selected social media merchant in the social media ecosystem. At Step  232 , first cloud application deposits in an electronic account for the first user a social media ecosystem connection fee for the purchase by the second user who is connected to the first user by a social media ecosystem connection. 
     Method  214  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment, in  FIG. 15A  at Step  216 , plural requests are received from a plural target applications  30  on plural target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  14  each with one or more processors for plural users on a first cloud application  30 ′ stored in a first non-transitory computer readable medium on a cloud server network device  20  with the one or more processors via a cloud communications network  18  for a social media ecosystem comprising: one or more public communication networks  76 , one or more private networks  72 , one or more community networks  74  and one or more hybrid networks  78 . The plural electronic information includes  13 ,  15  a request for creating a social commerce compensation structure in the social media ecosystem  10 . The plural the social media ecosystem  10  includes social media ecosystem compensation services for social media connectors, social media purchasers and social media merchants. 
     At Step  218 , first cloud application  30 ′ creates plural social commerce compensation structures with a pre-determined hierarchy for plural users of the plural target network devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 . The pre-determined hierarchy includes a social media index value for the plural users calculated from social media connections in the pre-determined hierarchy. 
       FIG. 20  is a block diagram  276  illustrating exemplary pre-determined compensation hierarchies  278 ,  280 ,  282 ,  284 ,  286 . 
     In one embodiment, the pre-determined hierarchy includes a binary tree hierarchy  278  and/or or a desired multi-level marketing (MLM) hierarchy  280 . However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and more, fewer or other pre-determined hierarchies can be used to practice the invention. 
     A “binary tree” hierarchy  278  is a tree data structure in which each node has at most two child nodes, usually distinguished as “left” and “right”. Nodes with children are parent nodes, and child nodes may contain references to their parents. Outside the tree, there is often a reference to the “root” node (the ancestor of all nodes). Any node in the data structure can be reached by starting at root node and repeatedly following references to either the left or right child. A tree which does not have any node other than root node is called a null tree. In a binary tree, a degree of every node is maximum two. A tree with n nodes has exactly n−1 branches or degrees. 
     “Multi-level marketing (MLM)” hierarchy  280  is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of the other salespeople that they recruit. This recruited sales force is referred to as the participant&#39;s “downline”, and can provide multiple levels of compensation. “Upline” is a term to describe the people who are above a person in an MLM organization. MLM hierarchy structures include a binary tree  278 , a X×Y matrix hierarchy  282 , a unilevel hierarchy  284  and/or stair step breakaway  286  hierarchies. 
     A “X×Y matrix hierarchy”  282  includes a basic matrix model for an MLM compensation plan that involves two size factors, A×B. The first size factor “A” is a frontline and is a number of levels wide the matrix is. It is comprised of members a user personally recruits into an organization (e.g., social media connections in the social media ecosystem). The second size factor “B” is also a number and is a number of levels deep a matrix is. Some compensation plans cap this number whilst others don&#39;t. In one exemplary embodiment, the X×Y matrix hierarchy is a 3×2, a 3×6, a 2×3 2×4 or other size matrix hierarchy. 
     A “unilevel hierarchy”  284  it allows a person, a distributor for a company, to sponsor as many people as desired and therefore go as wide as desired. Another aspect of unilevel MLM pay plans is that a person can go as “deep” with their organization as is possible. Although the paying out on distributors very deep in a person&#39;s organization does severely diminish or disappear altogether depending on how deep a person&#39;s downline goes. 
     A “stair step breakaway hierarchy”  286  includes representatives who are responsible for both personal and group sales volumes. Volume is created by recruiting and by retailing products. Various discounts or rebates may be paid to group leaders and a group leader can be any representative with one or more downline recruits. Once predefined personal and/or group volumes are achieved, a representative moves up a step. This continues until the representative “breaks away” from their upline. From that point on, the new group is no longer considered part of his upline&#39;s group—hence they are a “breakaway”. Most stair step commission plans also have some small pool commissions or an infinity commission, but these commissions are typically a very small percentage of the overall payout. Stair step break away plans are not level based. 
     However, the present invention is not limited to the pre-determined hierarchy embodiments described and more, fewer or other types pre-determined hierarchies can be used to practice the invention. 
     Returning to  FIG. 15A  at Step  220 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the created plural social commerce compensation structures  88  in a plural cloud storage objects  82 . 
     In  FIG. 15B  at Step  222 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from a first target application  30  on a first target network device  12  for a first user via the cloud communications network  18  a request to add a new social media ecosystem connection between the first user and a second user. 
     At Step  224 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the new social media ecosystem connection at a first level in a pre-determined hierarchy in a social commerce compensation structure created for the first user. 
     At Step  226 , the first cloud application  30  re-calculates a social media index value  107  associated with the first user based on the request to add a new social media ecosystem  10  connection. 
     At Step  228 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the re-calculated social media index value in a social commerce compensation structure  88  created for the first user in the cloud storage objects  82 . 
     At Step  230 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from a second target application  30  on a second target network device  14  with one or more processors for the second user via the cloud communications network  18  an electronic fee to purchase a good or service offered by a selected social media merchant  22 ,  24 ,  26  in the social media ecosystem. 
     At Step  232 , first cloud application  30 ′ deposits in an electronic account for the first user a social media ecosystem connection fee for the purchase by the second user who is connected to the first user by a social media ecosystem  10  connection. 
     In one embodiment, Method  214  further includes: re-calculating from the first cloud application  30 ′ the social media index value  107  associated with the first user based on the purchase request by the second user. The first cloud application  30 ′ stores the re-calculated social media index value  107  in a social commerce compensation structure  88  created for the first user. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment the invention can be practiced without and/or without these additional steps. 
       FIGS. 16A and 16B  are a flow diagram illustrating a Method  234  for social media ecosystem compensation. In  FIG. 16A  at Step  236 , the first cloud application receives from the first target application on the first target network device for the first user via the cloud communications network a second request to add a new social media ecosystem connection between the first user and a third user. The third user was connected to the first user by the second user. At Step  238 , the first cloud application stores the new social media ecosystem connection at a second level below the first level in a pre-determined hierarchy the created social commerce compensation structures for the first user. At Step  240 , the first cloud application receives from a third target application on a third target network device with one or more processors for the third user via the cloud communications network an electronic fee to purchase a good or service offered by a selected social media merchant in the social media ecosystem. At Step  242 , the first cloud application re-calculates a social media index value associated with the first user based on the purchase by the third user. At Step  244 , the first cloud application stores the re-calculated social media index value in the social commerce compensation structure in cloud storage objects created for the first user. In  FIG. 16B  at Step  246 , the first cloud application re-calculates a social media index value associated with the second user based on the purchase by the third user. At Step  248 , the first cloud application stores the re-calculated social media index value in the social commerce compensation structure in cloud storage objects created for the second user. At Step  250 , the first cloud application deposits in an electronic account for the first user a first social media ecosystem connection fee for the purchase by the third user. At Step  252 , the first cloud application deposits in an electronic account for the second user a second social media ecosystem connection fee which is less than the first social media ecosystem connection fee for the purchase by the third user for connecting the third user to the first user. 
     Method  234  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment, in  FIG. 16A  at Step  236 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from the first target application  30  on the first target network device  12  for the first user via the cloud communications network  18  a second request to add a new social media ecosystem connection between the first user and a third user. The third user was connected to the first user by the second user. 
     At Step  238 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the new social media ecosystem connection at a second level below the first level in a pre-determined hierarchy the created social commerce compensation structures  88  for the first user. 
     At Step  240 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from a third target application  30  on a third target network device  16  with one or more processors for the third user via the cloud communications network  18  an electronic fee to purchase a good or service offered by a selected social media merchant  22 ,  24 ,  26  in the social media ecosystem  10 . 
     At Step  240 , the first cloud application  30 ′ re-calculates a social media index value  107  associated with the first user based on the purchase by the third user. 
     At Step  242 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the re-calculated social media index value  107  in the social commerce compensation structure  88  in cloud storage objects  82  created for the first user. 
     In  FIG. 16B  at Step  246 , the first cloud application  30 ′ re-calculates a social media index value  107  associated with the second user based on the purchase by the third user. 
     At Step  248 , the first cloud application  30 ′ stores the re-calculated social media index value  107  in the social commerce compensation structure  88  in cloud storage objects  82  created for the second user. 
     At Step  250 , the first cloud application  30 ′ deposits in an electronic account for the first user a first social media ecosystem connection fee for the purchase by the third user. 
     At Step  252 , the first cloud application  30 ′ deposits in an electronic account for the second user a second social media ecosystem connection fee which is less than the first social media ecosystem  10  connection fee for the purchase by the third user for connecting the third user to the first user. 
     In one embodiment, Method  234  includes additional steps. The first cloud application receives from first target application  30 ′ on the first target network device  12  for the first user via the cloud communications network  18  an electronic fee to purchase a membership in the social media ecosystem  10 . The first cloud application  30 ′ deposits in an electronic account for the first user a social media ecosystem connection fee and a bonus fee for any purchase by any user who is connected to the first user by a social media ecosystem  10  connection based on the membership payment. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be practiced with and/or without these additional steps. 
       FIG. 17  is a flow diagram illustrating a Method  254  for social media ecosystem compensation. At Step  256 , the first cloud application receives from the second target application on the second target network device with one or more processors for the second user via the cloud communications network a second electronic fee to purchase a good or service offered by a second selected social media merchant in the social media ecosystem. At Step  258 , the first cloud application deposits into electronic account for the first user a first social media ecosystem connection fee for the purchase by the second user who is connected to the first user by a social media ecosystem connection. At Step  260 , the first cloud application receives from another server network device with one or more processors via the cloud communications network for the second selected social media merchant a second for the purchase by the second user who is connected to the first user by a social media ecosystem connection. At Step  262 , the first cloud application deposits into the electronic account for the first user the second social media ecosystem connection fee from the second selected social media merchant for the purchase by the second user. 
     Method  254  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment, in  FIG. 17  at Step  256 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from the second target application  30  on the second target network device  14  with one or more processors for the second user via the cloud communications network  18  a second electronic fee to purchase a good or service offered by a second selected social media merchant  24  in the social media ecosystem  10 . 
     At Step  258 , the first cloud application  30 ′ deposits into electronic account for the first user a first social media ecosystem  10  connection fee for the purchase by the second user who is connected to the first user by a social media ecosystem  10  connection. 
     At Step  260 , the first cloud application  30 ′ receives from another server network device  26  with one or more processors via the cloud communications network for the second selected social media merchant  24  a second payment for the purchase by the second user who is connected to the first user by a social media ecosystem  10  connection. 
     At Step  262 , the first cloud application  30 ′ deposits into the electronic account for the first user the second social media ecosystem connection fee from the second selected social media merchant  24  for the purchase by the second user. 
       FIG. 18  is flow diagram illustrating a Method  264  for social media ecosystem compensation. At Step  266 , the first cloud application periodically determines a set of social media index values including the largest social media index values from the plural users of the social media ecosystem. At Step  268 , first cloud application deposits in an electronic account for the plural users in the determined set of social media index values a bonus social media ecosystem connection fee for providing the social media ecosystem with a largest number of social media connections in the social media ecosystem. 
     Method  264  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment, in  FIG. 18  at Step  266 , the first cloud application  30 ′ periodically determines a set of social media index values  96  including the largest social media index values  96  from the plural users of the social media ecosystem  10 . 
     At Step  268 , first cloud application  30 ′ deposits in an electronic account for the plural users in the determined set of social media index values  107 , a bonus social media ecosystem  10  connection fee for providing the social media ecosystem  10  with a largest number of social media connections in the social media ecosystem  10 . 
       FIG. 19  is flow diagram illustrating a Method  270  for social media ecosystem compensation. At Step  272 , the first cloud application periodically determines a set of users with a largest number of social commerce connections in the social media ecosystem. At Step  274 , the first cloud application deposits in an electronic account for the users a bonus social media ecosystem connection fee for providing the social media ecosystem a largest number of social media connections that resulted in purchases from social media merchants in the social media ecosystem. 
     Method  270  is illustrated with an exemplary embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     In such an exemplary embodiment, in  FIG. 19  at Step  272 , the first cloud application  30 ′ periodically determines a set of users with a largest number of social commerce connections  107  in the social media ecosystem  10 . 
     At Step  274 , the first cloud application  30 ′ deposits in an electronic account for the users a bonus social media ecosystem connection fee for providing the social media ecosystem a largest number of social media connections that resulted in purchases from social media merchants  22 ,  24 ,  26  in the social media ecosystem  10 . 
     In one embodiment in the methods described herein, the fees deposited into the accounts for the users and merchants ire based on a type of currency selected by the users and/or merchants (e.g., U.S. dollars, Euros, Canadian dollars, Japanese Yen, British Pounds, etc.). In another embodiment, the fees deposited into the accounts for the users and/or merchants is U.S. dollars. In another embodiment, the fee deposited into the account for the users and/or merchants is selected by the social media ecosystem  10 . However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment and other embodiments can be used to practice the invention. 
     The method and system described herein provide social media ecosystem compensation. The social media ecosystem includes compensation services for social media connectors, social media purchasers and social media merchants. The social media ecosystem compensation services include social commerce compensation structures with a pre-determined hierarchy (e.g., binary, X×Y matrix, unilevel, stair step breakaway, etc.) Compensation is provided with the pre-determined hierarchy and for largest social media index values and the large number of social commerce connections. Memberships can be purchased to increase compensation payments. The social media ecosystem compensation services are provided on a cloud communications network for mobile and non-mobile devices. 
     It should be understood that the architecture, programs, processes, methods and It should be understood that the architecture, programs, processes, methods and systems described herein are not related or limited to any particular type of computer or network system (hardware or software), unless indicated otherwise. Various types of general purpose or specialized computer systems may be used with or perform operations in accordance with the teachings described herein. 
     In view of the wide variety of embodiments to which the principles of the present invention can be applied, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are exemplary only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the present invention. For example, the steps of the flow diagrams may be taken in sequences other than those described, and more or fewer elements may be used in the block diagrams. 
     While various elements of the preferred embodiments have been described as being implemented in software, in other embodiments hardware or firmware implementations may alternatively be used, and vice-versa. 
     The claims should not be read as limited to the described order or elements unless stated to that effect. In addition, use of the term “means” in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, and any claim without the word “means” is not so intended. 
     Therefore, all embodiments that come within the scope and spirit of the following claims and equivalents thereto are claimed as the invention.