Patent ID: 8195656

Claim:
A network device to manage communications over a network, comprising: a transceiver to send and receive data over a network; and a processor that is operative to enable actions for: receiving a request for a social search for a user; determining at least one target contact to query regarding the social search request; querying the determined at least one target contact for a current social search response to the social search request; determining at least one prior social search response that is relevant to the social search request and also relevant to a previously provided response associated with the determined at least one target contact based at least in part on an aggregated knowledge base of results for a plurality of social searches, wherein the aggregated knowledge base of results includes results from social searches of multiple users in a social network; receiving at least one social search response that includes at least one of the at least one prior social search response or the current social search response that are associated with the determined at least one target contact; sorting the at least one received social search response based on at least one relevancy characteristic, wherein each sorted social search response is provided in response to the social search request, and wherein the current social search response is provided to the user at a time later than the at least one prior social search response is provided to the user; updating the aggregated knowledge base of results to include the at least one received social search response and at least a ranking or a categorization for at least one of the at least one received social search response, wherein each of the ranking or categorization is a ranking or categorization of a response; determining at least one other prior social search response that is relevant to the social search request and associated with at least one other target contact referred to by the determined at least one target contact; receiving the determined at least one other prior social search response associated with the at least one other target contact; and providing the sorted at least one received social search response to a user who requested the social search after an elapse of a predetermined period of time.