Patent ID: 8037540

Claim:
A method for execution by a processor for protecting a virtual community visitor to a virtual community from an unauthorized social interaction, the method comprising: receiving, using the processor, a request from the virtual community visitor seeking access to a virtual community content; determining, using the processor, whether the virtual community content includes at least one social interaction opportunity; allowing access, using the processor, to the requested virtual community content without first identifying the virtual community visitor if the determining determines that the virtual community content does not include the at least one social interaction opportunity; prompting the virtual community visitor, using the processor, to provide a visitor identity if the virtual community content includes the at least one social interaction opportunity; associating, using the processor, the visitor identity with a socialization level; and utilizing, using the processor, the socialization level in one or more permission database to regulate access to the at least one social interaction opportunity to protect the virtual community visitor from the unauthorized social interaction by accessing the at least one social interaction opportunity.