Patent ID: 7925516

Claim:
A computer-executable method of a processor of a computing device, said processor configured for managing electronic communications from a source to a user based on reputation information of the source, said method comprising: receiving an electronic communication from a source; querying, in response to the received electronic communication, a reputation data store for reputation information regarding the source of the received electronic communication; receiving the reputation information from the reputation data store in response to said querying, said reputation information including a safety score and a current popularity score, said safety score providing an indication of a degree of safety for the user to interact with the source of the received electronic communication, said current popularity score indicating how many of all other users have chosen to interact with the source of the received electronic communication; when the safety score is below a first threshold, blocking the user from interacting with the received electronic communication; when the received safety score is above the first threshold and below a second threshold, said second threshold greater than the first threshold: displaying, to the user, the received reputation information for the received electronic communication, wherein the user selects whether to interact with the source of the received electronic communication based on the current popularity score; and storing the user's selection as an interaction attribute value, said interaction attribute value determining whether the user receives subsequent electronic communications from the source of the received electronic communication; and when the safety score is above the second threshold, allowing the user to interact with the received electronic communication.