Patent ID: 8554623

Claim:
A method comprising: accessing, by a computing device, a datastore to obtain a plurality of attributes of a marketed object, a plurality of attributes of an advocate of consumption of the marketed object, and attributes of a plurality of network users; for each of the plurality of network users: determining, by the computing device, utilizing the plurality of attributes of the marketed object, the plurality of attributes of the advocate, and the attributes of the plurality of network users, a respective first score reflecting social knowledge the respective network user and the advocate have of one another and social connections between the respective network user and the advocate, a respective second score reflecting knowledge the respective network user has of the marketed object and the respective network user's purchasing behavior with respect to the marketed object, a respective third score reflecting knowledge the advocate has of the marketed object and a connection between the advocate and the marketed object, and a respective net value of marketing advocacy reflecting a combination of the first score, the second score and the third score, wherein each of the respective scores is weighted by a respective weighting factor; sorting, by the computing device, the plurality of network users using the respective net value of marketing advocacy of each respective network user; and facilitating, by the computing device, communication between the advocate and one of the plurality of network users with a largest net value of marketing advocacy.