Patent ID: 8478646

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for targeting content based on user interests, the method comprising: providing, by a computer system, a graphical user interface to a first user, wherein the computer system comprises at least one processor and operatively associated memory; displaying, by the computer system, to the first user and through the graphical user interface a plurality of interest categories, wherein each of the plurality of interest categories describes at least one content item; receiving, by the computer system and from the first user, an indication of a first category selected from the plurality of interest categories; upon receiving the indication of the first category, displaying, by the computer system, to the first user and through the graphical user interface, a plurality of sub-categories of the first interest category; receiving, by the computer system and from the first user, an indication of a selected group of sub-categories chosen from the plurality of sub-categories; selecting, by the computer system, a plurality of content items based on the selected group of sub-categories, wherein the plurality of content items comprises a first group of content items selected based on a first portion of the group of sub-categories and a second group of content items selected based on a second portion of the group of sub-categories; providing, by the computer system, the first plurality of content items to the first user through the user interface; receiving from the first user an association between the first portion of the selected group of sub-categories and a first privacy level, wherein the first privacy level indicates a first group of users authorized to receive content items selected from the first group of content items; and receiving from the first user an association between the second portion of the selected group of sub-categories and a second privacy level, wherein the second privacy level indicates a second group of users authorized to receive content items selected from the second group of content items.