Patent ID: 8214300

Claim:
A social networking apparatus, comprising: a first project involvement module, implemented by at least one processing device, that is operative to determine a first degree of involvement with a project for a first person; a second project involvement module, implemented by the at least one processing device, that is operative to determine, independently of the first degree of involvement, a second degree of involvement with the project for a second person; a combined project involvement module, implemented by the at least one processing device, that is operative to determine a combined degree of involvement with the project for the first and second person; a relationship score module, implemented by the at least one processing device, that is operative to determine a score based on the first degree of involvement, the second degree of involvement, and the combined degree of involvement; wherein the score, s, is determined by the equation: s = ∑ j = 1 n ⁢ h 1 , j h s × h 2 , j h s × h 1 , j + h 2 , j h t , j where h 1,j represents a first effort during a j'th standardized period, h 2,j represents a second effort during the j'th standardized period, h s represents the standardized period and h i,j represents an overall effort by substantially all project participants during the j'th standardized period; and a relationship determination module, implemented by the at least one processing device, that is operative to determine an existence and strength of a social relationship between the first and second person by comparing the score to at least one predetermined value.