Patent ID: 8407285

Claim:
A computer system that provides a service for controlled access over a network to user profiles having associated messages from registered users of the service, comprising: a networked server system accessible by remote user devices via the network, the networked server system comprising at least one processor and at least one memory; and at least one database accessible by the networked server system and configured to store user profiles of registered users, messages provided by the registered users, and relationship data that specifies access relationships established between the registered users; said networked server system being programmed, via executable program instructions, to: allow users to register with the service and to create a user profile comprising profile information about the respective registered user; allow a first registered user to identify other registered users via a user interface and to indicate a desire to establish an access relationship with the other registered users, wherein each access relationship allows the first registered user to access a user profile of an identified other registered user via the user interface and receive messages from the identified other registered user via the user interface, each of the messages comprising a text string; establish the access relationships between the first registered user and the other registered users; allow the first registered user to select via the user interface the user profile of another registered user with respect to which an access relationship has been established with the first registered user, in response to which the networked server system provides the selected user profile for display to the first registered user in a profile display area of the user interface, and allow the other registered users to provide messages, wherein the messages provided by the other registered users are displayed automatically to the first registered user via the user interface.