Patent ID: 8510389

Claim:
A method comprising: parsing an electronic communication for keywords, wherein the electronic communication comprises a message sent from a sender of the electronic communication to a receiver of the electronic communication; identifying one or more of the keywords within the electronic communication, in response to the parsing; receiving initial content ranking information, wherein the initial content ranking information identifies initial values associated with different content; assigning a rank to the electronic communication, wherein the assigning the rank comprises: assigning a content-based rank to the electronic communication, wherein the assigning the content-based rank is based at least in part on the one or more of the keywords, and the assigning the content-based rank is dependent upon the initial content ranking information; and assigning a social rank to the electronic communication based at least in part on a sender social rank and a receiver social rank, wherein the sender social rank is assigned to the sender of the electronic communication, the sender social rank is calculated based on a social rank of at least one party to whom the sender has sent electronic communications and a social rank of at least one party who has sent electronic communications to the sender, the receiver social rank is assigned to the receiver of the electronic communication, and the parsing, the identifying, the assigning the rank, the assigning the content-based rank, and the assigning the social rank are performed by a computing device implementing an electronic communication ranking module; returning a list of search results comprising information identifying the electronic communication, wherein an order of the list is dependent upon the rank assigned to the electronic communication; and identifying a priority of the electronic communication, dependent upon the rank assigned to the electronic communication, wherein the priority determines when, relative to a time at which a copy of another electronic communication is made, a copy of the electronic communication will be made.