Patent ID: 8560385

Claim:
A method of delivering messages to users of at least one computerized social network, said method comprising: determining a specification of a target campaign audience for said messages, said specification defining determining said target campaign audience among said users of said at least one computerized social network in accordance with said specification, ranking, using a computer processor, said target campaign audience according to reputation by which said users deem some of said users in said target campaign audience to be of higher influence in said campaign context than others of said users in said target campaign audience, by calculating the importance of each of a plurality of users in said target campaign audience by weighting: extent of activity in said campaign context, indicated in said at least one social network between pairs of said users, of said one of a pair of said users, who is deemed to be an opinion leader by the other of said pair; and degrees of trust in said campaign context, indicated in said at least one social network, of said one of said pair of said users who is deemed to be an opinion leader by the other of said pair; selecting said opinion leaders based on said ranking by: assigning a first non-linear weight function to matching of a user to said campaign context; assigning a second non-linear weight function to a user influence; and combining said first and second non-linear weight functions as given by the following expression: I ( u )= F ( c )( FM ( uc ), FU ( i )) where I(u)=User influence in campaign context, F(c)=Combining function, FM(uc)=Non-linear function of match of user to context; and FU(i)=Non-linear function of user influence; and delivering said messages to said opinion leaders.