Patent ID: 8170904

Claim:
A creative work evaluating processor-implemented method, comprising: providing, via a processor, an offer to compete in a creative works competition by a first user, wherein the offer to compete includes parameters that specify a second user as a potential competitor, a permitted type of creative work to be evaluated in the competition, a permitted length of the creative works to be evaluated in the competition, a submission deadline for competitors to submit creative works, and voting parameters; obtaining, via the processor, an acceptance to the offer to compete from the second user; receiving, via the processor, a creative work from the first user and the second user after determining: (a) that the creative works from the first user and the second user match the permitted type of creative work specified by the first user in the offer to compete, (b) that the creative works from the first user and the second user do not exceed the permitted length specified by the first user in the offer to compete, and (c) that the creative works from the first user and the second user were submitted before the submission deadline specified by the first user in the offer to compete; providing, via the processor, the creative works from the first user and the second user to an audience; obtaining, via the processor, votes from members of the audience experiencing the creative works of the first user and the second user; totaling, via the processor and in response to the voting parameters specified by the first user in the offer to compete being satisfied, votes for each creative work; determining, based on the totaled votes for each creative work, a winner of the creative works competition between the first user and the second user; updating a rating for the first user and the second user based on the following formula: R n =R o +K ( W −(1/(1+10 D/S ))), wherein: R n represents the updated rating; R o represents a rating for the user before the creative works competition; K represents a predetermined weighting factor that rewards more rating points to users with lower R o values; W represents the outcome of the creative works competition and rewards more rating points to a user for a win than for a tie, and more points for a tie than a loss; D represents the absolute difference between R o values for the first user and the second user; and S represents a predetermined value that weights the difference between R o values for the first user and the second user; and ranking the first user and the second user along with a plurality of other users according to the updated ratings.