Patent ID: 8630398

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of sharing social information between a social network service and a telephone service provider, the method comprising: receiving, at a server system of a social network and as having been sent from a telephone service provider, information identifying members of a preferred calling group for a first user that is associated with the telephone service provider, the first user having submitted the information that identifies the members of the preferred calling group to the telephone service provider; identifying, using the server system of the social network, the first user as a member of the social network; identifying, using the server system of the social network, multiple members of the preferred calling group as being multiple respective members of the social network; and automatically defining, using the server system of the social network and as a result of having received the information identifying the members of the preferred calling group from the telephone service provider, a first social network group that includes the multiple members of the preferred calling group who are members of the social network, wherein: the first social network group is one of a plurality of social network groups that the first user is associated with on the social network in order to enable the first user to distribute posts to each of the plurality of social network groups, each of the plurality of social network groups arranged to restrict distribution of content that the first user posts to the respective social network group to members of the social network that are included in the respective social network group; and automatically defining the first social network group causes the server system of the social network to synchronize membership of the first social network group with the information that identifies the members of the preferred calling group at the telephone service provider.