Patent ID: 7249034

Claim:
A method for publishing information associated with a user, comprising the steps of: determining an affinity value for the user with respect to a topical category, wherein the affinity value represents a strength of a relationship between the user and the category; determining whether the affinity value crosses a predetermined threshold; in response to the affinity value crossing the threshold, determining whether to publish information related to the relationship between the user and the category, wherein determining whether to publish the information comprises: determining whether an affinity publication policy associated with the user indicates that the information should not be published without first receiving permission from the user to publish the information; transmitting to the user a message that requests the user to submit a response that indicates whether or not the user wishes to have the information published if it is determined that the affinity publication policy indicates that the information should not be published without first receiving permission from the user; determining whether the user submitted a response to the request within a predetermined period of time; and performing a default publication action if the user does not submit the response before the predetermined period of time expires, wherein the predetermined period of time is specified by the affinity publication policy associated with the user, and wherein the predetermined period of time is set by the user in the affinity publication policy.