Patent ID: 8923887

Claim:
A method for providing location-based social networks for mobile communication devices, the method comprising: identifying a location of a mobile communication device of a first mobile user; identifying a set of second mobile users that are in a geographic area proximate to the location; filtering the set of second mobile users by: identifying first search criteria provided by a social networking profile of the first mobile user; and removing second mobile users from the set based on whether they match the first search criteria; defining a social network by: for each second mobile user of the filtered set: identifying second search criteria provided by a social networking profile of the second mobile user; determining whether the first mobile user matches the second search criteria; and removing the second mobile user from the filtered set if the first mobile user does not match the second search criteria; receiving a message from the mobile communication device; determining a location of interest that is distinct from the location of the mobile communication device; and providing the message to members of the filtered set of second mobile users that are proximate to the location of interest.