Patent ID: 8312097

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for controlling access to content of an electronic messaging system, the method comprising: under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, providing a user interface for displaying at least a portion of the content of the electronic messaging system on a computing device; receiving, via the user interface, a request to access a selected thread of one or more threads on the electronic messaging system, each thread on the electronic messaging system having access criteria specifying at least a strong level of authentication and a weak level of authentication for accessing the respective thread, wherein the request comprises one of a request to post a new message to the electronic messaging system, a request to create a new thread on the electronic messaging system, a request to read one of the one or more threads on the electronic messaging system, or a request to reply to a message on the electronic messaging system; retrieving access criteria associated with the selected thread; in response to receiving the request, determining a level of authentication specified by the access criteria for the selected thread and the request; authorizing access to the selected thread by validating user profile information associated with the request against the level of authentication specified by the access criteria, the user profile information capable of being validated using a credit card number for the strong level of authentication and capable of being validated using at least one of a gender, an age, or a zip code for the weak level of authentication.