Patent ID: 8041610

Claim:
A method comprising: allowing a first user to become a member of a system accessible through the Internet; presenting a user interface screen for the first user to add network contacts into an ordered list of network contacts, wherein the network contacts in the ordered list are at a first degree of separation from the first user; storing the ordered list of network contacts from the first user in a memory of the system; receiving from the first user an item for distribution to the first users' network contacts; using at least one computer processor, permitting the first user to indicate a number of degrees of separation greater than one for the item to be distributed; using at least one computer processor, sending a first message to a first contact in the ordered list of network contacts inquiring whether the first contact is interested in the item; and receiving an indication that the first contact rejects the item and after receiving the indication, sending a second message to a second contact inquiring whether the second contact is interested in the item, wherein the second contact is associated with the first contact and not present on the first user's ordered list of network contacts.