Patent ID: 7805488

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for determining the extent of a personal network and/or social activity of a participant in a communication network, comprising: graphically representing contacts between the participant and communication partners of the participant as a graph of a time sequence order on a display, wherein the time sequence order is an order in the arrangement of the communication partners, and wherein angular separations in the graph between the participant and the communication partners vary in proportion to the time sequence order; determining an instant strength value over time that shows an extent of a personal network and/or social activity of the participant using the representation of the contacts as a time sequence order; and charting a direction of the extent of the personal network and/or social activity of the participant by monitoring a change in said instant strength value over time, wherein the change in the instant strength value is calculated when an adjustment is made to the time sequence order in a second direction opposite to the first direction.