Patent ID: 8412706

Claim:
A computer implemented method for classifying a member of an internet or computer-based personal-communication-network as an opinion leader or innovator in a field of interest, the personal-communication-network including a number of members, the method comprising the steps of: gathering explicit personal-communication-network data from information entered on the personal-communication-network; gathering implicit personal-communication-network data from activities conducted on the personal-communication-network, wherein the implicit personal-communication-network data includes historical data describing interactions of the personal-communication-network members within the personal-communications-network, and wherein the implicit personal-communication-network data is based upon a quantity of personal-communication-network keyword or name searches that list the member in the search results or the number of times that other personal-communication-network members access the member's profile; and classifying the member as an opinion leader or innovator in a field of interest based at least in part on inferences made about the member based upon the gathered explicit personal-communication-network data and implicit personal-communication-network data; wherein the step of classifying includes classifying a person's innovativeness based upon: a quantity of personal-communication-network invitations the person has received from one or more personal-communication-network members, wherein each is classified as an innovator, early adopter, early majority, late majority, or laggard, wherein each is a first, second, or third degree contact in the personal-communication-network, and wherein each is weighted accordingly in the classifying step; a weighting of the received invitations based on the classification of the personal-communication-network members; and a factor selected from the group comprising: length of time required for the person to respond to a personal-communication-network invitation, a number of invitations sent to the person, a percentage of the population that has already adopted an innovation, a time between a similar recent development's introduction to a market and a time when the person adopted the similar recent development, the person's participation in experimental studies, publications by the person, and a combination thereof; and wherein the personal-communication-network includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of communication links, each communication link connecting a pair of the plurality of nodes and annotated with a field of interest.