Patent ID: 8180689

Claim:
A computer implemented method, comprising: maintaining, in a computing system including one or more computing devices, one or more records in computer storage of: transactions made by users from an electronic catalog of items, and of item reviews submitted by users; hosting a user interface via which a first user can define an online community including at least one or more other users; receiving, at the computer system, an online community definition provided by the first user over a computer network; storing the first user definition of the online community in computer storage; detecting, by the computing system, when a transaction is made, or when a review is submitted by at least one user included in the first user defined online community, or both when the transaction is made and when the review is submitted by at least one user included in the first user defined online community; and hosting a user interface via which the first user can access information related to: the detected transaction, the submitted review, or both the detected transaction and the submitted review; providing a user interface via which the first user can add other users to a personal address book of the first user; providing a user interface via which the first user can select contacts within the personal address book of the first user in order to define at least one community; receiving first user contact selections and an indication that the first user has elected to share information with members of the at least one community; and providing the first user with transaction related information for at least some of the members of the at least one community; while a first item detail page for a first item is being displayed to the first user, upon detecting that at least one prior purchaser of the first item included in the at least one community is online, and at least partly in response to determining that at least one prior purchaser of the first item included in the at least one community is online, providing the first user an option to communicate with the at least one prior purchaser that is online.