Patent ID: 7865566

Claim:
A method comprising: creating, using at least one computing device, a persistent user database stored on a computer readable medium, the database comprising data relating to the display attributes of online identities created by a plurality of users; receiving, over a network, from a first application, a change to at least one display attribute of an online identity created by a first user; updating, using the at least one computing device, the user database to reflect the change to the at least one display attribute of the online identity of the first user; detecting, using the at least one computing device, that the data on the user database relating to at least one display attribute of the online identity of the first user has changed; determining, using the at least one computing device, that the first user is interacting with at least a second user, over the network, via a second application different from the first application, the second application running on at least a second computing device; and sending, over the network, a change notification to the second application, the change notification relating to the change detected in the data on the user database relating to the display attributes of the online identity of the first user.