{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9646267","patent":{"patent_number":"US-9646267","title":"Following an entity in a social network","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2012-11-02T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2017-05-09T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["G06Q","G06Q","G06Q"],"num_claims":22,"abstract":"Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for managing the visibility of relationships within a social network. One method includes an operation for enabling a person to establish a first follow relationship from the person to an entity in the social network. However, the entity is disabled to establish a second follow relationship from the entity to the person until the first follow relationship from the person to the entity is established. Further, the establishment of the first follow relationship with a limited visibility is detected, and the establishment of the second follow relationship is also detected. The method further includes an operation for disabling a user in the social network to obtain visibility of the second follow relationship if the first follow relationship is invisible to the user."},"analysis":{"summary":null,"layman_explanation":null,"technical_analysis":null,"business_analysis":null,"faqs":null,"topics":[],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Following an entity in a social network","description":"Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for managing the visibility of relationships within a social network. One method includes an operation for enabling a person to establish a first ","keywords":[]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9646267","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9646267","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Following an entity in a social network\" (US-9646267). https://patentable.app/patents/US-9646267","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9646267","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-9646267","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-06-06T15:58:29.972Z"}