Contest application facilitating social connections

Abstract

Technologies for facilitating online connections through the use of a web-based application that enables users to participate in online contests and receive rewards based on the number of established connections. For example, an application hosted on a server enables a sponsoring entity to create an online contest. The application facilitates a user, who remotely interfaces therewith utilizing a computing device to participate in the contest by creating an advocate unique to the user, the contest, and the sponsoring entity. The application also allows the user to share the advocate with other online users such that the other online users join the advocate and establish connections with the sponsoring entity. The application determines a winner of the contest based on the number of connections established with the sponsoring entity for each advocate.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A system for facilitating online connections, the system comprising:
 a processor;   a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having stored thereon instructions that, when executed on the processor, cause the processor to:
 initiate an online contest; 
 receive first inputs generated at a remote computing device, the first inputs being associated with a first contestant account and directed to the online contest; 
 process the received first inputs to:
 generate a first link uniquely associated with the first contestant account and the online contest; and 
 share the first link with a supporter account; 
 
 receive second inputs generated at a remote computing device, the second inputs being associated with the supporter account and directed to the online contest; 
 process the received second inputs to determine that the supporter account connected to the online contest based on the first link; 
 determine a first score associated with the first link, the first score being derived from a number of supporter accounts determined to have connected to the online contest based on the first link; 
 compare the first score to a second score associated with a second link, the second link being uniquely associated with a second contestant account and the online contest; and 
 declare the first contestant account as a winner of the online contest based on the comparison. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second inputs are received via interfaces executed within a social media network, and wherein the first contestant account and the supporter account are associated with user accounts of the social media network. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein determining that the supporter account connected to the online contest based on the first link comprises receiving an input indicative of an activation on a graphic object associated with the first link. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first link is a web link to a web page unique to the first contestant account and the online contest, and wherein determining that the supporter account connected to the online contest based on the first link comprises receiving an input indicating that the supporter account utilized the web link to connect to the web page. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed on the processor, cause the processor to register and authenticate the first contestant account and the supporter account. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein authenticating an account comprises determining that the number of contacts associated with the account is greater than a predefined threshold. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first inputs comprise an authorization to collect personal information associated with the contestant account, and wherein sharing the first link with the supporter account is based on the collected personal information. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the online contest is associated with a sponsoring entity, wherein processing the first inputs comprises associating the first contestant account with the sponsoring entity, and wherein processing the second inputs comprises associating the supporter account with the sponsoring entity. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the first and second contestant accounts are awarded general prizes for participating in the online contest, and wherein declaring the first contestant account as a winner further comprises awarding the first contestant account a grand prize and the second contestant account a secondary prize, wherein the general prize, the secondary prize, and the grand prize are predefined by the sponsoring entity. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed on the processor, cause the processor to provide services to the sponsoring entity based on the number of contestant and supporter accounts associated with the sponsoring entity and based on collected personal information associated with the contestant and supporter accounts. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein processing the first inputs further comprises denying a request associated with the first contestant account to connect to the first link, and wherein processing the second inputs comprises denying a request associated with the supporter account to reconnect to the first link. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein processing the second inputs further comprises associating the supporter account with a third link uniquely associated with the supporter account and the online contest and updating the score of the first link based on the third link. 
     
     
         13 . A method for participating in an online contest, the method executed on a computing device and comprising:
 rendering an interface to an application hosted on a server;   connecting to an online contest hosted by the application, the connection being associated with a user account;   receiving an identifier from the application, the identifier being based on the user account and the online contest   sharing the received identifier with contacts associated with the user account; and   receiving a tally from the application indicating a rank of the user account in the online contest, the rank being based on a number of contacts that confirmed the identifier.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the interface is executed within a social media network platform, wherein the received identifier is associated with an identifier account hosted by the application, and wherein the identifier is displayed as a graphic object configured to connect a user account to the identifier account when the graphic object is selected. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising displaying a list of contests that the user account is connected to, a tally for each contest, a list of contacts that have confirmed the identifier, an expiration time of each contest, and a list of contests available for the user account to participate in. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising determining that the user account is a winner of the online contest based on a comparison of the tally with tallies of other user accounts participating in the contest, and receiving a prize based on the determination. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising registering the user account with the application and utilizing the registration and the identifier to navigate to pages associated with the online contest and to accept identifiers associated with online contests and other user accounts. 
     
     
         18 . A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to execute an online contest, the instructions comprising instructions to:
 associate a sponsoring entity with an online contest, the association comprising an interface configured to allow the sponsoring entity to access the online contest;   connect user accounts with the online contest, the user accounts comprising contestant accounts and supporter accounts, the contestant accounts being associated with contestants participating in the online contest and the supporter accounts being associated with supporters joining the online contest;   record a connection between a contestant account from the contestant accounts and a supporter account from the supporter accounts when the supporter account joins the online contest based on a connection between the contestant account and the online contest; and   provide information to the sponsoring entity based on the connections with the online contest and the connections between the contestant account and the supporter account.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the interface is configured to allow the sponsoring entity to create the contest, set-up parameters associated with the contest including contest duration, rules, and prizes, and monitor analytics and fraudulent activities associated with the online contest. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the interface is configured to allow the sponsoring entity to receive analytics associated with the contest and services based on the analytics, wherein the analytics comprise a number of contestants, a number of supporters, a number of user accounts registered with the application, a number of users connected to the online contest, a number of users directed from the online contest to a website associated with the sponsoring entity, and contact information of users associated with the online contest. 
     
     
         21 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 20 , wherein the analytics allow the sponsoring company to provide billing services comprising at least one of cost per social connection, cost per recruit, cost per application user, cost per visitor referred, cost per coupon link, cost per e-mail acquisition, and cost per fan billing models.