Method and system relating to social media technologies

Abstract

In an embodiment, a method performed in the computing system comprises steps of (a) electronically receiving an identifier concerning an investor's ownership or management of at least one brokerage account or at least one security; (b) electronically validating by the computing system the investor by querying a record database using the identifier to obtain an information from at least one investment account associated with the investor; (c) electronically extracting by the computing system the information; (d) electronically populating by the computing system a profile for the investor with the extracted information and electronically storing the extracted information to a computer readable medium in a profile database, wherein the extracted information comprises at least the investor's positional information; (e) electronically providing by the computing system at least one capability to the investor, wherein the capability allows the investor to electronically perform one or more activities; and (f) electronically generating by the computing system a representation of a quantity of a security owned or managed by the investor from the investor's positional information without generating a personal information of the investor.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method performed in a computing system, comprising steps of:
 (a) electronically receiving an identifier concerning an investor's ownership or management of at least one brokerage account or at least one security;   (b) electronically validating by the computing system the investor by querying a record database using the identifier to obtain an information from at least one investment account associated with the investor;   (c) electronically extracting by the computing system the information;   (d) electronically populating by the computing system a profile for the investor with the extracted information and electronically storing the extracted information to a computer readable medium in a profile database, wherein the extracted information comprises at least the investor's positional information;   (e) electronically providing by the computing system at least one capability to the investor, wherein the capability allows the investor to electronically perform one or more activities; and   (f) electronically generating by the computing system a representation of a quantity of a security owned or managed by the investor from the investor's positional information without generating a personal information of the investor.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein after step (f), electronically and necessarily displaying, by the computer system, the generated representation of the quantity of the security. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein electronically preventing the investor from altering or deleting the displayed representation of the quantity of the security. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the representation of the quantity of the security is a range in which the exact number of shares owned or managed falls into. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the representation is value of the quantity of the security owned or managed. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the computing system electronically and periodically updates the investor's profile by the computing system. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the provided capability allows the investor to participate in a shareholder forum. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the shareholder forum is originated by a sponsoring issuer. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifier is a proxy control number. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the investor's profile further comprises an investor type identifier. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one capability is provided based on a value of the investor type identifier in the investor's profile. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the investor's access to a particular content is restricted based on a value of the investor type identifier. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein by the computing system updates the investor's profile before the investor is allowed to perform at least one activity. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the investor's activities are electronically stored in an activity database. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein information from the profile database and the activity database is aggregated. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the computer interface is provided when the investor logs into the investor's investment account. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the computing system is distributed over a plurality of programmed computers. 
     
     
         18 . A programmed computer, comprising:
 a memory having at least one region for storing computer executable program code; and   a processor for executing the program code stored in the memory, wherein the program code comprises:   (a) code to electronically receive an identifier concerning an investor's ownership or management of at least one brokerage account or at least one security;   (b) code to validate the investor by querying a record database using the identifier to obtain an information from at least one investment account associated with the investor;   (c) code to extract the information;   (d) code to populate a profile for the investor with the extracted information and store the extracted information to a computer readable medium in a profile database, wherein the extracted information comprises at least the investor's positional information;   (e) code to provide at least one capability to the investor, wherein the capability allows the investor to electronically perform one or more activities; and   (f) code to generate a representation of a quantity of a security owned or managed by the investor from the investor's positional information without generating a personal information of the investor.   
     
     
         19 . A computer readable medium encoded with computer readable program code, including subroutines for:
 (a) electronically receiving an identifier concerning an investor's ownership or management of at least one brokerage account or at least one security;   (b) electronically validating by the computing system the investor by querying a record database using the identifier to obtain an information from at least one investment account associated with the investor;   (c) electronically extracting by the computing system the information;   (d) electronically populating by the computing system a profile for the investor with the extracted information and electronically storing the extracted information to a computer readable medium in a profile database, wherein the extracted information comprises at least the investor's positional information;   (e) electronically providing by the computing system at least one capability to the investor, wherein the capability allows the investor to electronically perform one or more activities; and   (f) electronically generating by the computing system a representation of a quantity of a security owned or managed by the investor from the investor's positional information without generating a personal information of the investor.   
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the first, second, third, and fourth computers is one or more programmed computers.