And they define Social Network as:
"A social network is any type of social structure where the users are connected by a common feature, for example, Google Plus. The common feature includes friendship, family, work, an interest, etc. The common features are provided by one or more social networking systems, such as those included in the system 100, including explicitly-defined relationships and relationships implied by social connections with other users, where the relationships are defined in a social graph 179. The social graph 179 is a mapping of all users in a social network and how they are related to each other. The social graph 179 is included in the memory 237 that is described below in detail. "
That could describe Windows Live Messenger also:
- It is a social structure,
- Where users are connected by a common feature (contact, work, family, etc).
- It has explicitly-defined relationship between contacts.
- The common features are provided by one or more social networking systems (it allows to connect to facebook, and other services, and link contacts from there).
- It has a social graph of all users in the network (unlike mail, as somebody else suggested, but Windows Live Messenger does have this graph).
- This graph is a mapping of all users in the network and how they are related.
- (Read the definitions of memory: basically, memory of an electronic device, permanent or removable, volatile or static, etc) The graph it's stored in some kind of computer memory (As they include pretty much everything, including floppy disks!!!!!!).
--
The fact that the USPTO granted them the patent, doesn't mean that it can't be invalidated. And if Google tries to enforce this patent, it most surely will be invalidated.