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Two sentence summary from the actual patent: >When an individual applies for a loan, the lender examines the credit ratings of members of the individual's soci

Two sentence summary from the actual patent: >When an individual applies for a loan, the lender examines the credit ratings of members of the individual's social network who are connected to the individual through authorized nodes. If the average credit rating of these members is at least a minimum credit score, the lender continues to process the loan application. Otherwise, the loan application is rejected. [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=9100400.PN.&OS=PN/9100400&RS=PN/9100400 http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=H...] That could really help divide society even more. Thanks Facebook? On a second thought, shouldn't it be easy to dismiss this patent as prior art? Certainly someone somewhere has done filtering based on a friend list before.

brianclements 11y ago
Technology is superb at remembering everything and helping us sort and cherry pick and focus on whatever segment of data we like. And an unintended consequence is things like this where it becomes even easier for us to segregate ourselves, which is a natural human tendency. What did we do as a society when we only had limited data on a person with which to judge them? We took more chances and went with the flow. That leads to serendipity and opportunities for potential that is sitting on the sidelines. I'd argue that this is a better methodology for society as a whole; a little bit of chance/risk. It promotes patience and normalizes the act of mingling with different peoples. The merit of Facebook's premise here I think is a bit flawed to begin with (that you can predict ones credit rating based on their friends. Are there even studies saying such?), but the real point is the consequences of a system like this being widespread. I feel that most peoples Facebook friends are close to their age and their geographic location. This could have a biasing effect based on ones age and socioeconomic status thereby exaggerating the negative or positive aspects of the group you associate with. What little edge you worked to have above your peers with your credit score could be normalized away just because of who your friends are.

brianclements 11y ago

Technology is superb at remembering everything and helping us sort and cherry pick and focus on whatever segment of data we like. And an unintended consequence is things like this where it becomes even easier for us to segregate ourselves, which is a natural human tendency. What did we do as a society when we only had limited data on a person with which to judge them? We took more chances and went with the flow. That leads to serendipity and opportunities for potential that is sitting on the sidelines. I'd argue that this is a better methodology for society as a whole; a little bit of chance/risk. It promotes patience and normalizes the act of mingling with different peoples. The merit of Facebook's premise here I think is a bit flawed to begin with (that you can predict ones credit rating based on their friends. Are there even studies saying such?), but the real point is the consequences of a system like this being widespread. I feel that most peoples Facebook friends are close to their age and their geographic location. This could have a biasing effect based on ones age and socioeconomic status thereby exaggerating the negative or positive aspects of the group you associate with. What little edge you worked to have above your peers with your credit score could be normalized away just because of who your friends are.