Apple patent wants to take the "long and awkward" steps out of making new friends

Twitter and Facebook might be looked upon as "simple" forms of social networking if technology from an Apple patent ever sees the light of day. MacRumors has discovered an Apple patent called "Ad hoc Networking Based on Content and Location" which describes a way iPhone users can meet people with similar interests that are in their immediate vicinity. In the patent, Apple states that currently growing a social network on sites like Facebook and Twitter first requires that you know the people you are adding, and getting to know people based on similar interests can be a pain that "often requires a substantial amount of and time and effort because identifying new persons with common interests for friendships is difficult. For example, when two strangers meet, it may take a long and awkward conversation to discover their common interests or experiences."

Apple hopes to remedy that by allowing iPhone users to opt-in to automatically sharing their interests with other iPhone users in their area. If there's a connection, the two people can agree to meet in person. Information shared would be based on questionnaires people filled out, such as favorite books, activities and movies as well as from "automatically created usage data of the mobile devices. Usage data of a mobile device can be created based on activities performed on the mobile device (e.g., songs downloaded), a trajectory of the mobile device (e.g., places traveled), or other public data available from the mobile device (e.g., pictures shared)," according to the patent.

This isn't Apple's first patent in iPhone-based social networking services. In February 2010 a patent emerged that detailed how iPhone users could share their location information with each other so that they could find one another in the same city, for example. However, the services in that patent required users to already know each other and be in the Address Book on the iPhone. The new patent revealed today allows iPhone users to meet people without previously knowing them.