Method and system for rating exchangeable gestures via communications in virtual world applications

1. A computer-implemented method in a data processing system for rating exchangeable gestures in a virtual world application, said computer-implemented method comprising:

making a gesture owned by a first user of said virtual world application available to a second user of said virtual world application, wherein execution of the gesture triggers a specific type of animation of an avatar on a display;

in response to the avatar performing the specific type of animation, populating the display with a rating window, wherein the rating window prompts the second user to select and transmit a rating for the gesture;

responsive to said second user providing the rating of said gesture:

storing said rating in a repository of said first user;

determining a rating metric of said gesture using said rating received from said second user; and

communicating said rating metric to a third user of said virtual world application; and

in response to the third user selecting the gesture, transmitting the gesture to the third user, wherein the third user selects the gesture based on the rating metric;

identifying a keyword that is typed into the virtual world application, wherein identification of the keyword causes the avatar on the display to perform the specific type of animation; and

populating the rating window with the keyword in order to identify the gesture that is being rated.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said determining further includes calculating said rating metric according to a number of times said gesture has been saved by other users of said virtual world application.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said rating received from said second user comprises a feedback rating indicating a preference of said second user.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said rating metric is a content rating to inform said third user of the content of said gesture prior to exchanging said gesture.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein a fee for exchanging said gesture is determined using said rating metric.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to the second user saving the gesture, storing said rating in the repository of said first user.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting a price for using the gesture based on the rating of the gesture.

8. A data processing system for rating exchangeable gestures in a virtual world application comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to said processor;

a virtual world application populating said memory, wherein said virtual world application comprises computer-executable instructions for:

making a gesture owned by a first user of said virtual world application available to a second user of said virtual world application, wherein execution of the gesture triggers a specific type of animation of an avatar on a display;

in response to the avatar performing the specific type of animation, populating the display with a rating window, wherein the rating window prompts the second user to select and transmit a rating for the gesture;

responsive to said second user providing a rating of said gesture:

storing said rating in a repository of said first user;

determining a rating metric of said gesture using said rating received from said second user; and

communicating said rating metric to a third user of said virtual world application;

identifying a keyword that is typed into the virtual world application, wherein identification of the keyword causes the avatar on the display to perform the specific type of animation; and

populating the rating window with the keyword in order to identify the gesture that is being rated.

9. The data processing system of claim 8 , wherein said computer-executable instructions for determining further include using said rating received from said second user and a rating previously stored in said repository.

10. The data processing system of claim 8 , wherein said computer-executable instructions for determining further include calculating said rating metric according to a number of times said gesture has been saved by other users of said virtual world application.

11. The data processing system of claim 8 , wherein said rating received from said second user comprises a feedback rating indicating a preference of said second user.

12. The data processing system of claim 8 , wherein said rating metric is a content rating to inform said third user of the content of said gesture prior to exchanging said gesture.

13. The data processing system of claim 8 , wherein said computer-executable instructions further comprise determining a fee for exchanging said gesture using said rating metric.

14. A tangible computer-readable storage medium encoded with a computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for:

making a gesture owned by a first user of said virtual world application available to a second user of said virtual world application, wherein execution of the gesture triggers a specific type of animation of an avatar on a display;

in response to the avatar performing the specific type of animation, populating the display with a rating window, wherein the rating window prompts the second user to select and transmit a rating for the gesture;

responsive to said second user providing a rating of said gesture:

storing said rating in a repository of said first user;

determining a rating metric of said gesture using said rating received from said second user; and

communicating said rating metric to a third user of said virtual world application;

identifying a keyword that is typed into the virtual world application, wherein identification of the keyword causes the avatar on the display to perform the specific type of animation; and

populating the rating window with the keyword in order to identify the gesture that is being rated.

15. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein said determining further includes using said rating received from said second user and a rating previously stored in said repository.

16. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein said determining further includes calculating said rating metric according to a number of times said gesture has been saved by other users of said virtual world application.

17. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein said rating received from said second user comprises a feedback rating indicating a preference of said second user.

18. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein said rating metric is a content rating to inform said third user of the content of said gesture prior to exchanging said gesture.

19. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein a fee for exchanging said gesture is determined using said rating metric.