Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090182589 | Communicating Information in a Social Networking Website About Activities from Another Domain - A social networking website logs information about actions taken by members of the website. For a particular member of the website, the website generates socially relevant ads for the member based on the actions logged for other members on the website to whom the member is connected (i.e., the member's online friends). The advertiser associated with the social ad may compensate the social networking website for publishing the ad on the website. When presenting a member with a social ad, the website may optimize advertising revenue by selecting an ad from the received ads that will maximize the expected value of the social ad. The expected value may be computed according to a function that includes the member's affinity for the ad content and the bid amount. The technique is also applied for providing socially relevant information off the social networking website. | 07-16-2009 |
20110029388 | Social Advertisements and Other Informational Messages on a Social Networking Website, and Advertising Model for Same - A social networking website logs information about actions taken by members of the website. For a particular member of the website, the website generates socially relevant ads for the member based on the actions logged for other members on the website to whom the member is connected (i.e., the member's online friends). The advertiser associated with the social ad may compensate the social networking website for publishing the ad on the website. When presenting a member with a social ad, the website may optimize advertising revenue by selecting an ad from the received ads that will maximize the expected value of the social ad. The expected value may be computed according to a function that includes the member's affinity for the ad content and the bid amount. The technique is also applied for providing socially relevant information off the social networking website. | 02-03-2011 |
20120072855 | Web-Based User Interface Tool for Social Network Group Collaboration - Members of a social networking system group are provided multiple interfaces to communicate within the group. A first communication interface allows a user to upload a first content item; in response to this, the first content item is transmitted via a first communication channel to online members of the group. A second communication interface allows a user to upload a second content item; in response to this, the second content item is transmitted via a second communication channel to online and offline members of the group. Transmission via a first communication channel may comprise sending an instant message containing the first content item. Transmission via a second communication channel may comprise displaying the second content item on a group message board. Both interfaces may be contained within the group's web page or may be contained within another web page within the social networking system or outside of it. | 03-22-2012 |
20120095836 | Social Advertisements Based on Actions on an External System - A social networking system generates socially-relevant ads for a user based on actions taken by other users to whom the user is connected. These may be actions taken on, and determined by, an external system, information about which actions can be received by the social networking system and used for matching to an advertisement request. The social networking system may determine a social context for advertising to a user based on the action and may generate an advertisement for the matched ad request that includes an informational message communicating the social context (i.e., an ad with the information message appended to it, a news story for the informational message, etc.). The ad may be targeted to the user based on user affinity for the ad, based on an object interacted with or an action taken by the user's connections on or external to the social networking system, among other criteria. | 04-19-2012 |
20120101898 | PRESENTING PERSONALIZED SOCIAL CONTENT ON A WEB PAGE OF AN EXTERNAL SYSTEM - A social networking system generates socially-relevant stories for a user based on other users (e.g., based on actions taken by other users) to whom the user is connected. These socially-relevant stories, including news stories, social advertisements, etc., may be presented on a web page within a domain of an external system that is different from the domain of the social networking system. When a web page from an external system is requested for a viewing user, the social content about other users who are connected to the viewing user may be provided by the social networking system for that viewing user. This personalized social content may be presented in a frame (e.g., an iframe) of the external web page rendered and provided for display to the viewing user. | 04-26-2012 |
20120109757 | SPONSORED STORIES AND NEWS STORIES WITHIN A NEWSFEED OF A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM - A social networking system generates socially-relevant stories for a user based on actions taken by other users to whom the user is connected. The social networking system may receive a request for a sponsored story for a viewing user and may select information about one or more actions performed by one or more users to whom the viewing user is connected to identify one of a plurality of candidate information for a sponsored story based on one or more criteria (e.g., affinity of the viewing user for the candidates, expected value for the candidates, etc.). The social networking system may also generate the sponsored story and generate a feed comprising the sponsored story and news stories (e.g., non-sponsored stories) about one or more users of the social networking system with whom the viewing user is connected. This feed may be provided for display to the viewing user. | 05-03-2012 |
20120110085 | Indexing and Organizing Messages in a Messaging System Using Social Network Information - A messaging system receives a message that is intended for a recipient, who is a user of a social networking system. An object associated with the message is identified based on the message content and/or metadata associated with the message. The messaging system accesses a social networking system database to obtain social information about a relationship between the recipient and the identified object. The message is then indexed using the social information, wherein an entry for the message is stored in a message index based on the social information. This process may be repeated for each received message, and multiple different message indexes may be generated for received messages to track different types of social information. A user interface for viewing messages uses the message index to organize the messages, such as to filter, categorize, and/or sort the messages in the display. | 05-03-2012 |
20120124147 | Organizing Messages Into Conversation Threads - A messaging system that organizes and presents messages to users of the messaging system. The messaging system includes a mailbox module that receives messages and generates conversation threads from the messages. Messages received from different electronic message channels may be aggregated into a common conversation thread. The conversation threads are also organized in a message interface and then presented to a user of the messaging system. The messaging system may include a social networking system that stores social information about users, which can be used to organize the conversation threads. Other features include a multi mode message interface, and a method for adding contextual information to messages. | 05-17-2012 |
20120124483 | Multi Mode Message Reply Interface - A messaging system that organizes and presents messages to users of the messaging system. The messaging system includes a mailbox module that receives messages and generates conversation threads from the messages. Messages received from different electronic message channels may be aggregated into a common conversation thread. The conversation threads are also organized in a message interface and then presented to a user of the messaging system. The messaging system may include a social networking system that stores social information about users, which can be used to organize the conversation threads. Other features include a multi mode message interface, and a method for adding contextual information to messages. | 05-17-2012 |
20120143972 | Organizing Conversation Threads Based on Social Information - A messaging system that organizes and presents messages to users of the messaging system. The messaging system includes a mailbox module that receives messages and generates conversation threads from the messages. Messages received from different electronic message channels may be aggregated into a common conversation thread. The conversation threads are also organized in a message interface and then presented to a user of the messaging system. The messaging system may include a social networking system that stores social information about users, which can be used to organize the conversation threads. Other features include a multi mode message interface, and a method for adding contextual information to messages. | 06-07-2012 |
20120203847 | Sponsored Stories and News Stories within a Newsfeed of a Social Networking System - A social networking system generates socially-relevant stories for a user based on actions taken by other users to whom the user is connected. The social networking system may receive a request for a sponsored story for a viewing user and may select information about one or more actions performed by one or more users to whom the viewing user is connected to identify one of a plurality of candidate information for a sponsored story based on one or more criteria (e.g., affinity of the viewing user for the candidates, expected value for the candidates, etc.). The social networking system may also generate the sponsored story and generate a feed comprising the sponsored story and news stories (e.g., non-sponsored stories) about one or more users of the social networking system with whom the viewing user is connected. This feed may be provided for display to the viewing user. | 08-09-2012 |
20120204096 | Presenting Personalized Social Content on a Web Page of an External System - A social networking system generates socially-relevant stories for a user based on other users (e.g., based on actions taken by other users) to whom the user is connected. These socially-relevant stories, including news stories, social advertisements, etc., may be presented on a web page within a domain of an external system that is different from the domain of the social networking system. When a web page from an external system is requested for a viewing user, the social content about other users who are connected to the viewing user may be provided by the social networking system for that viewing user. This personalized social content may be presented in a frame (e.g., an iframe) of the external web page rendered and provided for display to the viewing user. | 08-09-2012 |
20130124636 | DYNAMICALLY PROVIDING A FEED OF STORIES ABOUT A USER OF A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM - To display a news feed in a social network environment, a social networking system generates news items regarding activities associated with a user of a social network environment. The social networking system may also attach an informational link associated with at least one of the activities to at least one of the news items, limit access to the news items to a predetermined set of viewers, and assign an order to the news items. The news items may be displayed in the assigned order to at least one viewing user of the predetermined set of viewers, and the number of news items displayed may be dynamically limited. | 05-16-2013 |
20130198008 | Social Advertisements And Other Informational Messages On A Social Networking Website, And Advertising Model For Same - A social networking website logs information about actions taken by members of the website. For a particular member of the website, the website generates socially relevant ads for the member based on the actions logged for other members on the website to whom the member is connected (i.e., the member's online friends). The advertiser associated with the social ad may compensate the social networking website for publishing the ad on the website. When presenting a member with a social ad, the website may optimize advertising revenue by selecting an ad from the received ads that will maximize the expected value of the social ad. The expected value may be computed according to a function that includes the member's affinity for the ad content and the bid amount. The technique is also applied for providing socially relevant information off the social networking website. | 08-01-2013 |
20130204954 | COMMUNICATING INFORMATION IN A SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE ABOUT ACTIVITIES FROM ANOTHER DOMAIN - A social networking website logs information about actions taken by members of the website. For a particular member of the website, the website generates socially relevant ads for the member based on the actions logged for other members on the website to whom the member is connected (i.e., the member's online friends). The advertiser associated with the social ad may compensate the social networking website for publishing the ad on the website. When presenting a member with a social ad, the website may optimize advertising revenue by selecting an ad from the received ads that will maximize the expected value of the social ad. The expected value may be computed according to a function that includes the member's affinity for the ad content and the bid amount. The technique is also applied for providing socially relevant information off the social networking website. | 08-08-2013 |
20130212495 | DYNAMICALLY UPDATING MEDIA CONTENT FOR DISPLAY TO A USER OF A SOCIAL NETWORK ENVIRONMENT BASED ON USER INTERACTIONS - A system and method provides dynamically selected media content to someone using an electronic device in a social network environment. Items of media content are selected for the user based on his or her relationships with one or more other users. The user's relationships with other users are reflected in the selected media content and its format. An order is assigned to the items of media content, for example, based on their anticipated importance to the user, and the items of media content are displayed to the user in the assigned order. The user may change the order of the items of media content. The user's interactions with media content available in the social network environment are monitored, and those interactions are used to select additional items of media content for the user. | 08-15-2013 |
20130218976 | PROVIDING A NEWSFEED BASED ON USER AFFINITY IN A SOCIAL NETWORK ENVIRONMENT - A system and method for measuring user affinity in a social network environment is provided. One or more activities performed by a user associated with a social network environment are monitored. A relationship associated with the one or more activities is identified. An affinity for one or more objects associated with the social network environment is then determined based on the one or more activities and the relationship. | 08-22-2013 |
20130268661 | Automatically Managing Objectionable Behavior In A Web-Based Social Network - A system and method for curtailing objectionable behavior in a web-based social network is disclosed. The method includes monitoring various actions of users of a web-based social network for objectionable behavior. The monitored actions are those that affect other users of the social network. A policy is determined based on behaviors of users. The policy may be violated by a user if the user exceeds a policy threshold. Some monitored actions include the poking, friend requesting, and wall posting. A policy may be violated by multiple occurrences of a single type of action or by a combination of different types of actions. Upon a policy violation, a warning may be issued to the user or the user's account may be suspended. | 10-10-2013 |
20130311587 | Organizing Messages in a Messaging System Using Social Network Information - A messaging system receives a message that is intended for a recipient, who is a user of a social networking system. An object associated with the message is identified based on the message content and/or metadata associated with the message. The messaging system accesses a social networking system database to obtain social information about a relationship between the recipient and the identified object. The message is then indexed using the social information, wherein an entry for the message is stored in a message index based on the social information. This process may be repeated for each received message, and multiple different message indexes may be generated for received messages to track different types of social information. A user interface for viewing messages uses the message index to organize the messages, such as to filter, categorize, and/or sort the messages in the display. | 11-21-2013 |
20130325968 | GENERATING A CONSOLIDATED SOCIAL STORY IN A FEED OF STORIES FOR A USER OF A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM - To generate dynamic relationship-based content personalized for members of a social networking system, at least one action of one or more members of the social networking system is associated with relationship data for the one or more members to produce consolidated data. One or more elements associated with the consolidated data is identified and used to aggregate the consolidated data. Further exemplary methods comprise weighting by affinity the aggregated consolidated data to generate dynamic relationship-based content personalized for the members of the web-based social network. | 12-05-2013 |
20140074620 | ADVERTISEMENT SELECTION BASED ON USER SELECTED AFFILIATION WITH BRANDS IN A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM - A social networking system allows users that are people to partner with users that are non-person entities. A partnership allows the entity participating in the partnership to personalize an associated page with content from the person participating in the partnership and similarly allows the person to include certain content from the entity, made available because of the partnership, in the person's user profile. The entity may provide additional benefits, such as enrollment in a rewards program or access to new products, to a user participating in a partnership. The partnership is bidirectional, and is separate from other unidirectional connection mechanisms provided by the social networking system such as indications of affinity (e.g., “likes”), friendships, and subscriptions. | 03-13-2014 |
20140074926 | User Selected Affiliation with Brands in a Social Networking System - A social networking system allows users that are people to partner with users that are non-person entities. A partnership allows the entity participating in the partnership to personalize an associated page with content from the person participating in the partnership and similarly allows the person to include certain content from the entity, made available because of the partnership, in the person's user profile. The entity may provide additional benefits, such as enrollment in a rewards program or access to new products, to a user participating in a partnership. The partnership is bidirectional, and is separate from other unidirectional connection mechanisms provided by the social networking system such as indications of affinity (e.g., “likes”), friendships, and subscriptions. | 03-13-2014 |
20140149503 | DETERMINING INFLUENCE IN A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM - An influence metric describing the influence of a social networking system object on social networking system users is determined based on affinities between the users and the object. For example, affinities between the associated users and the object are combined to determine the influence metric. Content may be selected for presentation to users based in part on influence metrics of the content. Additionally, influence metrics of objects associated with a user may be combined to determine the relevance of objects associated with the user, which may also be used to select content for presentation to the user. | 05-29-2014 |
20140149504 | DETERMINING OBJECT RELEVANCE IN A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM - An influence metric describing the influence of a social networking system object on social networking system users is determined based on affinities between the users and the object. For example, affinities between the associated users and the object are combined to determine the influence metric. Content may be selected for presentation to users based in part on influence metrics of the content. Additionally, influence metrics of objects associated with a user may be combined to determine the relevance of objects associated with the user, which may also be used to select content for presentation to the user. | 05-29-2014 |
20150120743 | Organizing Messages in a Messaging System Using Social Network Information - A messaging system receives a message that is intended for a recipient, who is a user of a social networking system. An object associated with the message is identified based on the message content and/or metadata associated with the message. The messaging system accesses a social networking system database to obtain social information about a relationship between the recipient and the identified object. The message is then indexed using the social information, wherein an entry for the message is stored in a message index based on the social information. This process may be repeated for each received message, and multiple different message indexes may be generated for received messages to track different types of social information. A user interface for viewing messages uses the message index to organize the messages, such as to filter, categorize, and/or sort the messages in the display. | 04-30-2015 |
20150134553 | Providing Content Items Based on User Affinity in a Social Network Environment - A system and method for measuring user affinity in a social network environment is provided. One or more activities performed by a user associated with a social network environment are monitored. A relationship associated with the one or more activities is identified. An affinity for one or more objects associated with the social network environment is then determined based on the one or more activities and the relationship. | 05-14-2015 |
20150244750 | GENERATING CONSOLIDATED SOCIAL CONTENT FOR A USER OF A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM - To generate dynamic relationship-based content personalized for members of a social networking system, at least one action of one or more members of the social networking system is associated with relationship data for the one or more members to produce consolidated data. One or more elements associated with the consolidated data is identified and used to aggregate the consolidated data. Further exemplary methods comprise weighting by affinity the aggregated consolidated data to generate dynamic relationship-based content personalized for the members of the web-based social network. | 08-27-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120226521 | Utilize Experts and Influencers in a Social Network - One embodiment accesses one or more experts and one or more influencers identified for a subject matter, wherein the one or more experts and the one or more influencers are among one or more users of a social-networking system; and invites a first expert and a second expert to establish a first social connection within the social-networking system. | 09-06-2012 |
20120226748 | Identify Experts and Influencers in a Social Network - On embodiment accesses a set of information comprising one or more elements of information relating to a subject matter, wherein the one or more elements of information have been shared among one or more users of a social-networking system; for each element of information, determines a rate of sharing of the element of information among the one or more users and identifies one or more first users who cause the rate of sharing of the element of information to increase; and identifies one or more influencers associated with the subject matter from the one or more first users identified for each element of information. | 09-06-2012 |
20130073371 | Location Aware Deals - In one embodiment, a computer system, in response to a first user's request, creates a location-triggered gift for a second user and for a particular vendor location, determines the second user's location, and transmits information for redeeming the location-triggered gift at the particular vendor location to the second user if the second user is at the particular vendor location. | 03-21-2013 |
20130101219 | IMAGE SELECTION FROM CAPTURED VIDEO SEQUENCE BASED ON SOCIAL COMPONENTS - In one embodiment, a mobile device analyzes frames before and after a particular frame of a real-time video to identify one or more social network objects, and selects one or more frames before and after the particular frame based on social network information for further storage in the mobile device. | 04-25-2013 |
20130101220 | PREFERRED IMAGES FROM CAPTURED VIDEO SEQUENCE - In one embodiment, a computer system identifies a user in one or more frames of a video file, accesses a data store for image attitudinal data associated with the user, ranks the one or more frames based on the image attitudinal data associated with the user, and presents one or more top ranked frames to the user. | 04-25-2013 |
20130104080 | Automatic Photo Capture Based on Social Components and Identity Recognition - In one embodiment, a mobile device automatically captures image frames by acquiring a real-time video sequence, selecting one or more frames from the real-time video sequence based on social network information and identity recognition, and storing the selected one or more frames in a local storage of the mobile device. | 04-25-2013 |
20130132477 | Location Aware Shared Spaces - In one embodiment, a geo-social networking system maintains a data store of shared space, wherein each shared space comprises one or more content objects, a location, and one or more privacy settings. The geo-social networking system allows a user read-access to a shared space based on privacy settings associated with the shared space. The geo-social networking system allows a user write-access to a shared space if the user is at the location associated with the shared space. | 05-23-2013 |
20130132488 | Location Aware Sticky Notes - In one embodiment, a computer system creates for a first user a location-triggered note specific for a second user and for a particular location, determines the second user's location, and transmits the location-triggered note to the second user if the second user is at the particular location. | 05-23-2013 |
20130188879 | Preferred Images from Captured Video Sequence - In one embodiment, a computer system identifies a user in one or more frames of a video file, accesses a data store for image attitudinal data associated with the user, ranks the one or more frames based on the image attitudinal data associated with the user, and presents one or more top ranked frames to the user. | 07-25-2013 |
20130227603 | Image Selection from Captured Video Sequence Based on Social Components - In one embodiment, a mobile device analyzes frames before and after a particular frame of a real-time video to identify one or more social network objects, and selects one or more frames before and after the particular frame based on social network information for further storage in the mobile device. | 08-29-2013 |
20140067937 | Real-World View of Location-Associated Social Data - Particular embodiments maintain social-networking information associated with a user, wherein the user is represented by a user node in a social graph. One or more nodes of the social graph may be associated with respective locations. A request for social information related to a location may be received from a computing device. The request may comprise a location of the computing device, an orientation of the computing device, and an identifier for the user. A relevance score may be determined for one or more proximate nodes based on the request, the social-networking information associated with the user, and the location information for the respective proximate node. Each proximate node may be associated with at least one location within a threshold distance from the location of the computing device. Particular embodiments may provide social-networking information associated with at least one of the proximate nodes for display in conjunction with an image. | 03-06-2014 |
20140289028 | Location Aware Deals - In one embodiment, a request is received from a first user to create a location-triggered benefit that may be redeemed by a second user at a vendor and associated with a condition. The first user is not the vendor, and the condition may require that the second user go to a particular location. A record of the location-triggered benefit may be created in a database. Information may be received that the second user has satisfied the condition, and in response, the second user may be allowed to redeem the location-triggered benefit at the vendor. | 09-25-2014 |
20150081793 | IDENTIFY EXPERTS AND INFLUENCERS IN A SOCIAL NETWORK - On embodiment accesses a set of information comprising one or more elements of information relating to a subject matter, wherein the one or more elements of information have been shared among one or more users of a social-networking system; for each element of information, determines a rate of sharing of the element of information among the one or more users and identifies one or more first users who cause the rate of sharing of the element of information to increase; and identifies one or more influencers associated with the subject matter from the one or more first users identified for each element of information. | 03-19-2015 |
20150089006 | Location Aware Sticky Notes - In one embodiment, a request to create a note is received from a first user. The note includes a message and a first location of the first user. A note record is created of the message, the first location, and a first user-interest associated with the first user. A number of second users are identified based on second locations of the second users, and second user-interests associated with the second users. The message is sent to the identified second users. In response to sending the message, the current location of the first user is determined compared to the first location. If the first user is within a predetermined distance from the first location, a notification is sent to the first user indicating that the message has been sent to the second users. | 03-26-2015 |
20150341369 | Location Aware Shared Spaces - In one embodiment, a geo-social networking system maintains a data store of shared space, wherein each shared space comprises one or more content objects, a location, and one or more privacy settings. The geo-social networking system allows a user read-access to a shared space based on privacy settings associated with the shared space. The geo-social networking system allows a user write-access to a shared space if the user is at the location associated with the shared space. | 11-26-2015 |