Integrated telephone applications on online social networks

• US 10,003,563 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2015
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vaccari, Andrea, Hua, Li, Li, Jia, Chen, Yimin, Fang, Zheng, Mason, David James, Wu, Shu, Guo, Xiaotian, Jiang, Xiaowei
• Primary Examiner(s): Gillis, Brian J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lin, Steve
• Application Number:
  US14/721,762
• Publication Number:
  US 20160352671A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,120 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, from a client system of a first user of an online social network, an unique identifier associated with a second user of the online social network, the unique identifier being sent responsive to a communication between the second user and the first user, accessing a social graph including first and second nodes corresponding to the first and second users, respectively, identifying the second user based on the unique identifier, retrieving profile information associated with the second user and a privacy setting associated with the second user, determining whether the information is visible to the first user based on the privacy setting and a degree of separation in the social graph between the first node and the second node, and sending, to the client system, the profile information that is visible to the first user for display in association with the communication.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a mobile client system of a first user of an online social network, at a computing system of the online social network, an unique identifier associated with a second user of the online social network, the unique identifier being sent responsive to a communication between the second user and the first user;

accessing, by the computing system, a social graph comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges connecting the nodes, each of the edges between two of the nodes representing a single degree of separation between them, the nodes comprising;

a first node corresponding to the first user;

a second node corresponding to the second user; and

a plurality of third nodes that each correspond to an entity associated with the online social network;

identifying, by the computing system, the second user based on the unique identifier;

retrieving, by the computing system, one or more items of profile information associated with the second user and a privacy setting associated with the second user;

determining, by an authentication server, whether the one or more items of profile information associated with the second user have a visibility that is visible to the first user, the visibility of the one or more items of profile information being determined based on the privacy setting associated with the second user and a degree of separation in the social graph between the first node corresponding to the first user and the second node corresponding to the second user;

sending, from the computing system to the mobile client system of the first user, one or more of the items of profile information associated with the second user having a visibility that is visible to the first user for display in association with the communication between the second user and the first user;

updating, by the computing system, one or more items of profile information associated with the first user and the second user responsive to a determination of the communication being successful, wherein the updated items of profile information are accessed from the first or second user'"'"'s mobile client systems; and

sending, from the computing system to the mobile client system of the first user, one or more of the updated items of profile information in order to update a list of contacts on the mobile client system of the first user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique identifier comprises a phone number or email address of the second user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is from the second user to the first user.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the communication comprises a telephone call, and the unique identifier comprises a telephone number of the second user.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the communication comprises an email message, and the unique identifier comprises an email address of the second user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is from the first user to the second user.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the unique identifier comprises at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name, and identifying the second user based on the unique identifier comprises identifying the second node corresponding to the second user,

wherein a user name associated with the second node matches the at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the unique identifier comprises at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name, and identifying the second user based on the unique identifier comprises identifying a plurality of nodes corresponding to a plurality of users having names matching the portion of the second user'"'"'s name, and identifying the second node corresponding to the second user comprises selecting one of the plurality of nodes for which the associated user name most closely matches the at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the unique identifier comprises at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name, and identifying the second user based on the unique identifier comprises:

identifying one or more second nodes corresponding to the second user, wherein a user name associated with each of the one or more second nodes matches the at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name;

identifying one or more second users based on the one or more second nodes;

retrieving one or more items of profile information associated with each of the one or more second users and a privacy setting associated with each of the one or more second users;

determining whether the one or more items of profile information associated with each of the one or more second users has a visibility that is visible to the first user, the visibility of each of the one or more items of profile information being determined based on the privacy setting associated with the second user and one or more degrees of separation in the social graph between the first node corresponding to the first user and one or more second nodes corresponding to the one or more second users; and

sending, to the client system of the first user, one or more of the items of profile information associated with the one or more second users having a visibility that is visible to the first user for display in association with the communication between the one or more second users and the first user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication comprises the unique identifier.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first node corresponding to the first user and second node corresponding to the second user are not connected by an edge in the social graph.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the second user based on the unique identifier comprises identifying a user node associated with or comprising a communication address that corresponds to the unique identifier, and the second node is the identified user node.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more items of profile information and the privacy setting associated with the second user are retrieved from or associated with the second node.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more items of profile information associated with the second user comprise a name of the second user.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding contact information to a list of contacts associated with the first user, wherein the contact information comprises the unique identifier and the one or more of the items of profile information associated with the second user have a visibility that is visible to the first user.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

sending, to the client system of the first user, of a user interface element configured to add the contact information to the list of contacts; and

updating the list of contacts to include the contact information in response to selection of the user interface element by the first user.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving a request to associate the one or more items of profile information with the one or more second users; and

responsive to the request, creating an association between the one or more items of profile information and the one or more second users in a list of contacts of the first user.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity associated with the online social network comprises a location or place, the identifier comprises at least a portion of a name of the location or place, and identifying, in the social graph, the entity node comprises:

receiving, from the client system of the first user of the online social network, a second unique identifier associated with a second user of the online social network, the unique identifier being sent responsive to a communication from the first user to the entity;

identifying the entity based on the second unique identifier;

retrieving one or more items of profile information associated with the entity and a privacy setting associated with the entity;

determining whether the one or more items of profile information associated with the entity have a visibility that is visible to the first user, the visibility of the one or more items of profile information being determined based on the privacy setting associated with the entity; and

sending, to the client system of the first user, one or more of the items of profile information associated with the entity having a visibility that is visible to the first user for display in association with the communication from the first user to the entity.

19. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to:

receive, from a mobile client system of a first user of an online social network, at a computing system of the online social network, an unique identifier associated with a second user of the online social network, the unique identifier being sent responsive to a communication between the second user and the first user;

access, by the computing system, a social graph comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges connecting the nodes, each of the edges between two of the nodes representing a single degree of separation between them, the nodes comprising;

a first node corresponding to the first user;

a second node corresponding to the second user; and

a plurality of third nodes that each correspond to an entity associated with the online social network;

identify, by the computing system, the second user based on the unique identifier;

retrieve, by the computing system, one or more items of profile information associated with the second user and a privacy setting associated with the second user;

determine, by an authentication server, whether the one or more items of profile information associated with the second user have a visibility that is visible to the first user, the visibility of the one or more items of profile information being determined based on the privacy setting associated with the second user and a degree of separation in the social graph between the first node corresponding to the first user and the second node corresponding to the second user;

send, from the computing system to the mobile client system of the first user, one or more of the items of profile information associated with the second user having a visibility that is visible to the first user for display in association with the communication between the second user and the first user;

update, by the computing system, one or more items of profile information associated with the first user and the second user responsive to a determination of the communication being successful, wherein the updated items of profile information are accessed from the first or second user'"'"'s mobile client systems; and

send, from the computing system to the mobile client system of the first user, one or more of the updated items of profile information in order to update a list of contacts on the mobile client system of the first user.

20. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors operable when executing the instructions to;

receive, from a mobile client system of a first user of an online social network, at a computing system of the online social network, an unique identifier associated with a second user of the online social network, the unique identifier being sent responsive to a communication between the second user and the first user;

access, by the computing system, a social graph comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges connecting the nodes, each of the edges between two of the nodes representing a single degree of separation between them, the nodes comprising;

a first node corresponding to the first user;

a second node corresponding to the second user; and

a plurality of third nodes that each correspond to an entity associated with the online social network;

identify, by the computing system, the second user based on the unique identifier;

retrieve, by the computing system, one or more items of profile information associated with the second user and a privacy setting associated with the second user;

determine, by an authentication server, whether the one or more items of profile information associated with the second user have a visibility that is visible to the first user, the visibility of the one or more items of profile information being determined based on the privacy setting associated with the second user and a degree of separation in the social graph between the first node corresponding to the first user and the second node corresponding to the second user;

send, from the computing system to the mobile client system of the first user, one or more of the items of profile information associated with the second user having a visibility that is visible to the first user for display in association with the communication between the second user and the first user;

update, by the computing system, one or more items of profile information associated with the first user and the second user responsive to a determination of the communication being successful, wherein the updated items of profile information are accessed from the first or second user'"'"'s mobile client systems; and

send, from the computing system to the mobile client system of the first user, one or more of the updated items of profile information in order to update a list of contacts on the mobile client system of the first user.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the unique identifier comprises a phone number or email address of the second user.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the communication is from the second user to the first user.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the communication comprises a telephone call, and the unique identifier comprises a telephone number of the second user.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the communication comprises an email message, and the unique identifier comprises an email address of the second user.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the communication is from the first user to the second user.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the unique identifier comprises at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name, and wherein the instruction to identify the second user based on the unique identifier comprise instruction to identify the second node corresponding to the second user, wherein a user name associated with the second node matches the at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the unique identifier comprises at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name, and wherein the instructions to identify the second user based on the unique identifier comprise instructions to identify a plurality of nodes corresponding to a plurality of users having names matching the portion of the second user'"'"'s name, and wherein the instructions to identify the second node corresponding to the second user comprise instructions to select one of the plurality of nodes for which the associated user name most closely matches the at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the unique identifier comprises at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name, and wherein the instructions to identify the second user based on the unique identifier comprise instruction to:

identify one or more second nodes corresponding to the second user, wherein a user name associated with each of the one or more second nodes matches the at least a portion of the second user'"'"'s name;

identify one or more second users based on the one or more second nodes;

retrieve one or more items of profile information associated with each of the one or more second users and a privacy setting associated with each of the one or more second users;

determine whether the one or more items of profile information associated with each of the one or more second users has a visibility that is visible to the first user, the visibility of each of the one or more items of profile information being determined based on the privacy setting associated with the second user and one or more degrees of separation in the social graph between the first node corresponding to the first user and one or more second nodes corresponding to the one or more second users; and

send, to the client system of the first user, one or more of the items of profile information associated with the one or more second users having a visibility that is visible to the first user for display in association with the communication between the one or more second users and the first user.

29. The system of claim 20, wherein the communication comprises the unique identifier.

30. The system of claim 20, wherein the first node corresponding to the first user and second node corresponding to the second user are not connected by an edge in the social graph.

31. The system of claim 20, wherein the instructions to identify the second user based on the unique identifier comprise instructions to identify a user node associated with or comprising a communication address that corresponds to the unique identifier, and the second node is the identified user node.

32. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more items of profile information and the privacy setting associated with the second user are retrieved from or associated with the second node.

33. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more items of profile information associated with the second user comprise a name of the second user.

34. The system of claim 20, wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to:

add contact information to a list of contacts associated with the first user, wherein the contact information comprises the unique identifier and the one or more of the items of profile information associated with the second user have a visibility that is visible to the first user.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to:

send, to the client system of the first user, of a user interface element configured to add the contact information to the list of contacts; and

update the list of contacts to include the contact information in response to selection of the user interface element by the first user.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to:

receive a request to associate the one or more items of profile information with the one or more second users; and

responsive to the request, create an association between the one or more items of profile information and the one or more second users in a list of contacts of the first user.

37. The system of claim 20, wherein the entity associated with the online social network comprises a location or place, the identifier comprises at least a portion of a name of the location or place, and wherein the instructions to identify, in the social graph, the entity node comprise instructions to:

receive, from the client system of the first user of the online social network, a second unique identifier associated with a second user of the online social network, the unique identifier being sent responsive to a communication from the first user to the entity;

identify the entity based on the second unique identifier;

retrieve one or more items of profile information associated with the entity and a privacy setting associated with the entity;

determine whether the one or more items of profile information associated with the entity have a visibility that is visible to the first user, the visibility of the one or more items of profile information being determined based on the privacy setting associated with the entity; and

send, to the client system of the first user, one or more of the items of profile information associated with the entity having a visibility that is visible to the first user for display in association with the communication from the first user to the entity.