System and method for collection and analysis of electronic discussion messages

• US 20060085248A1
• Filed: 09/28/2005
• Published: 04/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Buzzmetrics, Ltd. (Nielsen Holdings plc)
• Original Assignee: Buzzmetrics, Ltd. (Nielsen Holdings plc)
• Inventors: Holtzman, David, Arnett, Nicholas D., Pool, David
• Granted Patent: US 7,363,243 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2117 User registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0407 wherein the identity of one or more communicating identities is hidden cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for anonymous credentials or for identity based cryptographic systems H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A system and method for collecting and analyzing electronic discussion messages to categorize the message communications and the identify trends and patterns in pre-determined markets. Electronic messages are collected and analyzed according to characteristics and data inherent in the messages. Objective data is collected by the system for use in analyzing the electronic discussion data against real-world events to facilitate trend analysis and event forecasting based on the volume, nature and content of messages posted to electronic discussion forums. The message posting activity of a plurality of posters can be tracked to identify opinion leaders, and patterns in the messages can be identified using at least one of the following techniques: chaos theory; complexity theory; social network theory; and neural network theory.

Claims

1. A system for processing messages collected from a plurality of electronic discussion forums, comprising:

means for collecting messages from the plurality of electronic discussion forums;

means for processing the messages according to a series of topics, wherein the processing includes determining the relevance of a message to at least one topic; and

means for tracking posting activity of a plurality of posters based on the processing of the messages;

wherein the tracked posting activity is used to predict external market events.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the means for tracking is adapted to identify opinion leaders based on the processing of the messages.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the means for processing is adapted to perform linguistic analysis on the messages.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the means for processing is adapted to identify patterns in the messages.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the patterns are identified using at least one of the following techniques:

chaos theory;

complexity theory;

social network theory; and

neural network theory.

6. A method for processing messages collected from a plurality of electronic discussion forums, comprising the steps of:

collecting messages from the plurality of electronic discussion forums;

processing the messages according to a series of topics, wherein the processing includes determining the relevance of a message to at least one topic; and

tracking posting activity of a plurality of posters based on the processing of the messages, wherein the tracked posting activity is used to predict external market events.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of tracking comprises identifying opinion leaders based on the processing of the messages.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the step of processing comprises performing linguistic analysis on the messages.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the step of processing comprises identifying patterns in the messages.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the patterns are identified using at least one of the following techniques:

chaos theory;

complexity theory;

social network theory; and

neural network theory.