CONTROLLING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE PARTICIPATION IN A THREAD OF CONVERSATION

• US 20080082609A1
• Filed: 10/03/2006
• Published: 04/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Purcell, Sonya, Clerkin, Cora, Denner, Gary, O'Sullivan, Patrick J., Barber-Mingo, Cynthia E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,275,372 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to instant messaging and persistent chats and provide a method, system and computer program product for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation in an instant messaging session or persistent chat. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation can be provided. The method can include creating a thread of conversation in a messaging system, adding participants to the thread, classifying the participants as one of either active or passive, and permitting only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants.

Claims

1. A method for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation, comprising:

creating a thread of conversation in a messaging system;

adding a plurality of participants to the thread;

classifying the participants as one of either active or passive; and

,

permitting only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising selectively muting at least one of the active participants.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising reclassifying a participant from one of either active to passive and passive to active.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from a participant to become reclassified from one of either active to passive and passive to active; and

,

responsive to the request, reclassifying the participant from one of either active to passive and passive to active according to the request.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request from a participant to change a topic of conversation for the thread.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

queuing posts from the active participants; and

,

applying the posts to the thread in a sequence specified by the queuing.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising delegating the classifying of the participants as one of either active or passive to another of the participants.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein adding a plurality of participants to a thread, further comprises pre-classifying each of the added participants by default as one of an active participant or a passive participant.

9. A messaging data processing system comprising:

a chat thread processing module;

a messaging user interface; and

,

moderator control logic comprising program code enabled to classify participants in a thread of conversation as one of either active or passive, and to permit only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the moderator control logic comprises program code enable to additionally mute selected ones of the active participants.

11. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer usable program code for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation, the computer program product including:

computer usable program code for creating a thread of conversation in a messaging system;

computer usable program code for adding a plurality of participants to the thread;

computer usable program code for classifying the participants as one of either active or passive; and

,

computer usable program code for permitting only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising computer usable program code for selectively muting at least one of the active participants.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising computer usable program code for reclassifying a participant from one of either active to passive and passive to active.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising:

computer usable program code for receiving a request from a participant to become reclassified from one of either active to passive and passive to active; and

,

computer usable program code for reclassifying the participant from one of either active to passive and passive to active according to the request in response to the request.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising computer usable program code for receiving a request from a participant to change a topic of conversation for the thread.

16. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising:

computer usable program code for queuing posts from the active participants; and

,

computer usable program code for applying the posts to the thread in a sequence specified by the queuing.

17. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising computer usable program code for delegating the classifying of the participants as one of either active or passive to another of the participants.

18. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code for adding a plurality of participants to a thread, further comprises computer usable program code for pre-classifying each of the added participants by default as one of an active participant or a passive participant.