Sharing Digital Content On A Social Network

• US 20090144392A1
• Filed: 10/27/2008
• Published: 06/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wang, James, Cuervo, Soleio, Wable, Akhil
• Granted Patent: US 9,602,605 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for more effectively and easily sharing on a social networking system digital content obtained from an external system. In one embodiment a user selects a control for sharing content from the external system that causes a sharing request to be sent. The sharing request is received by the social networking website, and an interface is presented to the user requesting sharing parameters. The user provides sharing parameters through the interface that are received by the social networking website. Content is retrieved from the external system and is transmitted to one or more destinations in the social networking website based at least in part on the sharing parameters. The sharing parameters may include selection parameters for indicating which content to share, formatting parameters for specifying how to format the content, and destination parameters indicating particular destinations in the social networking website for the content.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of sharing digital content in a social network, the method comprising:

receiving a sharing request for sharing content from an external system, the sharing request sent responsive to a selection by a user;

sending information for presenting an interface to the user, the interface for requesting parameters from the user for sharing the content in the social networking system;

receiving sharing parameters from the user responsive to user selections in the interface;

retrieving the content from the external system; and

transmitting the content to one or more destinations in a social networking system based at least in part on the sharing parameters.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sharing parameters comprise selection parameters, the selection parameters indicating which content the user desires to share, and further comprising:

retrieving the content indicated by the selection parameters from the external system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sharing parameters comprise formatting parameters, the formatting parameters indicating formatting to apply to the content for sharing in the social networking system, and further comprising:

formatting the content based on the formatting parameters.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sharing parameters comprise destination parameters, the destination parameters indicating one or more particular destinations within the social networking system for sharing the content, and further comprising:

transmitting the content to the indicated destinations within the social networking system.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of pieces of content on the external system suitable for sharing based on information in the sharing request; and

sending information to the user identifying the plurality of pieces of content, and

wherein the sharing parameters comprise selection parameters, the selection parameters indicating which pieces of content the user desires to share, and wherein the content retrieved from the external system comprises the indicated pieces of content.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tracking the content at one or more destinations in the social networking website, comprising;

determining whether the content at the external system has been modified; and

responsive to the content at the external website being modified, similarly modifying the content at the one or more destinations in the social networking system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more destinations in the social networking system comprise a member profile object.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sharing request is received responsive to a selection of a browser control by the user, the browser control comprising an object in a web browser of the user that executes predetermined code when selected by the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the sharing request is received responsive to a selection of a web page control by the user, the web page control comprising an object contained in a web page of the external system displayed to the user that executes predetermined code when selected by the user.

10. A computer program product for sharing digital content in a social network, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium containing computer program code that comprises:

a formatting module configured to;

receive a sharing request for sharing content from an external system, the sharing request sent responsive to a selection by a user;

send information for presenting an interface to the user, the interface for requesting parameters from the user for sharing the content in the social networking system;

receive sharing parameters from the user responsive to user selections in the interface;

retrieve the content from the external system; and

a transmission module configured to;

transmit the content to one or more destinations in a social networking system based at least in part on the sharing parameters.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the sharing parameters comprise selection parameters, the selection parameters indicating which content the user desires to share, and wherein the formatting module is further configured to:

retrieve the content indicated by the selection parameters from the external system.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the sharing parameters comprise formatting parameters, the formatting parameters indicating formatting to apply to the content for sharing in the social networking system, and wherein the formatting module is further configured to:

format the content based on the formatting parameters.

13. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the sharing parameters comprise destination parameters, the destination parameters indicating one or more particular destinations within the social networking system for sharing the content, and wherein the transmission module is further configured to:

transmit the content to the indicated destinations within the social networking system.

14. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the formatting module is further configured to:

identify a plurality of pieces of content on the external system suitable for sharing based on information in the sharing request; and

send information to the user identifying the plurality of pieces of content, and

wherein the sharing parameters comprise selection parameters, the selection parameters indicating which pieces of content the user desires to share, and wherein the content for retrieving from the external system comprises the indicated pieces of content.

15. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

a tracking module configured to track the content at one or more destinations in the social networking website, the tracking comprising;

determining whether the content at the external system has been modified; and

responsive to the content at the external website being modified, similarly modifying the content at the one or more destinations in the social networking system.

16. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the one or more destinations in the social networking system comprise a member profile object.

17. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the sharing request is received responsive to a selection of a browser control by the user, the browser control comprising an object in a web browser of the user that executes predetermined code when selected by the user.

18. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the sharing request is received responsive to a selection of a web page control by the user, the web page control comprising an object contained in a web page of the external system displayed to the user that executes predetermined code when selected by the user.