SOCIAL NETWORK DRIVEN INDEXING SYSTEM FOR INSTANTLY CLUSTERING PEOPLE WITH CONCURRENT FOCUS ON SAME TOPIC INTO ON-TOPIC CHAT ROOMS AND/OR FOR GENERATING ON-TOPIC SEARCH RESULTS TAILORED TO USER PREFERENCES REGARDING TOPIC

• US 20100205541A1
• Filed: 02/11/2009
• Published: 08/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Jeffrey A. Rapaport
• Inventors: Rapaport, Jeffrey A., Smith, Kenneth Allen, Gimlan, Gideon, Rapaport, Seymour, Beattie, James
• Granted Patent: US 8,539,359 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A machine-implemented social networking system builds up and repeatedly refreshes a hierarchy tree containing topic nodes. New nodes are added as new topics emerge in online public forums. Each topic node can link to an on-topic real time chat room whose occupants are currently discussing the topic of the node. A chat room can be pointed to by more than one node if the room is discussing multiple topics. Rooms can migrate from node to node as room topic dynamically changes. A system user who explicitly or inferentially wishes to be invited into a chat room which is on-topic with what the user is currently focused upon can do so by use of a node-seeking automated process. The process operates in the background and seeks out nodes of the hierarchy tree that currently have topics appearing to be the same as or similar to what topics the user appears to have in mind. Content browsing experience of the user is enhanced by addition of an invitations displaying subsystem that automatically invites him or her to co-compatible chat rooms currently discussing the topic(s) the user appears to have in mind. One of the many topics that a user may inferentially have in mind is that of being at a given location as reported by the user'"'"'s GPS and wondering what best to do at that location and time.

Claims

1-72. -72. (canceled)

73. An invitations and suggestions presenting machine that presents to a user thereof, invitations to real time information exchange forums and/or suggestions of additional informational content to investigate, the invitations and suggestions presenting machine comprising:

a display format controller that controls how and/or when invitations to real time information exchange forums and/or suggestions of additional informational content are presented to the user, the display format controller having a radar generator that produces a circular and/or banner-like display region in which icons representing more strongly recommended invitations and/or more strongly recommended suggestions of additional informational content are presented in a first portion of the display region and less strongly recommended invitations and/or less strongly recommended suggestions are presented in a different second portion of the display region.

74. The invitations and suggestions presenting machine of claim 73 wherein:

the first portion of the display region is positioned substantially centrally in the display region.

75. The invitations and suggestions presenting machine of claim 73 wherein:

the more strongly recommended invitations and/or more strongly recommended suggestions respectively include more recently recommended invitations and more recently recommended suggestions whereas the less strongly recommended invitations and/or less strongly recommended suggestions respectively include older invitations and older suggestions.

76. The invitations and suggestions presenting machine of claim 73 wherein:

the more strongly recommended invitations and/or more strongly recommended suggestions respectively include recommended invitations and recommended suggestions that are determined to be more on-topic with a topic apparently currently on the user'"'"'s mind and more recently recommended suggestions whereas the less strongly recommended invitations and/or less strongly recommended suggestions respectively are ones determined to be less on-topic with a topic apparently currently on the user'"'"'s mind.

77. The invitations and suggestions presenting machine of claim 73 wherein:

the more strongly recommended invitations and/or more strongly recommended suggestions are respectively formatted to be displayed as larger than and/or more bold and/or more colorful and/or dynamic than the less strongly recommended invitations and/or the less strongly recommended suggestions.

78. The invitations and suggestions presenting machine of claim 73 and/or suggestions into more strongly and more weakly recommended ones.

79. A machine-implemented method involving digital machines linked to a network and used for automatically linking together users of respective content presenting ones of the digital machines for substantially real time communication with one or more other users, the method comprising:

(a) automatically detecting focus by a respective user on the presented informational content or a subset of the presented informational content on the respective digital content presenting machine of that user and automatically identifying the focused upon content;

(b) automatically determining degree of focus or emotional engagement by the user that is concurrent with focus on the focused upon content; and

(c) automatically reporting to a local or remote interest tracking service, the determined identity of the focused upon content and the determined degree of focus or emotional engagement by the user that is concurrent with focus on the focused upon content.

80. A method of transforming a respective, network-connected and content-presenting digital machine of a respective first user also into an invitations presenting machine that invites the first user to join in real time communication with one or more other users, the method comprising:

(a) automatically sending a series of invitation representing physical signals to the respective content presenting digital machine of the first user where the represented invitations each invite the first user to join in a corresponding real time communication with one or more other users via the network that the first user'"'"'s machine connects with and where the represented invitations are such that the one or more other users associated with each respective invitation are concurrently focusing on same content as is being focused upon substantially concurrently by the first user via the first user'"'"'s machine or such that the one or more other users associated with each respective invitation are concurrently focusing on content directed to a topic that is common to the content that is being focused upon substantially concurrently by the first user via the first user'"'"'s machine.