TAKING ACTION UPON USERS IN A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM WITH RESPECT TO A PURPOSE BASED ON COMPATIBILITY OF THE USERS TO THE PURPOSE

• US 20110055725A1
• Filed: 08/26/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cunningham, Ryan, Folgner, Mike, Kalaboukis, Chris
• Granted Patent: US 9,141,271 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services

Abstract

Techniques are described herein that are capable of taking action upon users in a social networking system with respect to a purpose based on compatibility of the users to the purpose. The action may be further based on compatibility of the users and the purpose to a venue. Example actions include but are not limited to recommending users for a purpose and/or a venue; recommending a purpose for users and/or a venue; recommending a venue for users and/or a purpose; inviting users to join a group, to attend an event, or to perform an action; etc. For instance, the social networking system may include a network manager that performs a compatibility analysis with respect to attributes of users, a purpose, and/or a venue, respectively. The network manager may take an action upon the users (or a subset thereof) based on the results of the compatibility analysis.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

comparing a first plurality of attributes associated with a first plurality of respective users in a social networking system to at least one second attribute associated with a purpose; and

taking action upon a second plurality of users that is included in the first plurality of users with respect to the purpose, the second plurality of users having respective attributes of the first plurality of attributes that are compatible with the at least one second attribute.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a venue having a third attribute that is compatible with the attributes of the second plurality of users and the at least one second attribute associated with the purpose in response to comparing the first plurality of attributes to the at least one second attribute;

wherein taking action upon the second plurality of users comprises;

recommending the venue at which the second plurality of users is to achieve the purpose.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

designating a venue having a third attribute that is compatible with the attributes of the second plurality of users and the at least one second attribute associated with the purpose;

wherein comparing the first plurality of attributes to the at least one second attribute is performed in response to designating the venue; and

wherein taking action upon the second plurality of users comprises;

recommending the purpose to be achieved at the venue by the second plurality of users.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

designating a venue having a third attribute that is compatible with the attributes of the second plurality of users and the at least one second attribute associated with the purpose;

wherein comparing the first plurality of attributes to the at least one second attribute is performed in response to designating the venue; and

wherein taking action upon the second plurality of users comprises;

recommending the second plurality of users for achieving the purpose at the venue.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein taking action upon the second plurality of users comprises:

recommending the purpose to be achieved by the second plurality of users.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein taking action upon the second plurality of users comprises:

recommending the second plurality of users for achieving the purpose.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein taking the action upon the second plurality of users comprises:

inviting the second plurality of users to join a group that is associated with the purpose.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein taking the action upon the second plurality of users comprises:

inviting the second plurality of users to attend an event that is associated with the purpose.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein taking the action upon the second plurality of users comprises:

inviting the second plurality of users to perform an action that is associated with the purpose.

10. A system comprising:

a comparison module configured to compare a first plurality of attributes associated with a first plurality of respective users in a social networking system to at least one second attribute associated with a purpose; and

an action module configured to take action upon a second plurality of users that is included in the first plurality of users with respect to the purpose, the second plurality of users having respective attributes that are compatible with the at least one second attribute.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a filter module configured to filter the first plurality of users with respect to the at least one second attribute to determine the second plurality of users.

12. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a weight module configured to apply a plurality of weights to the first plurality of respective attributes to provide a first plurality of respective weighted attributes; and

a sort module configured to sort the first plurality of users with respect to the at least one second attribute based on the first plurality of respective weighted attributes to determine the second plurality of users.

13. A method comprising:

providing a graphical user interface that includes a first interface element, the first interface element representing a group that corresponds to a purpose that is associated with at least one first attribute;

providing a plurality of identifiers that represents a plurality of respective users in the graphical user interface, the plurality of users having a plurality of respective second attributes that are compatible with the at least one first attribute, the first interface element including at least one identifier of the plurality of identifiers that represents at least one respective user of the plurality of users having at least one respective second attribute of the plurality of second attributes; and

recommending one or more venues associated with one or more respective third attributes that are compatible with the at least one first attribute and the at least one second attribute.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

removing a first venue from the one or more venues in response to addition of a first identifier to the first interface element, the first identifier representing a user having an attribute that is incompatible with the first venue.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

adding a first venue to the one or more venues in response to removal of a first identifier from the first interface element, the first identifier representing a user having an attribute that is incompatible with the first venue.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining that a first venue of the one or more venues is selected; and

inviting the at least one user of the plurality of users to meet at the first venue in response to determining that the first venue is selected.

17. A method comprising:

providing a graphical user interface that includes a first interface element, the first interface element representing a group that corresponds to a purpose that is associated with at least one first attribute;

providing a plurality of identifiers that represents a plurality of respective users in the graphical user interface, the plurality of users having a plurality of respective second attributes; and

recommending one or more identifiers of the plurality of identifiers for inclusion in the first interface element, the one or more identifiers representing one or more respective users of the plurality of users that have one or more respective second attributes of the plurality of second attributes that are compatible with the at least one first attribute.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining that the one or more identifiers are accepted for inclusion in the first interface element; and

inviting the one or more users that are represented by the one or more respective identifiers to join the group in response to determining that the one or more identifiers are accepted for inclusion in the first interface element.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the first interface element represents the group that further corresponds to a venue that is associated with at least one third attribute;

and

wherein the at least one third attribute is compatible with the at least one first attribute and the one or more second attributes.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

applying a plurality of weights to the plurality of respective second attributes;

wherein recommending the one or more identifiers is based on one or more respective weights of the plurality of weights that are applied to the one or more respective second attributes.