METHOD AND SYSTEM OF MANAGING EPHEMERAL POST IN A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM

• US 20140282096A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sergey Markov
• Inventors: Rubinstein, Yigal Dan, Koolwal, Aditya, Markov, Sergey, Deeter, Ken Taro, Frankowski, Karl
• Granted Patent: US 9,264,463 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/108 when the policy decisions are valid for a limited amount of time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A method of posting ephemeral posts is disclosed. The method starts with receiving, from a user of a social network, a request to post an ephemeral post, the request including an ephemeral variable associated with a threshold event. The ephemeral post is posted on behalf of the user. Then an occurrence of the threshold event is monitored. When the threshold event has not occurred, the post is allowed to be accessible to at least one viewer other than the user. When the threshold event has occurred, the post is blocked from being accessible by the at least one view other than the user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a user of a social network, a request to post an ephemeral post, the request including an ephemeral variable associated with a first threshold event;

posting the ephemeral post on behalf of the user;

monitoring for an occurrence of the first threshold event;

allowing the post to be accessible to at least one viewer other than the user when the first threshold event has not occurred; and

blocking the post from being accessible by the at least one viewer other than the user when the first threshold event has occurred.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first threshold event is an expiration of a time period for viewing set by the ephemeral variable.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first threshold event is a number of interactions with the post since its posting.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the ephemeral post includes at least one of a visual and an audio indication of its ephemeral nature to distinguish it from other post types of the social network.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user sets the ephemeral variable using a scrollbar.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

indicating an existence of the ephemeral post to the at least one viewer when the first threshold event has not occurred before displaying the ephemeral post to the viewer.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

removing the ephemeral post from the social networking after the first threshold event occurs.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

allowing the post to be accessible to at least one viewer other than the user when either the first threshold event or a second threshold event has not occurred, wherein the second threshold event is a number of interactions with the post since its posting; and

blocking the post from being accessible by the at least one viewer other than the user when either the first or second threshold event has occurred.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising collecting at least one ephemeral variable associated with the post, a time period between creating and displaying the post, and a time period between creating and blocking the post, wherein the collected data is used to adjust the ephemeral variable to associate with a future post.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving, from a user of a social network, a request to post an ephemeral post, the request including an ephemeral variable associated with a first threshold event;

posting the ephemeral post on behalf of the user;

monitoring for an occurrence of the first threshold event;

allowing the post to be accessible to at least one viewer other than the user when the first threshold event has not occurred; and

blocking the post from being accessible by the at least one viewer other than the user when the first threshold event has occurred.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the first threshold event is an expiration of a time period for viewing set by the ephemeral variable.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the first threshold event is a number of interactions with the post since its posting.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the first threshold event is an expiration of a time period for viewing set by the ephemeral variable.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the ephemeral post includes at least one of a visual and an audio indication of its ephemeral nature to distinguish it from other post types of the social network.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprising:

indicating an existence of the ephemeral post to the at least one viewer when the first threshold event has not occurred before displaying the ephemeral post to the viewer.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprising:

allowing the post to be accessible to at least one viewer other than the user when either the first threshold event or a second threshold event has not occurred, wherein the second threshold event is a number of interactions with the post since its posting; and

blocking the post from being accessible by the at least one viewer other than the user when either the first or second threshold event has occurred.

17. A social networking system, comprising:

a post creator configured to associate an ephemeral variable with the post, wherein the ephemeral variable is associated with a first threshold event;

a post timer configured to monitor an occurrence of the first threshold event; and

a post displayer configured to allow the post to be accessible to at least one viewer when the first threshold event has not occurred and block the post from being accessible by the at least one viewer other than the user when the first threshold event has occurred.

18. The social networking system of claim 17, wherein the first threshold event is an expiration of a time period for viewing set by the ephemeral variable.

19. The social networking system of claim 17, further comprising a post statistics collector configured to collect the ephemeral variable associated with the post, a time period between creating and displaying the post, and a time period between creating and blocking the post, wherein the collected data is used to adjust the ephemeral variable to associate with a future post.

20. The social networking system of claim 17, wherein the post timer is further configured to disassociate the ephemeral variable with the post when a second threshold event occurs, wherein the second threshold event is a number of interactions with the post since its posting.