COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION BASED ON PROFILE UPDATE

• US 20150052072A1
• Filed: 08/22/2014
• Published: 02/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Linkedln Corporation
• Inventors: Jayaram, Vinodh, Ryu, Janet Sun, Gaffney, Caroline, Shmukler, Elliot, Moon, Avery Randolph
• Granted Patent: US 10,320,937 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/319
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• 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

A notification machine may receive an update to a user profile that describes a user and indicates a group of users as being socially connected to the user by a social network. The update may reference a community (e.g., an employer or a club) of the user. The user profile may be modified by including a reference to the community within the user profile. The notification machine may identify a further user who is included in the community (e.g., employed by the employer, or part of the club). The further user may be socially unconnected to the user by the social network. The notification machine may then generate and provide a notification that the further user is employed by the employer. This notification may contain suggestions that the user initiate communication with the further user, become socially connected with the further user, or both.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving an update to a member profile of a first member of a social network, the update indicating an organization that the first member has joined;

adding a reference to the organization to the member profile of the first member in response to the update that indicates the organization that the first member has joined;

identifying a member profile of a second member of the social network, the member profile of the second member indicating that the second member belongs to the organization but is not directly connected to the first member by the social network; and

generating and providing a notification that the second member of the social network belongs to the organization that the first member has joined, the notification including information descriptive of the organization and being provided to a device of the first member, the generating of the notification being performed by a processor of a machine.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the providing of the notification that includes the information descriptive of the organization occurs within a predetermined period of time after the receiving of the update.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the information included in the provided notification is descriptive of the organization according to a social networking service that maintains the social network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the information included in the provided notification is descriptive of the organization according to a third party distinct from the organization and distinct from a social networking service that maintains the social network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the notification includes a list of jobs available at the organization.

6. A method comprising:

receiving an update to a member profile of a first member of the social network, the update indicating a company at which the first member has become employed;

adding a reference to the company to the member profile of the first member in response to the update that indicates the company;

identifying a member profile of a second member of the social network, the member profile of the second member indicating that the second member is employed by the company but is not directly connected to the first member by the social network, the identifying being performed by a processor of a machine in response to the received update; and

generating and providing a notification that the second member of the social network is employed by the company, the notification including a list of jobs available at the company and being provided to a device of the first member.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the providing of the notification that includes the list of jobs occurs within a predetermined period of time after the receiving of the update.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the notification includes a company profile that describes the company.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the company profile included in the notification describes the company according to a social networking service that maintains the social network.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the company profile included in the notification describes the company according to a third party distinct from the company and distinct from a social networking service that maintains the social network.

11. A method comprising:

receiving an update to a member profile that describes a person and indicates persons who are socially connected to the person by a social network, the update indicating a replacement of a previous employer of the person with a current employer of the person;

adding a reference to the current employer to the member profile;

identifying a further person employed by the current employer and socially unconnected to the person by the social network, the identifying being performed by a processor of a machine in response to the received update; and

generating and providing a notification that the further person is employed by the current employer, the generated and provided notification including an employer profile that describes the current employer.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the providing of the notification that includes the employer profile occurs within a predetermined period of time after the receiving of the update.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the employer profile included in the provided notification describes the current employer according to a social networking service that maintains the social network.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the employer profile included in the provided notification describes the current employer according to a third party distinct from the employer and distinct from a social networking service that maintains the social network.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the notification includes a list of jobs available at the current employer.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the notification includes a reference to a list of jobs that are available at the current employer.

17. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving an update to a member profile of a first member of a social network, the update indicating an organization that the first member has joined;

adding a reference to the organization to the member profile of the first member in response to the update that indicates the organization that the first member has joined;

identifying a member profile of a second member of the social network, the member profile of the second member indicating that the second member belongs to the organization but is not directly connected to the first member by the social network; and

generating and providing a notification that the second member of the social network belongs to the organization that the first member has joined, the notification including information descriptive of the organization and being provided to a device of the first member, the generating of the notification being performed by one or more processors of the machine.

18. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving an update to a member profile of a first member of the social network, the update indicating a company at which the first member has become employed;

adding a reference to the company to the member profile of the first member in response to the update that indicates the company;

identifying a member profile of a second member of the social network, the member profile of the second member indicating that the second member is employed by the company but is not directly connected to the first member by the social network, the identifying being performed by one or more processors of the machine in response to the received update; and

generating and providing a notification that the second member of the social network is employed by the company, the notification including a list of jobs available at the company and being provided to a device of the first member.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving an update to a member profile that describes a person and indicates persons who are socially connected to the person by a social network, the update indicating a replacement of a previous employer of the person with a current employer of the person;

adding a reference to the current employer to the member profile;

identifying a further person employed by the current employer and socially unconnected to the person by the social network, the identifying being performed by one or more processors of the machine in response to the received update; and

generating and providing a notification that the further person is employed by the current employer, the generated and provided notification including an employer profile that describes the current employer.

20. A system comprising:

a reception module configured to receive an update to a member profile of a first member of a social network, the update indicating an organization that the first member has joined;

an update module configured to add a reference to the organization to the member profile of the first member in response to the update that indicates the organization that the first member has joined;

an identification module comprising a processor configured to identify a member profile of a second member of the social network, the member profile of the second member indicating that the second member belongs to the organization but is not directly connected to the first member by the social network; and

a notification module configured to generate and provide a notification that the second member of the social network belongs to the organization that the first member has joined, the notification including information descriptive of the organization and being provided to a device of the first member.

21. A system comprising:

a reception module configured to receive an update to a member profile of a first member of the social network, the update indicating a company at which the first member has become employed;

an update module configured to add a reference to the company to the member profile of the first member in response to the update that indicates the company;

an identification module comprising a processor configured to identify a member profile of a second member of the social network, the member profile of the second member indicating that the second member is employed by the company but is not directly connected to the first member by the social network, the identifying being performed in response to the received update; and

a notification module configured to generate and provide a notification that the second member of the social network is employed by the company, the notification including a list of jobs available at the company and being provided to a device of the first member.

22. A system comprising:

a reception module configured to receive an update to a member profile that describes a person and indicates persons who are socially connected to the person by a social network, the update indicating a replacement of a previous employer of the person with a current employer of the person;

an update module configured to add a reference to the current employer to the member profile;

an identification module comprising a processor configured to identify a further person employed by the current employer and socially unconnected to the person by the social network, the identifying being performed in response to the received update; and

a notification module configured to generate and provide a notification that the further person is employed by the current employer, the generated and provided notification including an employer profile that describes the current employer.