SELECTIVE DELAY OF SOCIAL CONTENT SHARING

• US 20170063772A1
• Filed: 08/31/2015
• Published: 03/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: BAPAT, Shashank Ashok
• Granted Patent: US 10,862,847 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• 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 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

A system and method for selectively delaying social content sharing within social networks are disclosed. In an online social network, content sharing settings provide a time period for which sharing of content of a content type or provided through an online channel is to be disabled. When content of the content type is received for sharing with one or more users, the content is not shared with the users until the time period is expired or the disabling of the sharing is overridden.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

identifying one or more entities in an online social group;

receiving, from a user interface, a user selection of one or more social content sharing settings for the one or more identified entities;

identifying one or more content items to be shared with the one or more identified entities;

determining, based on the received one or more social content sharing settings, a time period for which sharing of the one or more content items with the one or more entities is to be prevented;

preventing the sharing of the one or more content items with the one or more entities for the determined time period; and

sharing the one or more content items with the one or more entities when the determined time period has expired.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more entities comprise one or more users of an online social network, and wherein the one or more content items comprise an endorsement of user-provided content associated with an activity stream of the online social network, a display of the endorsement to the one or more users being delayed until the determined time period expires.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more entities comprise one or more users of an online social network, and wherein the one or more content items comprise a user-provided message associated with an activity stream of the online social network, a display of the user-provided message to the one or more users being delayed until the determined time period expires.

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

providing, during the determined time period, a visual indication that content shared with the one or more entities will not be seen by the one or more entities, the visual indication being provided in connection with a representation of the one or more entities within the user interface.

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

providing, to the user interface, a notification that the one or more content items are being prevented from being shared;

receiving, from the user interface, a user-initiated command to share the one or more content items before the time period expires; and

sharing, in response to the user-initiated command, the one or more content items before the time period expires.

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

posting the one or more content items to a webpage associated with the user account; and

allowing access to the one or more content items by the one or more entities, via the webpage while the sharing is prevented during the determined time period.

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

determining one or more notification settings associated with the user account; and

selectively providing notifications associated with the one or more entities to the user account based on the notification settings while the sharing is prevented during the determined time period.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the social content sharing settings comprise one or more online social channels for which content sharing with the one or more entities is to be prevented, and wherein preventing the sharing of the one or more content items comprises:

preventing, for the one or more entities, the sharing of the one or more content items through the one or more online social channels for the determined time period while allowing the one or more content items to be shared with the one or more entities through other online social channels.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user selection is associated with a first user account in an online social network, and the online social group is representative of a social graph of relationships between the user account and other user accounts in the online social network, the other user accounts comprising the one or more entities.

10. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, from a user interface, a user selection of one or more social content sharing settings for one or more user accounts in an online social group, the social content sharing settings comprising one or more online social channels for which content sharing with the one or more user accounts is to be disabled;

receiving one or more content items for sharing with the one or more user accounts through the one or more online social channels; and

disabling, for the one or more user accounts, the sharing of the one or more content items with the one or more user accounts through the one or more online social channels for a predetermined time period while allowing other content items to be shared with the one or more user accounts through other online social channels.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the online social channels include one or more of an online channel for receiving notifications or an online social activity stream.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the one or more social channels comprises an activity stream associated with the one or more user accounts, and wherein the one or more content items comprise a user-provided message for the activity stream, a display of the user-provided message being delayed for the one or more user accounts until the predetermined time period expires.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the one or more social channels comprises an activity stream associated with the one or more user accounts, and wherein the one or more content items comprise an endorsement of user-provided content in the activity stream, a display of the endorsement being delayed for the one or more user accounts until the predetermined time period expires.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

providing, during the determined time period, a visual indication that content shared with the one or more entities through the one or more social channels will not be seen by the one or more entities, the visual indication being provided in connection with a representation of the one or more user accounts within the user interface.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

providing, to the user interface, a notification that the one or more content items are being prevented from being shared;

receiving, from the user interface, a user-initiated command to share the one or more content items before the predetermined time period expires; and

sharing, in response to the user-initiated command, the one or more content items through the one or more social channels before the time period expires.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining one or more notification settings associated with the user account; and

selectively providing, based on the one or more notification settings, notifications related to the sharing of the one or more content items to a user account that provided the one or more content items for sharing with the one or more user accounts while the sharing is prevented during the predetermined time period.

17. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, from a user interface, a user selection of one or more social content sharing settings for one or more user accounts in an online social group, the social content sharing settings comprising a predetermined content type for which content sharing with the one or more user accounts is to be disabled;

receiving one or more content items of the predetermined content type for sharing with the one or more user accounts; and

disabling, for the one or more user accounts, the sharing of the one or more content items with the one or more user accounts for a predetermined time period while allowing other content items of a different content type to be shared with the one or more user accounts.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the user selection is associated with a first user account in an online social network, and the online social group is representative of a social graph of relationships between the user account and the one or more user accounts.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the predetermined content type is one of an endorsement, an article, or a user message.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the social content sharing settings comprise one or more online social channels for which content sharing with the one or more user accounts is to be disabled, and wherein disabling the sharing of the one or more content items comprises:

preventing, for the one or more user accounts, the sharing of the one or more content items through the one or more online social channels for the predetermined time period while allowing the one or more content items to be shared with the one or more user accounts through other online social channels.