Method and system for seeding online social network contacts

• US 7,885,901 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2004
• Issued: 02/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2004
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Slack Technologies LLC (Salesforce.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hull, Mark Everett, Farmer, F. Randall, Perelman, Ellen Sue
• Primary Examiner(s): Casler; Traci L
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCCORMICK, GABRIELLE A
• Application Number:
  US10/863,926
• Publication Number:
  US 20050171799A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,436 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/319
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• 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

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and system are directed towards seeding a user'"'"'s contacts for their online social network. The invention is arranged to automatically recommend to the user a set of seed contacts that the user may employ to invite to join their social network. The set of seed contacts may be harvested from the user'"'"'s existing portal activities, as well as other sources. In one embodiment, the invention analyzes portal activity, such as email exchanges with the user, and the like, to determine a frequency of contact with the user. Other sources may include but not be limited to emails, names within an address book of the user, names within an address book of another person, a buddy list, an instant messaging list, an activity, a mailing list, an online discussion group, a membership in a category, chat group, and the like.

Claims

1. A method for managing a communication in an online social network, comprising:

tracking first information related to at least one behavior of a first subscriber of an online portal, wherein the at least one behavior is online between the first subscriber and another subscriber and separate from other behavior between a plurality of members within the online social network, and wherein the first information is determined by the online portal regarding the at least one behavior that is separate from the plurality of members of the online social network;

tracking second information of a current online action of a second subscriber that is separate from at least other current online actions by the plurality of members within the online social network,

determining second subscriber profile information based, in part, on the tracked second information of the second subscriber;

if the second subscriber is a member of the online social network, employing at least a portion of the tracked first information and the tracked second information and at least a portion of the second subscriber'"'"'s profile information to seed a second subscriber'"'"'s subscriber-editable online social network contact list with a contact address information regarding the first subscriber for the second subscriber to invite the first subscriber to become a second member of the online social network, wherein the contact list is managed by the second subscriber, wherein the contact address information is associated with the tracked first information related to the at least one behavior of the first subscriber, and wherein the seeding of the contact list is based at least on a determination that the contact list is unpopulated;

if the first information indicates that the first subscriber is associated with spamming activity, providing the information about spamming activity to the second subscriber to enable the second subscriber to delete the first subscriber from the second subscriber'"'"'s seeded online social network contact list independent of an action from another subscriber, wherein the indication comprises a flag in the second subscriber'"'"'s seeded online social network contact list; and

employing the seeded online social network contact list to enable the second subscriber to send the communication to the second member of the online social network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the online social network includes at least one of multiple degree relationships among members of the online social network, and a shared interest among members of the online social network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein tracking the information comprises tracking at least one of a frequency with which the first subscriber accessed at least one of a portal service and a non-portal Web site, a duration over which the first subscriber accessed at least one of the portal service and the non-portal Web site, a content type accessed by the first subscriber through at least one of the portal service and the non-portal Web site, an online purchase made by the first subscriber through at least one of the portal service and the non-portal Web site, a participation in an online group, a use of a chat session, a use of instant messaging, and a use of an email service.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the behavior of the first subscriber comprises participating in at least one of an online friend matching service, an online dating service, an online job searching service, an online classmate searching service, an online military colleague searching service, an online club, an online financial service, an online auction, and a online purchase.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the first subscriber has engaged in spamming; and

indicating in the first information that the first subscriber has engaged in spamming.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second subscriber is a new member to the online social network and with a degree of separation from at least the first subscriber tracked in the first information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising revising the online social network contact list based, in part, on at least one of an email address, an address book of the second subscriber, another address book of at least one other member within the portal, a buddy list, an instant messaging buddy list, an activity, a mailing list, an online discussion group, a chat group, a master contact list, and user-defined information.

8. A server for managing a communication in an online social network, comprising:

a transceiver for receiving and sending information to another computing device;

a processor in communication with the transceiver; and

a memory in communication with the processor and storing data and machine instructions that cause the processor to perform a plurality of operations, including;

tracking first information related to at least one behavior of a first subscriber of an online portal, wherein the at least one behavior is online between the first subscriber and another subscriber and separate from other behavior between a plurality of members within the online social network, and wherein the first information is determined by the online portal regarding the at least one behavior that is separate from the plurality of members of the online social network;

tracking second information of a current online action of a second subscriber that is separate from at least other current online actions by the plurality of members within the online social network;

determining second subscriber profile information based, in part, on the tracked second information of the second subscriber; and

if the second subscriber is a member of the online social network, employing at least a portion of the tracked first and second information and at least a portion of the second subscriber'"'"'s profile information to seed an individual subscriber'"'"'s online social network contact list with a contact address information regarding the first subscriber for the second subscriber to invite the first subscriber to become a second member of the online social network, wherein the online social network list is managed by the second subscriber, and wherein the second subscriber is enabled to directly delete the contact regarding the first subscriber as the second member within the online social network contact list based in part on receiving information that the contact for the first subscriber has engaged in spamming independent of an action of another subscriber, and wherein information comprises a flag in the online social network contact list received from the online portal, and wherein the second subscriber is enabled to send the communication to the second member of the online social network using the online social network contact list, wherein the contact is associated with the tracked first information related to the behavior of the first subscriber, and wherein the seeding of the contact list is based at least on a determination that the contact list is unpopulated.

9. The server of claim 8, wherein the determined second subscriber profile information does not indicate the second subscriber is associated with the behavior to which the first information relates, and wherein the second subscriber is a new member.

10. The server of claim 8, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to perform an operation of tracking at least one of a frequency with which the first or the second subscriber accessed at least one of a portal service and a non-portal Web site, a duration over which the first or the second subscriber accessed at least one of the portal service and the non-portal Web site, a content type accessed by the first or the second subscriber through at least one of the portal service and the non-portal Web site, and an online purchase made by the first or the second subscriber through at least one of the portal service and the non-portal Web site.

11. The server of claim 8, wherein the behavior of the first subscriber comprises participating in at least one of an online friend matching service, an online dating service, an online job searching service, an online classmate searching service, an online military colleague searching service, an online club, an online financial service, an online auction, online purchase a buddy list, an instant messaging service, a mailing list, an online discussion group, a chat service, and an email service.

12. The server of claim 8, wherein the wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to perform an operation of revising the seeded online social network contact list to further include at least one of a contact within an address book of the first subscriber, a contact within an address book of the other member within the portal, a contact associated with buddy list of the first subscriber, a contact associated with an instant messaging list of the first subscriber, a contact associated with an activity of the first subscriber, a contact associated with a mailing list of the first subscriber, a contact associated with an online discussion group of the first subscriber, and a contact associated with a chat group of the first subscriber.

13. A client device for managing a communication in an online social network, comprising:

a display;

a transceiver for receiving and sending information to a computing device;

a processor in communication with the display and the transceiver; and

a memory in communication with the processor and storing data and machine instructions that cause the processor to perform a plurality of operations, including;

enabling performance of an at least one behavior of a first subscriber of an online portal employing the client device, wherein the online portal is in communication with the online social network;

enabling a tracking of information related to the at least one behavior of the first subscriber in the online portal that is separate from other behavior between a plurality of members within the online social network;

determining profile information about the first subscriber based in part on a current online action of the first subscriber that is separate from at least other current online actions between the plurality of members within the online social network;

if a second subscriber is a first member of the online social network, receiving an individual subscriber'"'"'s subscriber-editable online social network contact list that is seeded with a contact address information regarding the first subscriber for the second subscriber to invite the first subscriber to become a second member of the online social network based at least on a portion of the tracked information, the profile information, and additional information associated with behavior in the online portal between another subscriber and venues other than and separate from the online social network of which the second subscriber is the first member, wherein at least the additional information is indicated in a flag associated with the contact address information within the seeded online social network contact list, wherein the contact address information is associated with the additional information, and wherein the seeding of the contact list is based at least on a determination that the contact list is unpopulated;

enabling the second subscriber to select the contact address information within the online social network contact list to delete independent of an action from another subscriber; and

enabling the second subscriber to send the communication to the second member of the online social network based, in part, on the portion of the tracked information, the profile information, and the additional information.

14. The client device of claim 13, wherein the additional information is associated with subscribers that have an indirect personal relationship to the first subscriber.

15. The client device of claim 13, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to perform the operation of indicating that at least one contact in the seeded online social network contact list has engaged in spamming.

16. The client device of claim 13, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to perform the operation of enabling the first subscriber to create user-definable information to determine another contact with which to seed the online social network contact list.

17. The client device of claim 13, wherein the client device further comprises a mobile device.

18. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for managing a communication in an online social network, the computer-executable instructions enable a computing device to perform actions of:

enabling a tracking of first information related to behavior of a first subscriber of an online portal, wherein the behavior includes another communication in the online portal between the first subscriber and a second subscriber that is separate from other behavior between a plurality of members within the online social network;

tracking second information of a current online action of the second subscriber in the online portal that is separate from at least other current online actions within the plurality of members of the online social network;

determining second subscriber profile information based, in part, on the tracked second information of the second subscriber;

if the second subscriber is a member of the online social network, employing at least a portion of the tracked first information and the tracked second information from the online portal and at least a portion of the second subscriber'"'"'s profile information from the online portal by the online social network to seed a subscriber-editable online social network contact list with a contact address information regarding the first subscriber for the second subscriber to invite the first subscriber to become a second member of the online social network, wherein the contact list is managed by the second subscriber, wherein contacts on the seeded online social network contact list enable the second subscriber to provide submission to the online portal regarding the behavior of the first subscriber, and wherein the online portal determines the portion of the tracked first information and is enabled to indicate the behavior of the first subscriber with a flag, wherein the contact address information is associated with the tracked first information related to the behavior of the first subscriber, and wherein the seeding of the contact list is based at least on a determination that the contact list is unpopulated; and

enabling the second subscriber to send the communication to the second member of the online social network based, in part, on the portion of the second subscriber'"'"'s profile information.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, the actions further comprising:

if information in the online social network contact list indicates that the contact address information regarding the first subscriber has engaged in spamming, enabling the second subscriber to delete the contact address information from the online social network contact list independent of an action from another subscriber.

20. A method for managing a communication in an online social network, enabled to perform operations comprising:

tracking first information related to behavior of a first subscriber of an online portal that is separate from other behavior between a plurality of members within the online social network, wherein the first information is determined by the online portal and includes at least one other communication in the portal between the first subscriber and a third subscriber other than a second subscriber, wherein the subscribers for which the first information tracks have an indirect relationship to the second subscriber;

tracking second information of a current online action of the second subscriber that is separate from at least other current online actions within the online social network;

determining second subscriber profile information based, in part, on the tracked second information of the second subscriber;

employing at least a portion of the first information and the second information and a portion of the second subscriber profile information to seed a subscriber-editable online social network contact list with a contact address information regarding the first subscriber for the second subscriber to invite to become a second member of the online social network, wherein the online social network contact list is managed by the second subscriber including deleting the contact address information from the list independent of an action by another subscriber, wherein the seeded online social network contact list comprises a flag for the contact address information, and wherein the contact address information is included in the seeded online social network contact list based on the tracked second information, wherein the contact is associated with the tracked first information related to the behavior of the first subscriber, and wherein the seeding of the contact list is based at least on a determination that the contact list is unpopulated; and

enabling the second subscriber to send the communication the second member of the online social network based, at least in part, on the portion of the first information.