Maps for social networking and geo blogs

• US 8,352,183 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2006
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Thota, Chandrasekhar, Kimchi, Gur
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): PIPALA, EDWARD J
• Application Number:
  US11/401,209
• Publication Number:
  US 20070203644A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,465 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/207, 701/208, 701/209, 701/211, 701/212, 701/213, 701/300, 701/400, 701/409, 701/450, 701/454, 701/461, 701/516, 340989-990, 340/995.1, 340/995.13, 340/995.14, 340/995.15, 340/995.18, 340/995.24, 340/995.23, 340/995.27, 707/705, 707/724, 707/726, 707732-734
• US Class Current: 701/454
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services

Abstract

A unique system, method, and user interface are provided that involve an integration of map technology with social networks so that individuals can select members of these communities with which to communicate based at least in part on their location, thus enhancing the communication experience. This can be referred to as geo-based messaging. In particular, a member or user of the system and/or method can include his/her personal location information, for example, when joining an online community or social network. This location information can be employed to generate one or more maps that plot the locations of messages posted by community members. As a result, a user can readily visualize any other users or community members located at any selected distance from him/her or from any selected focal point.

Claims

1. One or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, perform a method for associating a geographic location with blog posts uploaded to an online-social-network community to enhance communication within the online-social-network community, the method comprising:

determining, without user interaction at a current time, a current location of a first online-social-network community member uploading a first blog post to the online-social-network community;

associating the current location of the first member with the first blog post by tagging geo-code data to the first blog post as the first blog post is uploaded to the online-social-network community, wherein the first blog post is not otherwise physically tied to the geographic location from which the first blog post is uploaded, wherein the current location associated with the first blog post is preset in the geo-code data for association with postings of the user regardless of the user'"'"'s actual geographic location, and wherein the first blog post comprises a message that is accessible by at least one other member of the online-social-network community;

storing in a social network database the first blog post and the associated geo-code data;

rendering on a display device, at least one map view of a plurality of second blog posts uploaded by one or more second online-social-network community members, wherein the map view illustrates respective geographic locations associated with each of the plurality of second blog posts according to respective geo-code data tagged to each second blog post, wherein the map view is generated based on a focal point selected by the user, wherein the plurality of second blog posts is rendered on the map according to their respective distances from the focal point, and wherein the first blog post is included in the plurality of second blog posts and the first member is one of the one or more second members; and

displaying information about the first or one of the plurality of second blog posts when a pointing device is hovered over an associated indicator on the map view representing the geographic location associated with the first or the one of the plurality of second blog posts, the information comprising at least a title of the respective blog post.

2. The computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the focal point corresponds to one of a location of a user viewing the map view or a location of a selected one of the plurality of second blog posts.

3. The computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

processing one or more search queries to find one or more of the plurality of second blog posts that are associated with a requested city, state, or country.

4. The computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

facilitating navigation through at least a portion of the plurality of second blog posts according to their associated geographic locations.

5. The computer storage media of claim 4, wherein the method further facilitates discovery of a topic of interest to one or more social-network community members based on subject matter of the second posts to the social-network community.

6. The computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

presenting at least a portion of the plurality of second blog posts that are within a given navigational distance of a selected blog post.

7. The computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

analyzes analyzing at least one query to find one or more of the plurality of second blog posts associated with a desired geographic location, whereby available results are rendered in the at least one map view.

8. The computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the current location of the online-social-network community member uploading the first blog post is at least one of a location from which the first post is posted to the online-social-network community or a preset location associated with the member.

9. The computer storage media of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises facilitating viewing of illustrated locations-associated with each of the plurality of second posts on the at least one rendered map view.

10. A method for presenting a user interface that facilitates viewing blog posts uploaded to a social blogging community based on respective geographic locations from which the blog posts were posted, the method comprising:

generating an individualized map view based on a user-specified user geographic location configured for display on a display device coupled to a computing device, the individualized map view including a map customized to show the user-specified user geographic location as a focal point and having indicators representing blog posts uploaded by members of the social blogging community and respective geographic locations associated with each blog post, wherein the indicators on the map are selectable to display, on the map, at least a portion of the content of one blog post posted by a member of the social blogging community and the location associated with each blog post representing the location of the respective associated members at the time each member posted the blog post, wherein the blog posts are otherwise unidentifiable with a geographic location, and wherein the location of the respective associated member is capable of being preset by the respective associated member regardless of the member'"'"'s actual location;

displaying information about a particular one of the blog posts when a pointing device is hovered over an associated indicator on the map representing the geographic location associated with the particular blog post, the information comprising at least a title of the particular blog post;

providing at least one status bar comprising a count of blog posts posted to the social blogging community by the members of the social blogging community that are associated with a geographic location within a set distance from the focal point on the individualized map view, the focal point being selected by the user;

providing a search field that accepts location-based search queries to facilitate searching for blog posts according to the associated geographic locations of the blog posts, the search field also accepting subject-matter-based search queries and content-based search queries for searching for blog posts according to their subject matter or the content of the blog posts; and

providing a set-up information display that comprises one or more set-up options, the one or more set-up options facilitating joining the social blogging community and interacting with one or more members thereof.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the blog posts comprise at least one of message posts or event posts.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

displaying, on the individualized map view, mapped indicators representing at least a subset of the blog posts that are associated with a geographic location that is within a set distance from the selected focal point.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the information further comprises at least one of the following:

author of the blog post, date of the blog post, or at least a subset of content from the blog post.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

displaying, on the individualized map view, mapped indicators representing geographic locations associated with one or more blog posts that are within the set distance from the selected focal point.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein further comprising:

zooming in or out on the individualized map view for viewing of different levels of geographic location details and different numbers of blog posts.

16. A method that facilitates visualizing community member locations based on geographic locations associated with blog posts of the members to enhance communication within a blogging community, the method comprising:

employing a processor executing computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium to implement the following acts;

receiving a blog post from a blogging-community member, the blog post including an indication of an author of the blog post and a date of posting;

determining without user interaction at a time of posting, a current location of the blogging-community member upon receiving the blog post, wherein the current location of the online-social-network community member uploading the first post is at least one of a location from which the first post is posted to the online-social-network community or a location preset by input from the blogging-community member to associate with postings by the blogging-community member regardless of the blogging-community member'"'"'s actual geographic location;

automatically associating the current location with the blog post by tagging geo-code data to the received blog post, the geo-code data comprising the determined current location of the blogging-community member who posted the blog post;

rendering at least one map view including a first marker located on the map view in accordance with the geo-code data and representing the received blog post, the first marker being displayed together with at least a second marker representing a disparate blog post and located on the map view according to geo-code data associated with the disparate blog post, and the first marker indicating one or more blogging communities to which the blogging-community member belongs, wherein the map view is generated based on a selected focal point with the second marker rendered on the map according to its distance from the focal point; and

displaying on the map view upon hovering a pointing device over the first marker, information about the blogging-community member and at least one of a title of the blogging-community member'"'"'s blog, a portion of the content of the blog post, the indication of the author, and the date of the posting.