Displaying social annotation data

• US 8,560,954 B1
• Filed: 04/13/2012
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Nakajima, Kaisuke, Lin, Jennifer W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): DUONG, HIEN LUONGVAN
• Application Number:
  US13/446,794
• Time in Patent Office: 550 Days
• Field of Search: 715/753
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques that may enable social annotation data to be displayed based on an ordered arrangement. In one example, a method includes receiving an indication of a selection of a social annotation field displayed at a graphical user interface (GUI), and updating the GUI to include social information associated with a portion of the plurality of other users and a plurality of graphical indications selectable by the user to change an order of the social information, wherein the social information is based on the social annotation data and is output in an ordered arrangement associated with a graphical indication displayed at the GUI. The method may also include receiving an indication of a selection of another graphical indication, and updating, based on the selection, the GUI to include the social information associated with another portion of the plurality of other users in another ordered arrangement.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device associated with a user, an indication of a selection of a graphical element displayed at a graphical user interface of the computing device, the graphical element being associated with social information provided by a plurality of other users, wherein the graphical user interface includes content, and wherein the social information is associated with the content;

responsive to receiving the indication of the selection of the graphical element, updating, by the computing device, the graphical user interface to include a social information overlay across at least a portion of the content, the social information overlay including, in a first ordered arrangement of a plurality of ordered arrangements, at least a portion of the social information associated with the content and a plurality of selectable objects each corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of ordered arrangements, wherein at least one of the plurality of ordered arrangements is based on a relationship strength value for each respective user from the plurality of users, wherein the relationship strength value is based at least in part on an amount of contact between the respective user and each other user from the plurality of users, and wherein at least another one of the plurality of ordered arrangements is based on a distance between a physical location associated with the content and the physical location of each respective client device associated with at least one user from the plurality of users;

receiving, by the computing device, an indication of a selection of a selectable object of the plurality of selectable objects; and

responsive to receiving the indication of the selection of the selectable object, updating, by the computing device and based at least in part on the selection of the selectable object, the social information overlay to include a second portion of the social information associated with the content in the at least another one of the plurality of ordered arrangements.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each selectable object of the plurality of selectable objects comprises at least one of a tab, a link, text, an image, a check box, a button, a drop down menu, and a list.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each selectable object of the plurality of selectable objects is associated with a respective ordered arrangement of the plurality of ordered arrangements.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user and each user of the plurality of other users have a user account associated with a social network service.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship strength value for each respective user from the plurality of other users corresponds to a respective relationship strength between the user and the respective user from the plurality of other users that provided social annotation data.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, the social information associated with the content in a decreasing order according to the relationship strength value, wherein the relationship strength value is based at least in part on an amount of contact between the user and each respective other user of the plurality of other users.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the amount of contact is based at least in part on at least one of a number of telephone calls, a number of emails, a number of text messages, a number of appointments in a calendar together, and a number of pictures between the user and each one of the plurality of other users.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the selection of the selectable object comprises an indication of a selection of a first selectable object, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, an indication of a selection of a second selectable object of the plurality of selectable objects included in the social information overlay;

responsive to receiving the indication of the selection of the second graphical indication, updating, by the computing device and based at least in part on the selection of the second graphical indication, the social information overlay to include at least a second portion of the social information associated with the content in a third ordered arrangement of the plurality of ordered arrangements, wherein the third ordered arrangement is associated with the second selectable object.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, the social information associated with the content in an order according to the amount of distance.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the third ordered arrangement is based at least in part on an amount of distance between a physical location of a respective computing device associated with the respective user and a physical location of each respective client device associated with each other user of the plurality of users.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the third ordered arrangement is based at least in part on a time difference between a first time stamp associated with the selection of the content and a time stamp associated with the social information provided by the plurality of other users.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

updating, by the computing device, the social information overlay to include at least a second portion the social information associated with the content in an order according to the time difference.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the third ordered arrangement is based at least in part on a number of users of one or more social groups of a user account of the user, and wherein the user account is associated with a social network service.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

updating, by the computing device, the social information overlay to include at least a second portion of the social information associated with the content in an order according to the number of users of each of the one or more social groups of the user account.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the social information provided by a respective other users of the plurality of other users includes at least one of social annotation data, a user account identifier, a location identifier corresponding to a physical location of a client device of the respective other users, and a time identifier corresponding to a current time.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the first ordered arrangement is a default ordered arrangement, and wherein the default order arrangement is user configurable.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface includes a comment icon associated with one of the plurality of other users, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the computing device, an indication of a selection of the comment icon; and

displaying, by the computing device, a comment provided by the one of the plurality of other users.

18. A computer-readable memory encoded with instructions that cause one or more processors of a computing device associated with a user to perform operations comprising:

receiving an indication of a selection of a graphical element displayed at a graphical user interface of the computing device, the graphical element being associated with social information provided by a plurality of other users, wherein the graphical user interface includes content, and wherein the social information is associated with the content;

responsive to receiving the indication of the selection of the graphical element, updating the graphical user interface to include a social information overlay across at least a portion of the content, the social information overlay including, in a first ordered arrangement of a plurality of ordered arrangements, at least a portion of the social information associated with the content and a plurality of selectable objects each corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of ordered arrangements, wherein at least one of the plurality of ordered arrangements is based on a relationship strength value for each respective user from the plurality of users, wherein the relationship strength value is based at least in part on an amount of contact between the respective user and each other user from the plurality of users, and wherein at least another one of the plurality of ordered arrangements is based on a distance between a physical location associated with the content and the physical location of each respective client device associated with at least one user from the plurality of users;

receiving an indication of a selection of a selectable object of the plurality of selectable objects; and

responsive to receiving the indication of the selection of the selectable object, updating, based at least in part on the selection of the selectable object, the social information overlay to include a second portion of the social information associated with the content in the at least another one of the plurality of ordered arrangements.

19. A system comprising:

one or more server computers; and

at least one application operable to provide instructions to the one or more server computers to;

receive an indication of a selection of a graphical element displayed at a graphical user interface of the computing device, the graphical element being associated with social information provided by a plurality of other users, wherein the graphical user interface includes content, and wherein the social information is associated with the content;

responsive to receiving the indication of the selection of the graphical element, update the graphical user interface to include a social information overlay across at least a portion of the content, the social information overlay including, in a first ordered arrangement of a plurality of ordered arrangements, at least a portion of the social information associated with the content and a plurality of selectable objects each corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of ordered arrangements, wherein at least one of the plurality of ordered arrangements is based on a relationship strength value for each respective user from the plurality of users, wherein the relationship strength value is based at least in part on an amount of contact between the respective user and each other user from the plurality of users, and wherein at least another one of the plurality of ordered arrangements is based on a distance between a physical location associated with the content and the physical location of each respective client device associated with at least one user from the plurality of users;

receive an indication of a selection of a selectable object of the plurality of selectable objects;

responsive to receiving the indication of the selection of the selectable object, update, based at least in part on the selection of the selectable object, the social information overlay to include a second portion of the social information associated with the content in the at least another one of the plurality of ordered arrangements.

20. A method comprising:

storing, by one or more computing devices, social annotation data provided by a plurality of users and associated with content, wherein each user from the plurality of users is associated with a respective user account of a social network service;

determining, by the one or more computing devices, a plurality of ordered arrangements of the social annotation data for each respective user from the plurality of users,

wherein at least one of the plurality of ordered arrangements is based on a relationship strength value for each respective user from the plurality of users, wherein the relationship strength value is based at least in part on an amount of contact between the respective user and each other user from the plurality of users, and

wherein at least one of the plurality of ordered arrangements is based on a distance between a physical location associated with the content and the physical location of each respective client device associated with at least one user from the plurality of users;

receiving, by the one or more computing devices from a client device, a request for an ordered arrangement of the social annotation data, the request specifying a subset of the plurality of users, wherein each user from the subset of users is included in a social group of a user account of the social network service associated with a user of the client device; and

providing, by the one or more computing devices to the client device, the ordered arrangement of a portion of the social annotation data provided by the subset of users.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the ordered arrangement of social annotation data includes information specifying an ordering for social annotation data stored at the client device.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the ordered arrangement of social annotation data includes information specifying an ordering for the portion of the social annotation data.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

identifying, by the one or more computing devices, the portion of social annotation data to provide to the client device based at least in part on the requested ordered arrangement; and

providing the identified portion of the social annotation data to the client device.