Automatically managing objectionable behavior in a web-based social network

• US 8,671,150 B2
• Filed: 06/05/2013
• Issued: 03/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bosworth, Andrew G., Marlette, Scott, Putnam, Christopher W., Wable, Akhil
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thai
• Application Number:
  US13/910,552
• Publication Number:
  US 20130268661A1
• Time in Patent Office: 279 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/207, 709/206, 709/224, 709/229, 709/228, 709/225
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• 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 system and method for curtailing objectionable behavior in a web-based social network is disclosed. The method includes monitoring various actions of users of a web-based social network for objectionable behavior. The monitored actions are those that affect other users of the social network. A policy is determined based on behaviors of users. The policy may be violated by a user if the user exceeds a policy threshold. Some monitored actions include the poking, friend requesting, and wall posting. A policy may be violated by multiple occurrences of a single type of action or by a combination of different types of actions. Upon a policy violation, a warning may be issued to the user or the user'"'"'s account may be suspended.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting an action performed by a user that is a member of a group of social networking system users;

responsive to a determination that the action affects one or more users within the group of social networking system users, incrementing a maintained number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more users within the group of social networking system users and taking a first corrective action if the maintained number exceeds a first non-zero threshold; and

responsive to a determination that the action affects one or more users outside the group of social networking system users, incrementing a maintained number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more users outside the group of social networking system users and taking a second corrective action if the maintained number exceeds a second threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first non-zero threshold and the second non-zero threshold vary over time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first non-zero threshold is dependent on an activity level of users in the group of social networking system users.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first non-zero threshold is greater than the second non-zero threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first corrective action and the second corrective action comprise the same corrective action.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the detected action comprises a communication from the user to another user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the maintained number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more users within the group of social networking system users and the maintained number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more users outside the group of social networking system users are periodically reset.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein incrementing the maintained number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more users within the group of social networking system users comprises increasing the maintained number by an amount dependent on a type of detected action performed by the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein incrementing the maintained number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more users outside the group of social networking system users comprises increasing the maintained number by an amount dependent on a type of detected action performed by the user.

10. A method comprising:

detecting an action performed by a user of a social networking system;

maintaining, by the social networking system, a group of members comprising a set of associated social networking system users including the user;

responsive to a determination that the action affects one or more group members, incrementing a number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more group members and taking a first corrective action if the number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more group members over an interval of time exceeds a first non-zero threshold; and

responsive to a determination that the action affects one or more users that are not group members, incrementing a number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more users that are not group members and taking a second corrective action if the number of times the user has performed actions that affect one or more users that are not group members over the interval of time exceeds a second non-zero threshold.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first non-zero threshold and the second non-zero threshold vary over time.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first non-zero threshold is dependent on an activity level of group members.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the first non-zero threshold is greater than the second non-zero threshold.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the first corrective action and the second corrective action comprise the same corrective action.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the detected action comprises a communication from the user to another user.