Selective delivery of social network messages within a social network

• US 8,825,777 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2011
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: DeLuca, Michael Joseph, Hill, Thomas Casey
• Primary Examiner(s): Whipple, Brian P
• Application Number:
  US13/253,252
• Publication Number:
  US 20130091223A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,063 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

The present disclosure provides for selective delivery of social network messages within a social network. When it is determined that one or more new messages to be communicated to members of a social group of the social network have content substantially similar to a given content of a plurality of messages previously communicated to the social group, notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group can be selectively adjusted.

Claims

1. A method of managing electronic communications within a social group of a social network, comprising:

monitoring messages communicated within the social group;

determining content shared by a number of messages communicated within the social group, wherein the number of messages sharing the determined content satisfies at least one of;

a growth rate of the number of messages meets or exceeds a growth rate threshold; and

the number of messages meets or exceeds a message quantity threshold;

determining whether one or more new messages to be communicated to one or more members of the social group comprises content similar to the determined content; and

selectively adjusting notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group in response to determining that the one or more new messages to be communicated to the one or more members of the social group comprises content similar to the determined content.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selectively prioritizing communication of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group if the content of the one or more new messages is not similar to the determined content.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the content of the one or more new messages has an originality level with regard to the determined content.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising selectively adjusting notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group when the content of the one or more new messages is not similar to the determined content, but comprises flagged content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively adjusting notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group comprises selectively delaying a reception of the one or more new messages by the one or more members by selectively delaying a completion of transmission of the one or more new messages.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively adjusting notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group comprises transmitting an alert of the one or more new messages after reception of the one or more new messages by a social network server.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

alerting a moderator entity of the determined content;

the moderator entity selectively delaying notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group when the one or more new messages has content that is similar to the determined content.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the moderator entity selectively delaying notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group when the content of the one or more new messages is not similar to the determined content but comprises flagged content.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

observing the plurality of messages communicated within the social group of the social network, the plurality of messages sharing the determined content;

determining one or more detrimental patterns of the observed plurality of messages communicated, wherein the one or detrimental patterns are potentially socially harmful to at least one of one or more users of the social network and to message traffic in the social network; and

selectively adjusting notification of one or more new messages having content similar to the determined content of the plurality of messages communicated within the social group in order to mitigate the one or more detrimental patterns.

10. A social network server coupled to a communications network that facilitates exchange of electronic communications within a social group of the communications network, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to and in cooperative arrangement with the processor, the processor and the memory configured to;

monitor messages communicated within the social group;

determine content shared by a number of messages communicated within the social group, wherein the number of messages sharing the determined content satisfies at least one of;

a growth rate of the number of messages meets or exceeds a growth rate threshold; and

the number of messages meets or exceeds a message quantity threshold;

determine whether one or more new messages to be communicated to a plurality of members of the social group comprises content similar to the determined content, the plurality of messages stored in the memory of the social network server; and

selectively adjust notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group in response to determining that one or more new messages to be communicated to one or more members of the social group comprises content similar to the determined content.

11. The server of claim 10, wherein the determined content of the plurality of messages is at least one of content related to an objectionable topic and content related to a member of the social group.

12. The server of claim 10, wherein the processor and the memory in cooperative arrangement selectively adjust notification of the one or more new messages to one or more members of the social group by selectively delaying notification of the one or more new messages.

13. The server of claim 10, the processor and the memory of the social network server further configured to:

selectively prioritize communication of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group if the content of the one or more new messages is not similar to the determined content.

14. The server of claim 10, the processor and the memory of the social network server further configured to:

selectively adjust notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group when the content of the one or more new messages is not similar to the determined content, but comprises flagged content.

15. The social network server of claim 10, the processor and the memory further configured to:

observe a plurality of messages communicated within the social group of the social network, the plurality of messages sharing the determined content;

determine one or more detrimental patterns of the observed plurality of messages communicated, wherein the one or detrimental patterns are potentially socially harmful to at least one of one or more users of the social network and message traffic in the social network and wherein the one or more detrimental patterns are determined from the plurality of messages stored in the memory of the social network server; and

selectively adjust notification to the social group of one or more new messages having content similar to the determined content in order to mitigate the one or more detrimental patterns.

16. The server of claim 15, the processor and the memory further configured to:

selectively adjust notification of the one or more new messages to yield one or more beneficial patterns that are potentially beneficial to at least one of one or more users of the social network and to message traffic in the social network.

17. The server of claim 15, wherein the one or more detrimental patterns of the plurality of messages communicated comprise one or more of a growth rate of distribution of the plurality of messages sharing the determined content that meets or exceeds a growth rate threshold, the quantity of the plurality of messages that meets or exceeds the message quantity threshold, the determined content comprising flagged content, and the determined content comprising an originality level less than an originality threshold.

18. The server of claim 15, wherein the processor and memory generate an alert of the one or more new messages after reception of the one or more new messages by the social network server to selectively adjust notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for causing a server comprising a processor and associated memory to manage electronic communications within a social group of a social network by a performing a method comprising:

monitoring messages communicated within the social group;

determining content shared by a number of messages communicated within the social group, wherein the number of messages sharing the determined content satisfies at least one of;

a growth rate of the number of messages meets or exceeds a growth rate threshold; and

the number of messages meets or exceeds a message quantity threshold;

determining whether one or more new messages to be communicated to one or more members of the social group comprises content similar to the determined content; and

selectively adjusting notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group in response to determining that the one or more new messages to be communicated to the one or members of the social group comprises content similar to the determined content.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising:

selectively prioritizing communication of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group if the content of the one or more new messages is not similar to the determined content of the plurality of messages.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising selectively delaying notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group when the content of the one or more new messages is not similar to the determined content but comprises flagged content.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein selectively adjusting notification of the one or more new messages to the one or more members of the social group comprises one or more of delaying a reception of the one or more new messages by the one or more members and transmitting an alert of the one or more new messages after its reception by the server.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising:

observing a plurality of messages communicated within the social group sharing the determined content;

determining one or more detrimental patterns of the observed plurality of messages communicated, wherein the one or detrimental patterns are potentially socially harmful to at least one of one or more users of the social network or message traffic in the social network; and

selectively adjusting notification of the one or more new messages having content similar to the determined content of the plurality of messages within the social group in order to mitigate the one or more detrimental patterns.