Social networking for mobile devices

• US 8,843,551 B2
• Filed: 06/16/2008
• Issued: 09/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hayashi, Nathanael Joe, Ott, E. Stanley IV, Tsang, Audrey Y., Fukuda, Matthew, Wascovich, Daniel James, Quoc, Michael, Beattie, Russell Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): DONAGHUE, LARRY D
• Application Number:
  US12/140,217
• Publication Number:
  US 20080256170A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,290 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9536 Search customisation based on social or collaborative filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A mobile device, system, and method are directed towards enabling an integrated display of live views. The integrated live views are generated by employing social networking information, including moods of a person, avatars, status of a member'"'"'s activities including whether they are in an IM session, or the like. Integrated live views may include a live contact list, a group view, a friend view, an activity oriented view, a list of content, or the like, based on the mobile user'"'"'s social networking information. By providing the mobile user with integrated live views of their social network, the mobile user may be able communicate with other members within the mobile social networking context, to obtain, and respond to invites from a social network member, provide opportunities for activities to other members, to grow their social network, and to consume content that is displayed relative to their social network.

Claims

1. A processor readable storage medium that includes data, wherein the execution of the data provides for managing a mobile communication over a network by enabling actions, including:

receiving from a plurality of social networking members, current vitality information about online and offline activities of each of the respective social networking members, wherein each social networking member'"'"'s client device automatically filtered the provided current vitality information before sending the information based on at least one sharing rule;

employing the sharing rules for distributing aggregated current vitality information of the plurality of social networking members;

distributing other non-aggregated current vitality information to the plurality of social networking members;

enabling respective client devices of at least a subset of the plurality of social networking members to receive selections of the aggregated current vitality information and the non-aggregated current vitality information from the subset of the plurality of social networking members; and

in response to the selections;

enabling the client devices to generate respective integrated live views for each of the subset of social networking members, the respective integrated live views are customized to the respective selections of the social networking members from the aggregated current vitality information and the non-aggregated current vitality information;

enabling the client devices to display the respective selected integrated live views that are based on the selected current vitality representation and the non-aggregated current vitality information.

2. The processor readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the client device is further enabled to display at least the other non- aggregated current vitality information.

3. The processor readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the non-aggregated current vitality information comprises a current location of each social networking member.

4. The processor readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the display further comprises displaying aggregated current vitality representation or non-aggregated current vitality information, along with a social networking member'"'"'s identity, in a ordering based on a proximity to the client device.

5. The processor readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the display presents the aggregated current vitality representation or non-aggregated current vitality information in an integrated live view on the client device.

6. A network device to manage a mobile communication, comprising:

a transceiver to send and receive data over the network; and

a processor that is operative to perform actions, including;

receiving, from each social networking member in a plurality of mobile social networking members, current vitality information about online and offline activities of the respective social networking member;

receiving from each mobile social networking member in a plurality of social networking members a sharing rule;

employing the received sharing rules to distribute respective current vitality information;

distributing aggregated current vitality information to the plurality of mobile social networking members based further on the sharing rules;

distributing other non-aggregated current vitality information to the plurality of mobile social networking members;

enabling mobile devices of at least a subset of the plurality mobile social networking members to receive selections of the aggregated current vitality information and non-aggregated current vitality information from at least a subset of the plurality of social networking members; and

in response to the selections;

enabling the mobile devices to generate respective integrated live views for each of the subset of mobile social networking members, the respective integrated live views are customized to the respective selections of the mobile social networking members from the aggregated current vitality information and the non-aggregated current vitality information;

enabling the mobile devices to display the respective customized integrated live views that are based on the selected aggregated current vitality and the non-aggregated current vitality information.

7. The network device of claim 6, wherein the vitality information includes at least a current mood indication of the respective social networking member.

8. The network device of claim 6, wherein the aggregated current vitality representation represents an aggregated opinion of the social networking members.

9. The network device of claim 6, wherein the processor that is operative to perform further actions, including:

distributing non-aggregated current vitality information to the plurality of mobile social networking members based further on the sharing rules.

10. The network device of claim 9, wherein the processor that is operative to perform further actions, including:

enabling the client device to display a subset of the aggregated current vitality representation or non-aggregated current vitality information based on social grouping of at least some of the social networking members.

11. A method operating on a network device that manages a mobile communication over a network, comprising:

receiving, from each social networking member in a plurality of social networking members, current vitality information about the online and offline activities of respective social networking member;

receiving from each social networking member in a plurality of social networking members a sharing rule for distributing respective current vitality information;

employing the received sharing rules to distribute respective current vitality information;

distributing the aggregated current vitality information and non-aggregated current vitality information to the plurality of social networking members based further on the sharing rules and a social networking relationship between a mobile user and the respective social networking members; and

enabling client devices associated with at least a subset of the plurality of social networking members to receive respective selections of the aggregated current vitality and non-aggregated current vitality information; and

in response to the selections;

enabling the client devices to generate respective integrated live views for each of the subset of social networking members, the respective integrated live views are customized to the respective selections of the social networking members from the aggregated current vitality and the non-aggregated current vitality information;

enabling display of the respective customized integrated live views on respective client devices of the subset of social networking members, the respective integrated live views are customized based on the selected aggregated current vitality information and the non-aggregated current vitality information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the aggregated current vitality representation or non-aggregated current vitality information are displayable at a client device based on a proximity of each social networking member to the client device displaying the information and representation.