Providing an answer to a question left unanswered in an electronic forum

• US 8,972,428 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dicker, Russell A., Farrell, Brandon W., King, Joseph, Robinson, James G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ly, Anh
• Application Number:
  US13/619,750
• Publication Number:
  US 20130018909A1
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 707/608, 707/722, 707/769, 707/E17.014, 707/706, 707/E17.108, 707/E17.063, 707/E17.082, 707/E17.141, 707/758, 707/E17.009, 715/758, 715/738, 715/751, 715/780, 715/753
• US Class Current: 707/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for providing an answer to a question left unanswered in an electronic discussion forum. In some embodiments, a question that has not been answered may be identified in a first discussion forum. A second discussion forum in which to present the question may be determined, where the second discussion forum is more likely than the first discussion forum to result in an answer to the question. The question may then be presented in the second discussion forum, and one or more responses to the question may be received in the second discussion forum. It may then be determined whether one of the one or more responses includes a good answer to the question, and when the determination is that one of the one or more responses includes a good answer, the good answer may be presented in the first discussion forum.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing an answer to a question in a discussion forum, the computer-implemented method comprising:

as implemented by one or more computing devices configured with specific executable instructions,

identifying a question in a first discussion forum, wherein the first discussion forum is stored in a data store;

determining that the first discussion forum does not include an answer to the question;

based at least in part on the determination that the first discussion forum does not include an answer to the question, determining a second discussion forum in which to present the question, wherein the second discussion forum is determined to be more likely than the first discussion forum to result in an answer to the question based at least in part on activity information that indicates at least a number of users that participate in the second discussion forum;

presenting the question in the second discussion forum based at least in part on the determination that the first discussion forum does not include an answer to the question; and

receiving one or more responses to the question in the second discussion forum.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether at least one of the one or more responses in the second discussion forum comprises a good answer to the question.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising, when the determination is that the at least one response in the second discussion forum comprises a good answer, presenting the good answer in the first discussion forum.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising determining at least one additional location in which to present the good answer, said at least one additional location comprising a location other than the first discussion forum and the second discussion forum.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising notifying a user that the question has received a response in the second discussion forum, wherein the user submitted the question in the first discussion forum.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising providing a user with an answer received in the second discussion forum, wherein the user submitted the question in the first discussion forum.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first discussion forum and the second discussion forum are each associated with at least one of an item, a category, a sub-category, a community, or a tag.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the activity information associated with the second discussion forum further indicates at least one of:

a number of discussions in the second discussion forum, a number of responses in each discussion in the second discussion forum, an average length of time for a question presented in the second discussion forum to receive a response, or an average length of time for a question presented in the second discussion forum to receive a good answer.

9. A system for providing an answer to a question in a discussion forum, the system comprising:

a data store configured to at least store data associated with a plurality of discussion forums; and

a computing device in communication with the data store and that is configured to at least;

identify a question in a first discussion forum, wherein the first discussion forum is stored in the data store;

determine that the first discussion forum does not include an answer to the question; and

based at least in part on the determination that the first discussion forum does not include an answer to the question;

automatically determine a second discussion forum in which to present the question, wherein the second discussion forum is determined based at least in part on a likelihood that presenting the question in the second discussion forum will result in an answer to the question being received in the second discussion forum, wherein the likelihood is based at least in part on activity information that indicates at least a number of discussions in the second discussion forum; and

automatically present the question in the second discussion forum.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the computing device is further configured to at least receive one or more responses to the question in the second discussion forum.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the computing device is further configured to at least determine whether one of the one or more responses comprises an answer to the question.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the computing device is further configured to at least, when the determination is that the at least one response in the second discussion forum comprises an answer to the question, present the answer in the first discussion forum.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the activity information further indicates at least one of:

a number of users posting in the second discussion forum, a number of responses in each discussion in the second discussion forum, an average length of time to receive an answer to a question in the second discussion forum, or user feedback regarding posts in the second discussion forum.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more computer systems, configure the one or more computer systems to perform operations comprising:

identifying a question in a first discussion forum;

determining that the first discussion forum does not include an answer to the question;

determining a second discussion forum in which to present the question, wherein the second discussion forum is determined based at least in part on activity information associated with the second discussion forum, wherein the activity information indicates at least a number of users that participate in the second discussion forum; and

presenting the question in the second discussion forum based at least in part on the determination that the first discussion forum does not include an answer to the question.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the activity information associated with the second discussion forum further indicates at least one of a number of discussions in the second discussion forum, or a number of responses in each discussion in the second discussion forum.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise receiving one or more responses to the question in the second discussion forum.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise determining whether at least one of the one or more responses comprises an answer to the question.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise, when the determination is that the at least one response in the second discussion forum comprises an answer, presenting the answer in the first discussion forum.