Aggregating and displaying social networking system user information via a map interface

• US 9,691,128 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2012
• Issued: 06/27/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bayer, Ross David, Watson, Thomas Andrew, Shaffer, Justin Alexander, McCord, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Faulk, Devona
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sun, Hai Tao
• Application Number:
  US13/623,475
• Publication Number:
  US 20140078183A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,741 Days
• Field of Search: 345661, 345666, 345667, 345676, 715738
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/00 2D [Two Dimensional] image generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• 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

Abstract

A map interface presents a geographic map with markers identifying geographic locations associated with content items. When the geographic distance between two or more content items is less than a threshold distance, multiple content items are grouped to create an aggregated content item. Based on the geographic locations associated with the grouped content items, a geographic location is associated with the aggregated content item. A single marker identifies the geographic location for the aggregated content item on the geographic map. When a user viewing the map interface accesses the single marker, content selected from the content items combined to generated the aggregated content item is presented as well as the geographic location associated with the aggregated content item.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing a plurality of content items, each content item associated with a geographic location;

receiving, from a viewing user, a request to present a geographic map via a map interface;

determining a threshold distance for aggregating content items associated with the viewing user for geographic map presented by the map interface;

performing an aggregation process to generate a new aggregated content item from the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user, each content item of the plurality associated with an action performed by a user connected to the viewing user via a social networking system, the aggregation process comprising;

selecting a pair of content items, from the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user, for which the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items have a shortest distance therebetween,

determining that the distance between the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items is within the threshold distance,

combining the selected pair of content items into the new aggregated content item,

adding the new aggregated content item to the plurality of content associated with the viewing user, and

determining a geographic location for the new aggregated content item as a weighted average of the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item, wherein the weighted average weighs a geographic location based on an affinity of the viewing user with the content item associated with the geographic location, the affinity of the viewing user with the content item determined based at least on past interactions of the viewing user with the social networking system, the past interactions associated with the content item;

repeating the aggregation process until the shortest distance between a pair of content items, from the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user, is larger than the threshold distance; and

sending for display to the viewing user the map interface with the new aggregated content item displayed thereon at their corresponding geographic locations.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a zoom level for a map interface for displaying one or more of the content items thereon, wherein the threshold distance for aggregating the content items is inversely related to the determined zoom level.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the geographic location for the new aggregated content item as the weighted average of the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item further comprises:

determining a time associated with the each of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item; and

determining the weighted average of the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item, a weight associated with a geographic location of a content item based at least in part on the times associated with the content item.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the geographic location for the new aggregated content item as the weighted average of the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item comprises:

determining a midpoint between the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item; and

storing the midpoint as the geographic location for the new aggregated content item.

5. A method comprising:

accessing a plurality of content items, each content item associated with a geographic location;

receiving, from a viewing user, a request to present a geographic map via a map interface;

determining a plurality of distances between the geographic locations of pairs of the content items associated with the viewing user for the geographic map presented the map interface;

performing an aggregation process to generate one or more aggregated content items from the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user, each content item of the plurality associated with an action performed by a user connected to the viewing user via a social networking system, the aggregation process comprising;

selecting a pair of content items for which the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items have a shortest distance therebetween;

if the distance between the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items is within a threshold distance;

combining the selected pair of content items into a new aggregated content item, adding the new aggregated content item to the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user, and

determining a geographic location for the new aggregated content item as a weighted average of the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items, wherein the weighted average weighs a geographic location based on an affinity of the viewing user with the content item associated with the geographic location, the affinity of the viewing user with the content item determined based at least on past interactions of the viewing user with the social networking system, the past interactions associated with the content item; and

sending for display to the viewing user a map interface with a plurality of markers, each marker associated with the aggregated content item or with one of the content items from the plurality of content items.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

repeating the aggregation process until a shortest distance between a pair of content items from the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user and from the one or more aggregated content items is larger than the threshold distance.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining a selected zoom level for a map interface for displaying one or more of the content items thereon, wherein the threshold distance is based on the determined selected zoom level for the map interface.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the geographic location for the aggregated content item as the weighted average of the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items further comprises:

determining a time associated with the each of the selected pair of content items; and

determining the weighted average of the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items based at least in part on the times associated with the selected pair of content items.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the geographic location for the aggregated content item as the weighted average of the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items comprises:

determining a midpoint between the geographic locations of each of the selected pair of content items; and

storing the midpoint as the geographic location for the new aggregated content item.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein each content item is associated with a content type.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for:

accessing a plurality of content items, each content item associated with a geographic location;

receiving, from a viewing user, a request to present a geographic map via a map interface;

determining a threshold distance for aggregating content items associated with the viewing user for the geographic map presented by the map interface;

performing an aggregation process to generate a new aggregated content item from the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user, each content item of the plurality associated with an action performed by a user connected to the viewing user via a social networking system, the aggregation process comprising;

selecting a pair of content items, from the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user, for which the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items have a shortest distance therebetween,

determining that the distance between the geographic locations of the selected pair of content items is within the threshold distance,

combining the selected pair of content items into the new aggregated content item,

adding the new aggregated content item to the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user, and

determining a geographic location for the new aggregated content item as a weighted average of the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item, wherein the weighted average weighs a geographic location based on an affinity of the viewing user with the content item associated with the geographic location, the affinity of the viewing user with the content item determined based at least on past interactions of the viewing user with the social networking system, the past interactions associated with the content item;

repeating the aggregation process until the shortest distance between a pair of content items, from the plurality of content items associated with the viewing user, is larger than the threshold distance; and

sending for display to the viewing user the map interface with the new aggregated content item displayed thereon at their corresponding geographic locations.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11, further storing instructions for:

determining a zoom level for a map interface for displaying one or more of the content items thereon, wherein the threshold distance for aggregating the content items is inversely related to the determined zoom level.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein determining the geographic location for the new aggregated content item as the weighted average of the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item further comprises:

determining a time associated with the each of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item; and

determining the weighted average of the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item, a weight associated with a geographic location of a content item based at least in part on the times associated with the content item.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein determining the geographic location for the new aggregated content item as the weighted average of the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item further comprises:

determining a midpoint between the geographic locations of the content items associated with the new aggregated content item; and

storing the midpoint as the geographic location for the new aggregated content item.