Timeline view filtered by permissions and affinity to viewer

• US 9,798,439 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2014
• Issued: 10/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Piantino, Serkan, Gibson, Daniel Klatzko, Huang, Jeff, McDonald, Paul M., Vijayvergiya, Arun, Young, Steve, Yung, Raylene Kay, Zuckerberg, Mark E.
• Primary Examiner(s): HONG, STEPHEN S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vaughn, Gregory
• Application Number:
  US14/277,786
• Publication Number:
  US 20140250136A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/447 Temporal browsing, e.g. timeline
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

The invention provides a display interface in a social networking system that enables the presentation of information related to a user in a timeline or map view. The system accesses information about a user of a social networking system, including both data about the user and social network activities related to the user. The system then selects one or more of these pieces of data and/or activities from a certain time period and gathers them into timeline units based on whether the viewing user has permission to view them. These timeline units are ranked by relevance to the user, and are used to generate a timeline for the user containing visual representations of the timeline units organized by time. The timeline view is then provided to other users of the social networking system that wish to view information about the user.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request from a viewing user of a social networking system for a timeline view presenting a plurality of stories in a chronological order based on a time associated with each of the one or more stories;

accessing a plurality of items of narrative data maintained by the social networking system and related to the viewing user;

filtering the plurality of items of narrative data based at least in part on one or more time periods;

removing from the filtered plurality of items of narrative data that the viewing user does not have permission to view;

generating one or more timeline units from the filtered plurality of items of narrative data;

generating an affinity score for each of the one or more timeline units, each affinity score comprising a measure of the relevance of a timeline unit to the viewing user;

generating a ranking of the one or more timeline units based on the affinity scores;

selecting one or more of the timeline units based at least in part on the ranking; and

sending to the client device for display to the viewing user the timeline view comprising displayable representations of the plurality of stories in the chronological order, the plurality of stories corresponding to the narrative data of the selected timeline units.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting one or more timeline units based at least in part on the ranking comprises:

removing narrative data included in a timeline unit from an additional timeline unit.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting one or more timeline units based at least in part on the ranking comprises:

modifying the ranking by removing one or more timeline units from the ranking that include narrative data included in one or more additional timeline units in the ranking; and

selecting one or more of the timeline units based on the modified ranking.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein filtering the narrative data comprises:

removing narrative data included in a timeline unit previously viewed by the viewing user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein filtering the narrative data comprises:

removing narrative data having one or more types not associated with the timeline view.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein each generated timeline unit comprises story metadata and one or more references to narrative data, the story metadata describing visual presentation of a displayable representation of a timeline unit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting one or more timeline units based at least in part on the ranking comprises:

modifying a position in the ranking of a timeline unit having a type based in part on a number of timeline units having the type and having at least a threshold position in the ranking; and

selecting one or more timeline units based at least in part on the modified ranking.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining one or more story generators associated with the timeline view requested by a viewing user of a social networking system; and

wherein filtering the narrative data is based at least in part on the characteristics of the one or more story generators.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor in a social networking system, causes the processor to:

receive a request from a viewing user of a social networking system for a timeline view presenting a plurality of stories in a chronological order based on a time associated with each of the one or more stories;

access a plurality of items of narrative data maintained by the social networking system and related to the viewing user;

filter the plurality of items of narrative data based at least in part on one or more time periods;

remove from the filtered plurality of items of narrative data items that the viewing user does not have permission to view;

generate one or more timeline units from the filtered plurality of items of narrative data;

generate an affinity score for each of the one or more timeline units, each affinity score comprising a measure of the relevance of a timeline unit to the viewing user;

generate a ranking of the one or more timeline units based on the affinity scores;

select one or more of the timeline units based at least in part on the ranking; and

send to the client device for display to the viewing user the timeline view comprising displayable representations of the plurality of stories in the chronological order, the plurality of stories corresponding to the narrative data of the selected timeline units.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions causing the processor to select one or more timeline units based at least in part on the ranking further comprise instructions that cause the processor to remove narrative data included in a timeline unit from an additional timeline unit.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions causing the processor to select one or more timeline units based at least in part on the ranking further comprise instructions that cause the processor to:

modify the ranking by removing one or more timeline units from the ranking that include narrative data included in one or more additional timeline units in the ranking; and

select one or more of the timeline units based on the modified ranking.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein causing the processor to filter the narrative data comprises causing the processor to remove narrative data included in a timeline unit previously viewed by the viewing user.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein causing the processor to filter the narrative data comprises causing the processor to remove narrative data having one or more types not associated with the timeline view.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein each generated timeline unit comprises story metadata and one or more references to narrative data, the story metadata describing visual presentation of a displayable representation of a timeline unit.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions causing the processor to select one or more timeline units based at least in part on the ranking further comprise instructions that cause the processor to:

modify a position in the ranking of a timeline unit having a type based in part on a number of timeline units having the type and having at least a threshold position in the ranking; and

select one or more timeline units based at least in part on the modified ranking.

16. A system comprising:

a user interface manager configured for receiving, by one or more processors, a request from a viewing user of a social networking system for a timeline view presenting a plurality of stories in a chronological order based on a time associated with each of the one or more stories;

a timeline unit generator configured for accessing, by the one or more processors, a plurality of items of narrative data maintained by the social networking system and related to the viewing user;

a timeline manager configured for filtering, by the one or more processors, the plurality of items of narrative data based on at least in part one or more time periods and removing, by the one or more processors, from the filtered plurality of items of narrative data items that the viewing user does not have permission to view;

wherein the timeline unit generator is further configured for generating, by the one or more processors, one or more timeline units from the filtered plurality of items of narrative data, and for generating, by the one or more processors, an affinity score for each of the one or more timeline units, each affinity score comprising a measure of the relevance of a timeline unit to the viewing user;

a timeline unit ranker configured for generating, by the one or more processors, a ranking of the one or more timeline units based on the affinity scores;

wherein the timeline manager is further configured for selecting, by the one or more processors, one or more of the timeline units based at least in part on the ranking; and

wherein the user interface manager is further configured for sending, by the one or more processors, to the client device for display to the viewing user the timeline view comprising displayable representations of the plurality of stories in the chronological order, the plurality of stories corresponding to the narrative data of the selected timeline units.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the timeline manager is further configured for removing narrative data included in a timeline unit from an additional timeline unit.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the timeline manager is further configured for modifying the ranking by removing one or more timeline units from the ranking that include narrative data included in one or more additional timeline units in the ranking and for selecting one or more of the timeline units based on the modified ranking.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein each generated timeline unit comprises story metadata and one or more references to narrative data, the story metadata describing visual presentation of a displayable representation of a timeline unit.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the timeline manager is further configured for modifying a position in the ranking of a timeline unit having a type based in part on a number of timeline units having the type and having at least a threshold position in the ranking and for selecting one or more timeline units based at least in part on the modified ranking.