Multimedia aggregation in an online social network

• US 9,798,705 B2
• Filed: 04/11/2013
• Issued: 10/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tiu, William K., Roberto, Jeffrey J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Won, Michael Y
• Application Number:
  US13/861,270
• Publication Number:
  US 20130227395A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,657 Days
• Field of Search: 709203, 709217, 709227, 709230, 715201, 715203, 715234, 715235, 715236
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/40 Support for services or applications

Abstract

Multimedia content is featured on user pages of an online social network using embed codes that are generated using a configuration file associated with the source ID for the multimedia content and a content ID for the multimedia content. The configuration file, the source ID and the content ID are stored locally by the online social network so that any changes to the embed codes can be made by changing the configuration file associated with the source and regenerating the embed codes. By managing multimedia content in this manner, greater control can be exercised by the online social network over the multimedia content that are featured on its user pages.

Claims

1. A method comprising, by a computing device:

receiving, by one or more processors associated with one or more computer servers of an online social network, a request to share a multimedia content item, the multimedia content item being associated with a third-party source that is separate from and external to the online social network, and the request being associated with a first user of an online social network;

associating, by the one or more processors, the multimedia content item with a source ID, the source ID identifying a configuration for generating an embed code for accessing content provided by the third-party source;

extracting, by the one or more processors, a content ID from a URL associated with the multimedia content item;

storing, by the one or more processors, a content entry, the content entry being associated with an identifier for the first user of the online social network, the content entry comprising the source ID and the content ID;

receiving, from a client system of a second user of the online social network, a request for a web page of the online social network, wherein the first user and second user are within a threshold degree of separation within a social graph of the online social network;

determining that the requested web page is to contain content shared by the first user;

retrieving the content entry based at least in part on the identifier for the first user of the online social network;

retrieving the configuration based at least in part on the source ID of the content entry;

generating an embed code for the multimedia content item using the retrieved configuration and the content ID of the content entry; and

transmitting, to the client system of the second user, information to display the web page, the web page comprising the generated embed code for the multimedia content item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the embed code is an HTML code that specifies a URL.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the web page comprises a profile page for the first user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to share the multimedia content item is received from the third-party source.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to share the multimedia content item comprises the identifier for the first user, a password, and the URL associated with the multimedia content item.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

authenticating the identifier for the first user against the password; and

wherein the storing of the content entry takes place after determining that the first user has been authenticated.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the web page including the embed code.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the embed code is operative to cause a client application to retrieve the multimedia content item from the third-party source.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing the social graph comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges connecting the nodes, each of one or more of the nodes being associated with one of a plurality of users of an online social network, each connection between two nodes representing a relationship between them and establishing a single degree of separation between them; and

wherein the request to share the multimedia content item is received from a client system of the first user, the first user being associated with a first node of the plurality of nodes.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second user is associated with a second node of the plurality of nodes.

11. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors operable when executing the instructions to;

receive a request to share a multimedia content item, the multimedia content item being associated with a third-party source that is separate from and external to an online social network, and the request being associated with a first user of an online social network;

associate the multimedia content item with a source ID, the source ID identifying a configuration for generating an embed code for accessing content provided by the third-party source;

extract a content ID from a URL associated with the multimedia content item;

store a content entry, the content entry being associated with an identifier for the first user of the online social network, the content entry comprising the source ID and the content ID;

receive, from a client system of a second user of the online social network, a request for a web page of the online social network, wherein the first user and second user are within a threshold degree of separation within a social graph of the online social network;

determining that the requested web page is to contain content shared by the first user;

retrieve the content entry based at least in part on the identifier for the first user of the online social network;

retrieving the configuration based at least in part on the source ID of the content entry;

generate an embed code for the multimedia content item using the retrieved configuration and the content ID of the content entry; and

transmit, to the client system of the second user, information to display the web page, the web page comprising the generated embed code for the multimedia content item.

12. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to:

receive a request to share a multimedia content item, the multimedia content item being associated with a third-party source that is separate from and external to an online social network, and the request being associated with a first user of an online social network;

associate the multimedia content item with a source ID, the source ID identifying a configuration for generating an embed code for accessing content provided by the third-party source;

extract a content ID from a URL associated with the multimedia content item;

store a content entry, the content entry being associated with an identifier for the first user of the online social network, the content entry comprising the source ID and the content ID;

receive, from a client system of a second user of the online social network, a request for a web page of the online social network, wherein the first user and second user are within a threshold degree of separation within a social graph of the online social network;

determining that the requested web page is to contain content shared by the first user;

retrieve the content entry based at least in part on the identifier for the first user of the online social network;

retrieving the configuration based at least in part on the source ID of the content entry;

generate an embed code for the multimedia content item using the retrieved configuration and the content ID of the content entry; and

transmit, to the client system of the second user, information to display the web page, the web page comprising the generated embed code for the multimedia content item.