Social network grouping method and system, and computer storage medium

• US 10,462,253 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2014
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: Liu, Yuewen, Chen, Chuan, He, Peng, Mai, Junming, Li, Yuhuang, Chen, Weihua
• Primary Examiner(s): Ndiaye, Cheikh T
• Application Number:
  US14/541,398
• Publication Number:
  US 20150074198A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,810 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• 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 method, system and computer-readable storage medium for social network grouping are provided. The method includes: acquiring friend relation data of a first user, the friend relation data comprising one or more friend nodes; determining a weight of each of the friend nodes based on the friend relation data acquired; forming a first friend circle with a first friend node having a greatest weight among the friend nodes; traversing the friend nodes to find an optimum friend of the first friend circle; adding the optimum friend into the first friend circle; and repeating the traversing and adding until all optimum friends of the first friend circle are added into the first friend circle. The method determines the weight of each friend node based on the friend relation data and performs grouping by the weights, which is able to conduct a smart grouping with high speed, low throughput, and high efficiency.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

at a server system of a social network application, the server system comprising one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors;

acquiring relation data between a first user of the social network application and a plurality of friends of the first user, wherein each of the friends is a user of the social network application and has a direct contact relationship with the first user;

generating and storing a plurality of friend circles using the relation data, wherein;

(i) each of the friend circles includes a subset of the plurality of friends and a respective friend circle score that is determined based on connections of respective friends in the subset, (ii) each friend in the subset has a corresponding direct contact relationship with the first user and with at least one other friend in the subset, and (iii) the plurality of friends includes a friend that appears in two of the friend circles;

sending information of the generated friend circles to a client device of the first user and causing display on a user interface of the client device the sent information, including (i) an identification of a first one of the plurality of friend circles;

(ii) an identification of a second one of the plurality of friend circles;

(iii) identification of a first subset of friends in the first friend circle; and

(iv) identification of a second subset of friends in the first friend circle;

receiving a first input via the user interface to move a first friend from the second friend circle to the first friend circle; and

responsive to the received input and in accordance with a determination that the first friend is not already in the first friend circle;

updating the stored first friend circle and the second friend circle;

causing display on the user interface an updated view including a modified first subset of friends and a modified second subset of friends, wherein the modified first subset of friends includes the first friend and the modified second subset of friends excludes the first friend; and

updating the friend circle score of the first and second friend circles.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after acquiring the relation data, representing the relation data as a plurality of nodes, each of the plurality of nodes representing a distinct friend of the plurality of friends.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the plurality of friend circles comprises:

determining a weight of each of the nodes based on the relation data;

forming the first friend circle with a single, initial node having the greatest weight among the nodes;

determining a first optimum node of the initial node according to the friend relation data, wherein the first optimum node is a node of the plurality of nodes that benefits the first friend circle with a maximum increment in the first friend circle score upon joining the first friend circle;

adding the first optimum node to the first friend circle; and

updating and storing identification of a friend corresponding to the first optimum node to the first friend circle.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising repeating automatically the steps of determining, adding, updating, and storing, until no eligible first optimum node remains, wherein the eligibility is based on an increment in the first friend circle score upon joining the first friend circle.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

forming the second friend circle with a single, third node having the greatest weight among remaining nodes that are not in the first friend circle;

determining a second optimum node of the third node according to the friend relation data, wherein the second optimum node is a node of the remaining nodes that benefits the second friend circle with a maximum increment in the second friend circle score upon joining the second friend circle;

adding the second optimum node to the second friend circle; and

updating and storing identification of a second friend corresponding to the second optimum node to the second friend circle.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the weight of each of the friend nodes comprises adding a strength value to the friend nodes, wherein the strength value includes a contact frequency, a nature of relation, and a contact type.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first friend circle and the second friend circle includes a third friend that is a member of both the first friend circle and the second friend circle.

8. A computer system for grouping users of an online social network application, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations including;

acquiring relation data between a first user of the social network application and a plurality of friends of the first user, wherein each of the friends is a user of the social network application and has a direct contact relationship with the first user;

generating and storing a plurality of friend circles using the relation data, wherein;

(i) each of the friend circles includes a subset of the plurality of friends and a respective friend circle score that is determined based on connections of respective friends in the subset, (ii) each friend in the subset has a corresponding direct contact relationship with the first user and with at least one other friend in the subset, and (iii) the plurality of friends includes a friend that appears in two of the friend circles;

sending information of the generated friend circles to a client device of the first user and causing display on a user interface of the client device the sent information, including (i) an identification of a first one of the plurality of friend circles;

(ii) an identification of a second one of the plurality of friend circles;

(iii) identification of a first subset of friends in the first friend circle; and

(iv) identification of a second subset of friends in the first friend circle;

receiving a first input via the user interface to move a first friend from the second friend circle to the first friend circle; and

responsive to the received input and in accordance with a determination that the first friend is not already in the first friend circle;

updating the stored first friend circle and the second friend circle;

causing display on the user interface an updated view including a modified first subset of friends and a modified second subset of friends, wherein the modified first subset of friends includes the first friend and the modified second subset of friends excludes the first friend; and

updating the friend circle score of the first and second friend circles.

9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

after acquiring the relation data, representing the relation data as a plurality of nodes, each of the plurality of nodes representing a distinct friend of the plurality of friends.

10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein generating the plurality of friend circles comprises:

determining a weight of each of the nodes based on the relation data;

forming the first friend circle with a single, initial node having the greatest weight among the nodes;

determining a first optimum node of the initial node according to the friend relation data, wherein the first optimum node is a node of the plurality of nodes that benefits the first friend circle with a maximum increment in the first friend circle score upon joining the first friend circle;

adding the first optimum node to the first friend circle; and

updating and storing identification of a friend corresponding to the first optimum node to the first friend circle.

11. The computer system of claim 10, further comprising repeating automatically the steps of determining, adding, updating, and storing, until no eligible first optimum node remains, wherein the eligibility is based on an increment in the first friend circle score upon joining the first friend circle.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

forming the second friend circle with a single, third node having the greatest weight among remaining nodes that are not in the first friend circle;

determining a second optimum node of the third node according to the friend relation data, wherein the second optimum node is a node of the remaining nodes that benefits the second friend circle with a maximum increment in the second friend circle score upon joining the second friend circle;

adding the second optimum node to the second friend circle; and

updating and storing identification of a second friend corresponding to the second optimum node to the second friend circle.

13. The computer system of claim 10, wherein determining the weight of each of the friend nodes comprises adding a strength value to the friend nodes, wherein the strength value includes a contact frequency, a nature of relation, and a contact type.

14. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the first friend circle and the second friend circle includes a third friend that is a member of both the first friend circle and the second friend circle.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations including:

acquiring relation data between a first user of the social network application and a plurality of friends of the first user, wherein each of the friends is a user of the social network application and has a direct contact relationship with the first user;

generating and storing a plurality of friend circles using the relation data, wherein;

(i) each of the friend circles includes a subset of the plurality of friends and a respective friend circle score that is determined based on connections of respective friends in the subset, (ii) each friend in the subset has a corresponding direct contact relationship with the first user and with at least one other friend in the subset, and (iii) the plurality of friends includes a friend that appears in two of the friend circles;

sending information of the generated friend circles to a client device of the first user and causing display on a user interface of the client device the sent information, including (i) an identification of a first one of the plurality of friend circles;

(ii) an identification of a second one of the plurality of friend circles;

(iii) identification of a first subset of friends in the first friend circle; and

(iv) identification of a second subset of friends in the first friend circle;

receiving a first input via the user interface to move a first friend from the second friend circle to the first friend circle; and

responsive to the received input and in accordance with a determination that the first friend is not already in the first friend circle;

updating the stored first friend circle and the second friend circle;

causing display on the user interface an updated view including a modified first subset of friends and a modified second subset of friends, wherein the modified first subset of friends includes the first friend and the modified second subset of friends excludes the first friend; and

updating the friend circle score of the first and second friend circles.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

after acquiring the relation data, representing the relation data as a plurality of nodes, each of the plurality of nodes representing a distinct friend of the plurality of friends.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein generating the plurality of friend circles comprises:

determining a weight of each of the nodes based on the relation data;

forming the first friend circle with a single, initial node having the greatest weight among the nodes;

determining a first optimum node of the initial node according to the friend relation data, wherein the first optimum node is a node of the plurality of nodes that benefits the first friend circle with a maximum increment in the first friend circle score upon joining the first friend circle;

adding the first optimum node to the first friend circle; and

updating and storing identification of a friend corresponding to the first optimum node to the first friend circle.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising repeating automatically the steps of determining, adding, updating, and storing, until no eligible first optimum node remains, wherein the eligibility is based on an increment in the first friend circle score upon joining the first friend circle.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

forming the second friend circle with a single, third node having the greatest weight among remaining nodes that are not in the first friend circle;

determining a second optimum node of the third node according to the friend relation data, wherein the second optimum node is a node of the remaining nodes that benefits the second friend circle with a maximum increment in the second friend circle score upon joining the second friend circle;

adding the second optimum node to the second friend circle; and

updating and storing identification of a second friend corresponding to the second optimum node to the second friend circle.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein determining the weight of each of the friend nodes comprises adding a strength value to the friend nodes, wherein the strength value includes a contact frequency, a nature of relation, and a contact type.