TRACKING MESSAGE TOPICS IN AN INTERACTIVE MESSAGING ENVIRONMENT

• US 20120221656A1
• Filed: 02/23/2012
• Published: 08/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cai, Keke, Guo, HongLei, Su, Zhong, Zhu, Hui Jia
• Granted Patent: US 8,924,491 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services

Abstract

A method and apparatus for tracking a topic involved in a message in an interactive messaging environment containing a plurality of messages by combining with context messages associated with the message. The method includes the steps of: selecting a message from the plurality of messages contained in the interactive messaging environment; identifying context messages associated with the selected message from the plurality of messages contained in the interactive messaging environment; and grouping the selected message into one or more topic groups based on the identified context messages. The topic tracking method and apparatus of the invention can accurately determine similarities between messages in an interactive messaging environment such as microblog to perform topic tracking.

Claims

1. A method for tracking message topics in an interactive messaging environment, wherein the interactive messaging environment contains a plurality of messages, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting a message from the plurality of messages contained in the interactive messaging environment;

identifying context messages associated with the selected message from the plurality of messages contained in the interactive messaging environment; and

grouping the selected message into one or more topic groups based on the identified context messages;

wherein at least one of the steps is carried out by a computer device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the grouping step comprises:

extracting one or more context topic keywords from the identified context messages;

generating one or more topic keywords by processing the extracted context topic keywords; and

grouping the selected message into one or more topic groups corresponding to the generated one or more topic keywords respectively.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the identifying step comprises:

identifying messages having replying or forwarding relations with the selected message as the context messages associated with the selected message.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the generating step comprises:

extracting, from the selected message, one or more kernel topic keywords; and

generating one or more topic keywords by combining the extracted kernel topic keywords and the extracted context topic keywords.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the identifying step comprises:

identifying an interactive operation user associated with the selected message; and

identifying, from messages corresponding to the identified interactive operation user, messages having replying or forwarding relations with the selected message, as the context messages associated with the selected message.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the generating step comprises:

determining a correspondence relation between the extracted context topic keywords and the interactive operation user; and

generating one or more topic keywords by using the determined correspondence relation.

7. The method according to claim 3, wherein said messages comprise at least one of:

messages replying to or forwarding the selected message;

messages with respect to which the selected message replies or forwards; and

messages replying to or forwarding the messages with respect to which the selected message replies or forwards.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the step of identifying an interactive operation user associated with the selected message further comprises:

determining a user level;

comparing the determined user level with a preset level threshold; and

identifying a user whose user level is higher than the preset level threshold as an interactive operation user associated with the selected message.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein the step of identifying an interactive operation user associated with the selected message further comprises:

determining a predetermined topic field of topics to be tracked;

acquiring topic preferences of a user;

comparing the acquired topic preferences of the user with the determined predetermined topic field; and

identifying a user whose topic preferences match the predetermined topic field as an interactive operation user associated with the selected message.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the identifying step comprises;

identifying messages having replying or forward relations with the selected message as first context messages associated with the selected messages; and

identifying an interactive operation user associated with the selected message, and identifying, from messages corresponding to the identified interactive operation user, messages having replying or forwarding relations with the selected message as second context messages associated with the selected message; and

the grouping step comprises;

extracting, from the selected message, one or more first kernel topic keywords, and extracting, from the identified first context messages, one or more first context topic keywords;

generating one or more first topic keywords by combining the extracted first kernel topic keywords and the extracted first context topic keywords;

obtaining a first topic grouping result with respect to the selected message on the basis of the generated first topic keywords;

extracting one or more second context topic keywords from the identified second context messages by making reference to a correspondence relation between the identified second context messages and the interactive operation user;

obtaining a second topic grouping result with respect to the selected message on the basis of the extracted second context topic keywords; and

generating a combined topic grouping result by combining and analyzing the first topic grouping result and the second topic grouping result.

11. An apparatus for tracking message topics in an interactive messaging environment, wherein the interactive messaging environment contains a plurality of messages, the apparatus comprising:

message selecting means configured to select a message from the plurality of messages contained in the interactive messaging environment;

context message identifying means configured to identify context messages associated with the message selected by the message selecting means from the plurality of messages contained in the interactive messaging environment; and

grouping means configured to group the message selected by the message selecting means into one or more topic groups based on the context messages identified by the context message identifying means.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the grouping means comprises:

means configured to extract one or more context topic keywords from the identified context messages;

means configured to generate one or more topic keywords by processing the extracted context topic keywords; and

means configured to group the selected message into one or more topic groups corresponding to the generated one or more topic keyword respectively.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the context message identifying means comprises:

means configured to identify messages having replying or forwarding relations with the selected message as the context messages associated with the selected message.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the means configured to generate one or more topic keywords by processing the extracted context topic keywords comprises:

means configured to extract, from the selected message, one or more kernel topic keywords; and

means configured to generate one or more topic keywords by combining the extracted kernel topic keywords and the extracted context topic keywords.

15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the context message identifying means comprises:

means configured to identify an interactive operation user associated with the selected message; and

means configured to identify, from messages corresponding to the interactive operation user, messages having replying or forwarding relations with the selected message, as context messages associated with the selected message.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the means configured to generate one or more topic keywords by processing the extracted context topic keywords comprises:

means configured to determine a correspondence relation between the extracted context topic keywords and the interactive operation user; and

means configured to generate one or more topic keywords by using the determined correspondence relation.

17. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the messages having replying or forwarding relations with the selected message comprises at least one of:

messages replying to or forwarding the selected message;

messages with respect to which the selected message replies or forwards; and

messages replying to or forwarding the messages with respect to which the selected message replies or forwards.

18. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the means configured to identify an interactive operation user associated with the selected message comprises:

means configured to determine a user level;

means configured to compare the determined user level with a preset level threshold; and

means configured to identify a user whose user level is higher than the preset level threshold as an interactive operation user associated with the selected message.

19. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the means configured to identify an interactive operation user associated with the selected message further comprises:

means configured to determine a predetermined topic field of topics to be tracked;

means configured to acquire topic preferences of a user;

means configured to compare the acquired topic preferences of the user with the determined predetermined topic field; and

means configured to identify a user whose topic preferences match the predetermined topic field as an interactive operation user associated with the selected message.

20. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein,

the context message identifying means comprises:

means configured to identify messages having replying or forwarding relations with the selected message as first context messages associated with the selected messages; and

means configured to identify an interactive operation user associated with the selected message, and to identify, from messages corresponding to the identified interactive operation user, messages having replying or forwarding relations with the selected message as second context messages associated with the selected message;

and the grouping means comprises;

means configured to extract, from the selected message, one or more first kernel topic keywords and to extract, from the identified first context messages, one or more first context topic keywords;

means configured to generate one or more first topic keywords by combining the extracted first kernel topic keywords and the extracted first context topic keywords;

means configured to obtain a first topic grouping result with respect to the selected message on the basis of the generated first topic keywords;

means configured to extract one or more second context topic keywords from the identified second context messages by making reference to a correspondence relation between the identified second context messages and the interactive operation user;

means configured to obtain a second topic grouping result with respect to the selected message on the basis of the extracted second context topic keywords; and

means configured to generate a combined topic grouping result by combining and analyzing the first topic grouping result and the second topic grouping result.