Systems and methods for automatically locating web-based social network members

• US 7,809,805 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2007
• Issued: 10/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramakrishnan, Ts, Stremel, Jed, Slee, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): JEAN GILLES, JUDE
• Application Number:
  US11/713,455
• Publication Number:
  US 20080209011A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,315 Days
• Field of Search: 709/218, 709/217, 709/219, 709/210, 709/207, 709/204
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/384 using social networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/185 by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

Systems and methods for automatically locating web-based social network members are provided. According to one embodiment, contact content including an associated GPS identifier and status for web-based social network members located at or near the same location automatically appears on a GPS-enabled device. A further exemplary system includes a GPS-enabled device configured to receive a GPS identifier and a status representing a location and a current state for a web-based social network member, a processing module that associates the received GPS-identifier and the received status, and a communications module that sends the associated GPS-identifier and status to a server comprising a web-based social network database. Contact content in a web-based social network database record in the web-based social network database is updated to include the associated GPS identifier and status for the web-based social network member.

Claims

1. A method of sharing locations of users participating in a social networking service at a geographic location, the method executed by a computer system and comprising:

receiving location information and status information from a mobile device of a first user of the social networking service, the location information representing a geographic location of the first user, the status information manually provided by the first user on an input module of the mobile device;

associating the location information with the status information of the first user in a database; and

sending the status information and the location information of the first user to a second user for display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information comprises street addresses determined by processing a wireless positioning signal detected at a sensor in the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from the second user for information associated with the geographic location; and

querying the database to retrieve the status information of the first user associated with the location information of the geographic location responsive to receiving the request.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second user is designated by the first user as connected to the first user in the social networking service.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the status information and the location information comprises generating a page of information about the first user including the status information and the location information of the first user.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information is determined by a wireless positioning signal generated at the mobile device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information is manually provided by the first user at the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving location information of the second user;

determining if the first user is in proximity to the second user based on the location information of the first user and the location information of the second user; and

responsive to determining that the first user is in proximity to the second user, initiating transmission of information about the first user to the second user.

3. A computer server for providing a social networking service, comprising:

a database module configured to store location information in association with status information of a first user in a database responsive to receiving the location information and the status information from a mobile device of the first user, the location information representing a geographic location of the first user, the status information manually provided by the first user on an input module of the mobile device; and

a communication module configured to;

receive the location information and the status information associated with the first user from the mobile device; and

send the location information and the status information of the first user to a second user for display.

4. The server of claim 3, wherein the location information comprises street addresses determined by a sensor in the mobile device.

5. The server of claim 3, further comprising a privacy setting module configured to:

determine if the second user of the social networking service is included in a list of members selected by the first user to receive the location information and the status information; and

allowing transmission of the status information and the location information to the second user responsive to determining that the second member is included in the list.

6. The server of claim 3, further comprising a device specification and optimization module configured to:

determine specification of a computing device of the second user, the specification including at least one of a type of the computing device and display capabilities of the computing device; and

format data including at least the location information and the location information into a page of information for transmission to the computing device according to the specification of the computing device.

7. The server of claim 3, further comprising a querying module configured to retrieve the status information and the location information of the first user from the database module responsive to receiving a query from the second user.

17. The server of claim 7, wherein the querying module is further configured to:

receive location information of the second user;

determine if the first user is in proximity to the second user based on the location information of the first user and the location information of the second user; and

responsive to determining that the first user is in proximity to the second user, initiate transmission of information about the first user to the second user.

18. The server of claim 3, wherein the second user is designated by the first user as connected to the first user in the social networking service.

19. The server of claim 3, wherein the communication module is further configured to send the status information and the location information in a page of information about the first user.

20. The server of claim 3, wherein the geographic location is determined by a wireless positioning signal generated at the mobile device.

8. A method of sharing locations of users of a social networking service, the method executed by a computer system and comprising:

receiving location information and entered information from a first user, the location information representing a geographic location of a first user of the social networking service from a mobile device of the first user, the entered information manually provided by the first provider on an input module of the mobile device;

associating the location information with the entered information of the first user in a database;

receiving a request from a second user for information associated with the geographic location;

querying the database to retrieve the entered information of the first user associated with the location information of the geographic location responsive to receiving the request; and

sending the entered information of the first user retrieved from the database to the second user for display on a computing device of the second user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the location information is determined by a wireless positioning signal generated at the mobile device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the location information is manually provided by the first user at the mobile device.

21. A method of sharing locations of users participating in a social networking service at a geographic location, the method executed by a computer system and comprising:

receiving location information and status information from a device of a first user of the social networking service, the location information representing a geographic location of the first user, the status information manually provided by the first user on an input module of the device;

associating the location information with the status information of the first user in a database; and

sending the status information and the location information of the first user to a second user for display.