Communicating a newsfeed of media content based on a member's interactions in a social network environment

• US 8,171,128 B2
• Filed: 08/11/2006
• Issued: 05/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zuckerberg, Mark, Bosworth, Andrew, Cox, Chris, Sanghvi, Ruchi, Cahill, Matt
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder, Patrice
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hussain, Tauqir
• Application Number:
  US11/503,037
• Publication Number:
  US 20080040474A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,090 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/204
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/40 Support for services or applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/75 Media network packet handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• 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 system and method provides dynamically selected media content to someone using an electronic device in a social network environment. Items of media content are selected for the user based on his or her relationships with one or more other users. The user'"'"'s relationships with other users are reflected in the selected media content and its format. An order is assigned to the items of media content, for example, based on their anticipated importance to the user, and the items of media content are displayed to the user in the assigned order. The user may change the order of the items of media content. The user'"'"'s interactions with media content available in the social network environment are monitored, and those interactions are used to select additional items of media content for the user.

Claims

1. A method for communicating a social networking system newsfeed based on a user'"'"'s interactions, the method comprising:

storing in a database a user profile for a viewing user of a social network system, the user profile including an identification of a plurality of other users of the social network with whom the viewing user has established a connection;

generating a plurality of news stories about one or more other users of the social network system, at least one of the news stories comprising a description about an action taken by at least one of the other users of the social networking system with whom the viewing user has established a connection;

generating a newsfeed that comprises a plurality of the generated news stories about the other users of the social network system with whom the viewing user has established a connection, wherein the plurality of generated news stories are selected for the newsfeed based on the viewing user'"'"'s affinity for content in the news stories;

sending the newsfeed comprising the news stories to a user device for display to the viewing user;

monitoring one or more interactions of the viewing user of the social network system, wherein the monitored interactions are between the viewing user and at least one of;

another user of the social network system, and media content in the social network system;

updating the newsfeed to include one or more additional news stories selected based on the monitored interactions, at least one of the additional news stories comprising a description about an action taken by at least one of the other users of the social network system with whom the viewing user has established a connection; and

sending the updated newsfeed comprising the selected additional news stories to the user device for display to the viewing user in an order that is based at least in part on the viewing user'"'"'s affinity for the selected additional news stories.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the monitored interaction is with one or more items of media content contained in a news story selected for the viewing user.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the monitored interaction is with one or more items of media content in the social network system outside of a news story that has been previously selected for the viewing user.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the monitored interaction includes the viewing user'"'"'s interaction with an email.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising allowing the viewing user to select newsfeed preference settings.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising utilizing the viewing user'"'"'s selected newsfeed preference settings to select the plurality of news stories.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, further comprising utilizing the viewing user'"'"'s selected newsfeed preference settings to assign an order to the plurality of news stories.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising allowing the viewing user to assign an order to the plurality of news stories.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the additional news stories include an updated news story.

19. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of the news stories comprise at least one of:

text, an image, and a selectable link to additional media content.

20. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the monitoring comprises recording the viewing user'"'"'s actions associated with particular relationships, events or objects, or categories or subcategories of relationships, events or objects, in the social networking environment.

10. A system for communicating a social networking system newsfeed based on a user'"'"'s interactions, the system comprising:

a user profile database storing a user profile for a viewing user of a social network, the user profile including an identification of a plurality of other users of the social network system with whom the viewing user has established a connection;

a communications interface configured to generate news stories about the plurality of other users of the social network system, at least one of the news stories comprising a description about an action taken by at least one of the other users of the social networking system with whom the user has established a connection;

a media selector configured to generate a newsfeed that comprises a plurality of the generated news stories about the plurality of other users of the social network system with whom the viewing user has established a connection, wherein the plurality of generated news stories are selected for the newsfeed based on the viewing user'"'"'s affinity for content in the news stories;

a display engine, in communication with the media selector, the display engine configured to display the newsfeed comprising the news stories to the viewing user in an order that is based at least in part on the viewing user'"'"'s affinity for the news stories; and

a monitoring module, in communication with the media selector, the monitoring module configured to monitor one or more interactions of the viewing user of the social network, wherein the monitored interactions are between the user and at least one of;

another user of the social network system, and media content in the social network system;

wherein the media selector is further configured to update the newsfeed to include one or more additional news stories selected based on the monitored interactions, at least one of the additional news stories comprising a description about an action taken by at least one of the other users of the social network system with whom the viewing user has established a connection, and

wherein the display engine is further configured to send the updated news feed comprising the selected one or more additional news stories for display to the viewing user.

11. The system recited in claim 10, wherein the display engine is configured to allow the viewing user to assign an order to the plurality of news stories.

12. The system recited in claim 10, further comprising:

a profile generator configured to create a profile for a user;

wherein the communications interface is configured to receive one or more newsfeed preference setting selections from the viewing user associated with the profile; and

wherein the user profile database is configured to update the profile associated with the user to incorporate the one or more newsfeed preference setting selections.

13. The system recited in claim 10, wherein the media selector is configured to select additional news stories according to the newsfeed preference setting selections.

14. The system recited in claim 10, wherein the display engine is configured to allow the viewing user to assign an order to the plurality of news stories via interaction with the display.

21. The system recited in claim 10, wherein one or more of the news stories comprise at least one of:

text, an image, and a selectable link to additional media content.

22. The system recited in claim 10, wherein the monitoring module is configured to record the viewing user'"'"'s actions associated with particular relationships, events or objects, or categories or subcategories of relationships, events or objects, in the social networking environment.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor for performing a method for communicating a social network system newsfeed based on a user'"'"'s interactions, the method comprising:

storing in a database a user profile for a viewing user of a social network system, the user profile including an identification of a plurality of other users of the social network with whom the viewing user has established a connection;

generating a plurality of news stories about one or more other users of the social network system, at least one of the news stories comprising a description about an action taken by at least one of the other users of the social networking system with whom the viewing user has established a connection;

generating a newsfeed that comprises a plurality of the generated news stories about the other users of the social network system with whom the viewing user has established a connection, wherein the plurality of generated news stories are selected for the newsfeed based on the viewing user'"'"'s affinity for content in the news stories;

sending the newsfeed comprising the news stories to a user device for display to the viewing user;

monitoring one or more interactions of the viewing user of the social network system, wherein the monitored interactions are between the viewing user and at least one of;

another user of the social network system, and media content in the social network system;

updating the newsfeed to include one or more additional news stories selected based on the monitored interactions, at least one of the additional news stories comprising a description about an action taken by at least one of the other users of the social network system with whom the viewing user has established a connection; and

sending the updated newsfeed comprising the selected additional news stories to the user device for display to the viewing user in an order that is based at least in part on the viewing user'"'"'s affinity for the selected additional news stories.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium recited in claim 15, wherein displaying the news stories comprises displaying the news stories in an order that is based at least in part on the monitored interactions.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium recited in claim 15, further comprising allowing the viewing user to select newsfeed preference settings.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium recited in claim 17, further comprising utilizing the viewing user'"'"'s selected newsfeed preference settings to select the plurality of news stories.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein one or more of the news stories comprise at least one of:

text, an image, and a selectable link to additional media content.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the monitoring comprises recording the viewing user'"'"'s actions associated with particular relationships, events or objects, or categories or subcategories of relationships, events or objects, in the social networking environment.