Apparatus for increasing social interaction over an electronic network

• US 8,180,852 B2
• Filed: 01/25/2007
• Issued: 05/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Social Concepts Incorporated (Aristocrat Leisure Limited)
• Original Assignee: Social Concepts Incorporated (Aristocrat Leisure Limited)
• Inventors: Lee, Joseph William, Grendler, Peter August, Hedlund, Michael R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Beharry, Noel
• Application Number:
  US11/627,326
• Publication Number:
  US 20080183750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,937 Days
• Field of Search: 709/218
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system includes a server that hosts webpages facilitating user interaction between multiple endpoints. The system monitors for a user input requesting initiation of a happy hour, and when the input is detected, modifies the webpages to alert users of the happy hour. The users are notified of which user initiated the happy hour, and are also notified that interaction incentives accumulate at an increased rate during the happy hour. The system also tracks user scorings that accumulate based on the user interaction, and enables certain website features based on these user scorings. The system also tracks ratings for user-uploaded objects and identifies top rated objects for displaying on webpages viewable by other users.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a processing device; and

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

determine when a user of a social networking website communicates with another user of the social networking website;

wherein the social networking website comprises a plurality of social networking webpages that are hosted by a server and configured to provide real time interaction between the users;

determine when the user rates content uploaded to the social networking website by the another user;

award points to the user initiating the communications and rating the content, the points controlling what functionality of the social networking website is available to the user;

receive an input requesting initiation of a temporary period for the social networking website;

responsive to receiving the input, select a start time and an end time for the temporary period; and

temporarily modify at least one of the social networking webpages of the server to identify a particular one of the users that sponsers the temporary period for a duration corresponding to the selected times, wherein the temporarily modified webpage displays at least one of contact information for the particular one of the users and a visual representation of the particular one of the users;

wherein according to said temporary modifying, user interactions sent using the social networking website before the start time or after the end time are scored at a first non-zero rate and user interactions sent using the social networking website within the duration are scored at a second non-zero rate that is greater than the first non-zero rate.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the functionality includes allowing the user to rip content uploaded by other the another user.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is located remotely from the server.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further operable to modify a homepage or other central location of the social networking website to display at least one of the contact information for the particular one of the users and the visual representation of the particular one of the users.

5. A method, comprising:

enabling user-upload of content onto a social networking website;

tracking user scorings that are increased according to user interactions that use the social networking website;

wherein the social networking website comprises a plurality of social networking webpages that are hosted by a server and configured to provide real time interaction between the users;

modifying the user scoring of a user in response to the user submitting ratings of content uploaded by another user;

modifying the user scoring of the user in response to receiving ratings from the another user of content uploaded by the user;

enabling or disabling a particular functionality for the user of the social networking website in response to said modified user scoring reaching a particular scoring threshold;

receiving an input requesting initiation of a temporary period for the social networking website;

responsive to receiving the input, selecting a start time and an end time for the temporary period; and

temporarily modifying at least one of the social networking webpages of the server to identify a particular one of the users that sponsers the temporary period for a duration corresponding to the selected times, wherein the temporarily modified webpage displays at least one of contact information for the particular one of the users and a visual representation of the particular one of the users;

wherein according to said temporary modifying, user interactions sent using the social networking website before the start time or after the end time are scored at a first non-zero rate and user interactions sent using the social networking website within the duration are scored at a second non-zero rate that is greater than the first non-zero rate.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the social networking website includes a plurality of functionalities each associated with a different particular scoring threshold, and wherein different combinations of the functionalities are enabled for different users based on a comparison of a current respective user scoring to the particular scoring thresholds.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising modifying the user scoring of the user in response to detecting communications initiated from the user to the another user via the social networking website.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising modifying the user scoring of the user in response to detecting the communications initiated from the another user to the user.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising modifying a homepage or other central location of the social networking website to display at least one of the contact information for the one of the users user and the visual representation of the one of the users.

10. A method, comprising:

tracking user-assigned ratings of objects that are user-uploaded onto a social networking website;

ranking the objects according to the tracked user-assigned ratings;

tracking user scorings that are increased according to user interactions that include the ratings of the objects such that the user scorings represent an amount that corresponding users have used the social networking website to interact with each other;

assigning levels to the users according to the user scorings;

causing the top-ranked objects and the assigned levels to be displayed on the social networking website for viewing by the users;

receiving an input requesting initiation of a temporary period for the social networking website;

responsive to receiving the input, selecting a start time and an end time for the temporary period; and

temporarily modifying at least one of a plurality of social networking webpages of the social networking website to identify a particular one of the users that sponsers the temporary period for a duration corresponding to the selected times, wherein the temporarily modified webpage displays at least one of contact information for the particular one of the users and a visual representation of the particular one of the users;

wherein according to said temporary modifying, user interactions sent using the social networking website before the start time or after the end time are scored at a first non-zero rate and user interactions sent using the social networking website within the duration are scored at a second non-zero rate that is greater than the first non-zero rate.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying user accounts having a corresponding user scoring that exceeds different score thresholds; and

enabling only users of the identified user accounts to access features associated with the different score thresholds that are not available to other user accounts that do not exceed the different score thresholds.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising updating a homepage corresponding with the identified user accounts for broadcasting polls to other users.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising weighting the object ratings according to the user scorings such that ratings by higher scored users affect the object ratings more than ratings by lower scored users.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising assigning points to users that identify inappropriate user-uploaded objects.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising modifying a homepage or other central location of the social networking website to display at least one of the contact information for the particular one of the users and the visual representation of the particular one of the users.