Method and system for enabling the creation and maintenance of temporary user groups

• US 9,769,611 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2016
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Inventors: Holden, Jeffrey Alan, Ayars, Jeffrey M., Conklin, Gregory J., Shariff, Shafiq, Scholl, Nathaniel Blake, Kim, John
• Primary Examiner(s): GESESSE, TILAHUN
• Application Number:
  US15/168,983
• Publication Number:
  US 20160353244A1
• Time in Patent Office: 476 Days
• Field of Search: 455519, 455517, 455518, 455521
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1044 Group management mechanisms management of multicast group membership H04L12/185; reconfiguring of node membership in a computing system to eliminate errors G06F11/1425
• 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: 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 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data

Abstract

Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for creating and managing temporary virtual groups. An example apparatus may be configured enable an administrative entity to establish a temporary virtual group, enable the administrative entity to define configuration information for the temporary virtual group, the enabling of the administrative entity to define the configuration information comprising establishing membership criteria for admittance of one or more members to the temporary virtual group, establishing rules of interaction among the one or more members of that the temporary virtual group, establishing termination criteria, the termination criteria configured to determine when the temporary virtual group will terminate, and facilitate transmission of the message from the first member to a second member, and terminate the temporary virtual group upon determination that the termination criteria is met.

Claims

1. A temporary virtual group management apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

one or more non-transitory memories comprising computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the location-based virtual group management apparatus to;

enable an administrative entity to establish a temporary virtual group,

enable the administrative entity to define configuration information for the temporary virtual group,

the enabling of the administrative entity to define the configuration information comprising;

establishing membership criteria for admittance of one or more members to the temporary virtual group;

establishing rules of interaction among the one or more members of that the temporary virtual group;

wherein the establishment of the rules of interaction comprises;

enabling a first member of the one or more members of the temporary virtual group to broadcast a message to one or more other members of the temporary virtual group, the message comprising content; and

establishing termination criteria, the termination criteria configured to determine when the temporary virtual group will terminate; and

facilitate, according to the rules of interaction, transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group to at least one of the one or more other members of the temporary virtual group; and

terminate the temporary virtual group upon determination that the termination criteria is met.

2. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the establishment of the rules of interaction comprises enabling a bookmarking member to create a unidirectional relationship with a bookmarked member, without explicit approval of the bookmarked member.

3. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the facilitating of the transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group comprises:

facilitating the transmission of the message from the bookmarking member to the bookmarked member.

4. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the facilitating of the transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group comprises:

facilitating the transmission of the message from the bookmarked member to the bookmarking member.

5. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the establishment of the rules of interaction comprises enabling the first member and a second member to create a bidirectional mutually agreed-upon relationship that transcends a duration of the temporary virtual group, allowing access to information and capabilities that are not granted to other members of the temporary virtual group.

6. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the facilitating of the transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group comprises:

facilitating the transmission of the message from the first member to the second member.

7. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the one or more non-transitory memories and the computer-executable program code instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, are further configured to cause the temporary virtual group management apparatus to:

allow a non-member user to join the temporary virtual group, the non-member user meeting the admission criteria.

8. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein the one or more non-transitory memories and the computer-executable program code instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, are further configured to cause the temporary virtual group management apparatus to:

invite a non-member user physically present within a geographical boundary to join the temporary virtual group.

9. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the termination criteria is after a type of member activity.

10. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content is one or more of a text, an image, or a video.

11. The temporary virtual group management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the facilitating of the transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group comprises:

facilitating the transmission of the message, the message comprising video content, from the first member to a second member, and

wherein the termination criteria specifies termination after a specified amount of time after a type of member activity,

the one or more non-transitory memories and the computer-executable program code instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, are further configured to cause the temporary virtual group management apparatus to;

terminate the temporary virtual group upon determination that the specified amount of time since the member activity.

12. A temporary virtual group management computer program product, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising program code instructions for:

enabling an administrative entity to establish a temporary virtual group,

enabling the administrative entity to define configuration information for the temporary virtual group,

the enabling of the administrative entity to define the configuration information comprising;

establishing membership criteria for admittance of one or more members to the temporary virtual group;

establishing rules of interaction among the one or more members of that the temporary virtual group;

wherein the establishment of the rules of interaction comprises;

enabling a first member of the one or more members of the temporary virtual group to broadcast a message to one or more other members of the temporary virtual group, the message comprising content; and

establishing termination criteria, the termination criteria configured to determine when the temporary virtual group will terminate; and

facilitating, according to the rules of interaction, transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group to at least one of the one or more other members of the temporary virtual group; and

terminating the temporary virtual group upon determination that the termination criteria is met.

13. The computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the establishment of the rules of interaction comprises enabling a bookmarking member to create a unidirectional relationship with a bookmarked member, without explicit approval of the bookmarked member.

14. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein the facilitating of the transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group comprises:

facilitating the transmission of the message from the bookmarking member to the bookmarked member.

15. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein the facilitating of the transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group comprises:

facilitating the transmission of the message from the bookmarked member to the bookmarking member.

16. The computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the establishment of the rules of interaction comprises enabling the first member and a second member to create a bidirectional mutually agreed-upon relationship that transcends a duration of the temporary virtual group, allowing access to information and capabilities that are not granted to other members of the temporary virtual group.

17. The computer program product according to claim 16, wherein the facilitating of the transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group comprises:

facilitating the transmission of the message from the first member to the second member.

18. The computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the computer-executable program code instructions further comprise program code instructions for:

allowing a non-member user to join the temporary virtual group, the non-member user meeting the admission criteria.

19. The computer program product according to claim 18, wherein the computer-executable program code instructions further comprise program code instructions for:

inviting a non-member user physically present within a geographical boundary to join the temporary virtual group.

20. The computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the termination criteria is after a type of member activity.

21. The computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the content is one or more of a text, an image, or a video.

22. The computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the facilitating of the transmission of the message from the first member of the temporary virtual group comprises:

facilitating the transmission of the message, the message comprising video content, from the first member to a second member, and

wherein the termination criteria specifies termination after a specified amount of time after a type of member activity, and

the computer-executable program code instructions further comprise program code instructions for;

terminating the temporary virtual group upon determination that the specified amount of time since the member activity.