Patent Application
20070169165
This invention relates to online networks, and more particularly to an online social network that includes an interactive media player.
Social networking refers to the social structure among individuals and/or organizations, explaining ways in which they connect and interact through various social familiarities. Research in a variety of academic areas has demonstrated the critical role social networks play on various levels (personal to international) in developing norms and behaviors of individuals within the social network.
In the age of the Internet, social networking also refers to a category of online applications designed to connect individuals (e.g., friends, people with common interests, business partners, potential mates) using virtual communities. Media sites on the Internet also distribute online music, video, and entertainment.
Systems and processes for online social networking may create a mechanism for the distribution of media within a social network. A social network may include one or more websites that include interactive media players. Social networks may be utilized to distribute media, promote media, and encourage discussion and interaction centered on media. The interactive media player may create a mechanism for the distribution of media within a social network. The interactive media player may also facilitate media promotion since feedback for new media can be obtained quickly and/or users can communicate, foster discussion, and request exhibition of new media while interacting with other users in the social network.
A process for social networking may include receiving a request from a user for access to a first website coupled to the social network; receiving a request from the user for access to a media exhibition on an interactive media player on the first website from the user; presenting the media to the user on the interactive media player; and allowing the user to interact on the interactive media player with other users. The first website may be coupled to an authentication system. Whether a user is logged on to the authentication system may be automatically determined.
In some implementations, the media may be presented to the user, if the user is logged on to the authentication system and/or if the user is not logged on to the authentication system. A user that is logged on to the authentication system may be allowed to interact with the other users. In one implementation, a user that is not logged on to the authentication system may be inhibited from interacting with other users.
The interactive media player may include more than one channel. Different media may be exhibited on different channels. The user may be allowed to interact on the interactive media player with other users on the same channel and/or with users viewing different media on different channels.
In some implementations, a system may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, where the memory stores program instructions operable to perform a process of the social networking system. In some implementations, the process may be performed by software that includes operable computer-readable instructions.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.
The social network may include websites on different domains. The different domains may be linked via an authentication system. The authentication system may allow a user to centrally log on to the social network. An example of an authentication system is described in additional detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CROSS-DOMAIN SOCIAL NETWORKING,” filed on Dec. 22, 2006, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. In one implementation, the user may log on to a first website coupled to the authentication system and then visit a second website also coupled to the authentication system without having to re-enter log on information. The authentication system may allow a user to seamlessly visit a number of websites linked to the authentication system as a logged on user.
Users may include registered members of the social network, guests to the social network and/or the interactive media player, performers participating in live media distribution, and/or administrators. A user may belong to more than one node of a social network. A user may create a node and/or be able to join nodes created by others. In some implementations, nodes may require invitations to join.
The interactive media player may exhibit any form of media and allow users to interact with each other, with subjects of the media, and/or administrators. Media may include but is not limited to video, audio, text, images, or combinations thereof. Media may be digital including, but not limited to, rich multimedia content such as audio and/or video and content such as text or formatted HTML documents.
The interactive media player and/or the website coupled to the interactive media player may be coupled to a memory that includes various media. Memory may include volatile or nonvolatile memory including without limitation, ROM, RAM, EEPROM, flash memory, optical memory, disk drives, and/or repositories. Memory may include a memory on a user's computer or libraries (e.g., repositories) of media. Media may be streamed live (e.g., real-time streams) or transferred from a media source (e.g., a memory of a computer coupled to the interactive media player or repositories). Media sources accessible by interactive media player may be controlled by an administrator, owner of a social network, affiliated third party servers, and/or users.
The interactive media player may be displayed in a portion of a website, embedded in a website, and/or in a pop up window. The interactive media player may be presented to an audience (e.g., users, guest users, administrators) on a wide range of digital devices including computer web browsers, personal computers, mobile devices (such as cell phones, smart phones, etc.) and portable devices (e.g., personal digital assistants, etc.). In one implementation, various degrees of media display and control are allowed from different viewing devices. For example, a web user may be capable of posting and viewing video and text messages while a cell phone user may be capable of posting and viewing text messages during exhibition of media. As another example, cell phone users may view video but be restricted from positing live-streaming video.
One feature of the interactive media player may include an interactive platform for the audience (e.g., users) of exhibited media to interact with one another and/or with the subjects of the media, who may or may not be users. A user may be able to online text chat, online audio chat, online video chat, 3D or Virtual Reality interaction, participate in audience polling, and/or other extended interactivity with other users and/or subjects of the media being exhibited. The interactive platform may allow members of the audience to post text, audio, and/or video messages and/or interact in real-time with other audience members and/or subjects of the media.
As illustrated in
One feature of the interactive media player may be the intertwining of the social network community (e.g., users, photos, message notification, online chatting, etc.) with the media exhibition experience. The interactive media player allows social network members (e.g., users registered with the social network) and guest users to view media from the network operator, administrator, affiliated media partners, and/or from other users. The media may be stored on a memory coupled to the website (e.g., a memory coupled to the domain host and/or a third party server) or streamed (e.g., from a live taping, from a concurrent broadcast on television, via a webcam/microphone or other user's computer device, etc.).
The interactive media player may allow interaction between users in the same social network, or node of the social network, between users on the same website, between users participating in the same media exhibition (e.g., viewing/listening to the same video), between users and subjects of the exhibition (e.g., between users and members of the band performing as the media exhibition), between users and administrators, between users and other components of the system. For example, the interactive media player may allow interaction between the user and subjects of the media being exhibited (e.g., band members, actors, etc.). In
Over a social network, users may interact via chat, webcam conferencing, VOIP, mouse gestures, e-mail, instant messaging, or any other appropriate communication technique. Users may interact with individuals or segments of the community such as a single channel participant, an entire channel audience, and/or a collection of friends to the user or the whole network. These interactions may occur on an open channel, a private channel, or a moderated (or administered) channel. There are a variety of other ways that the interactive media player may be used by a social network, community of users, or participants.
As illustrated in
An administrator or operator may control content displayed on interactive media player (e.g., time and/or audience). There are a variety of sources of media content ranging from pictures or picture slideshows, audio streams, webcam streams, VOIP, videos, HTML, presentation slides, stored media, etc. These sources may include libraries or users, and may be stored or real-time streams. In an open channel setup, each user may be their own administrator of their own channel in the network. In structured networks, individual nodes may each have an administrator(s) and a global network operator may have administrative rights across the network.
One feature of the interactive media player may include allowing the administrator to manage user permissions, the website, webpage(s), interactive media player(s), and/or specific media exhibitions of media. For example, if a video clip is rated R by a motion picture rating system or an audio clip has explicit language, an administrator may modify user permissions to the interactive media player and/or the website to inhibit users under a certain age from accessing the interactive media player. In one implementation, the blocked users may still be able to access the website but without the interactive media player or without permission to view specific exhibitions on the interactive media player.
The administrator may be able to control and adjust the media. For example, the administrator may adjust playback speed; delay times for live streaming media; brightness or contrast in images or video; whether advertisements may be played before, during, and/or after media exhibition; and/or whether a user can fast forward through advertisements. The administrator may monitor user voting and select and/or prioritize playback of media based on the voting.
The user may request access to a media exhibition, an interactive media player, and/or the website (operation 410). The system may determine if a user is a member of the social network (e.g., logged on to the authentication system) (operation 420). In an implementation, the system may allow the user to log on to the authentication system or register for membership in the social network. For example, a webpage may include an embedded portion that allows or prompts a user to log on to the authentication system. The webpage may include a pop-up, prompt, or a portion that promotes registration for membership in the social networking group.
If the user is not a member of the social network and/or logged on to the authentication system, then the system may then determine if the media exhibition that the user is attempting to access requires membership in the social network (e.g., requires a user to be logged on to the website) (operation 430). If membership is required, then a user may be presented with a prompt for authorization credentials or membership registration (operation 440). If the user is logged on to a centralize authentication system, then the user may view web pages as a logged in user without being requested for authorization credentials or a user ID (e.g., email address, username, password, or other user information). In an implementation, the website may exhibit media, but a user may not access at least a portion of interactive functionality of the interactive media player unless the user is a member of the social network (e.g., logged on to the authentication system). In other implementations, a user may be allowed to access interactive functionality of a specified media exhibition even if the user is not logged on to the authentication system.
Another feature of the present invention may be the insertion of targeted promotional material or advertising prior to, during, and/or after exhibition of media. The advertising may be targeted through analysis of the user's social network profile (operation 460) and demographic information stored on connecting systems, the authentication system, the user's history of media exhibitions viewed, and/or advertising may be targeted without social profile data (operation 470). Furthermore, targeted advertising may be clustered with other ads within the player which are visible during the entirety of the user's access of the interactive media player experience.
In one implementation, prior to the exhibition of the chosen media, the interactive media player may display advertisements (e.g., promotional materials or give-aways) (operation 480). Upon initialization of the media viewer, the interactive media player determines attributes (e.g., content, rating, subject matter, title, length, language, keywords in the media to be displayed, etc.) of the media to be displayed as well as attributes (e.g., user information such as age, gender, membership in various nodes of social network, hobbies, etc.) of the viewer watching the media. The interactive media player may then analyze the data to determine the most which promotional material to inject. For example, the interactive media player may determine that the media (e.g., a movie) mentions a brand of beer and then plays advertisement for the beer. As another example, the interactive media player may determine that a user is a male between 18-25 years old and play advertisement targeting the age group (e.g., sports tickets, sport ticket exchanges, movies, etc.). The analysis may be performed by a computer system within the social network infrastructure or by a partner system with access to the social network profiles and demographics.
In some implementations, adverting may be exhibited prior to exhibiting the media to users logged on to the authentication system and/or guests. Advertising may be exhibited during the media stream. For example, the exhibited media may be paused for advertising. The advertising may be exhibited on the same or different portion of the media player on which the media is being exhibited (operation 490) and/or on the webpage proximate the interactive media player.
In one implementation, during the exhibition of streaming media or lengthy archived media exhibits the interactive media player may inject targeted advertising into the media stream tailored to the current viewer. The advertising may be tied to the promotions which were displayed pre-exhibition or may be independent. Furthermore, the interactive media player may display targeted advertising in neighboring screen areas while the media is being exhibited or while the user is utilizing the interactive media player's interactive features.
The advertising exhibited to logged on users and/or guests may be the same or different. The advertising may be at least partially based on user information. For example, advertising may be targeted for each user participating in the exhibition. For example, a user who is a member of a hockey fan social networking node and listening to streaming sports radio may be displayed advertising for a television package that includes hockey games. A user who is a member of the bowling league social network node may be displayed advertisements for bowling shoes when logged into the authentication system. Advertising may also include advertising for joining other nodes of a social network, such as when members of a college football fan node are watching streaming video of past games, advertisements may include invitations to join college conference fan nodes, invitations to join college alumni nodes, advertisements for the college, and/or advertisements for ticket resale nodes. Advertising may not be based on user information, in certain implementations.
The interactive media player may include a user indicator. The user indicator may include pictures, avatars, names, or other displays of user identity. The user indicator may indicate which users are logged on to the authentication system and observing the same media stream. The user indicator may include users that are not logged in. The interactive media player may include an interactive element, such as, for example, live chatting or posting text, video, audio clips, etc.
The interactive media player may allow interactive areas of the interactive media player to be segmented based on the media being exhibited, groups of media exhibited, or other factors (interest group, media station or channel identifier, and/or demographic division). Thus, the interactive media player may allow the social community and linked communities to interact with other users on segmented channels within the media experience. The interactive media player may include buttons that allow users to view different media being exhibited on the different segments of the interactive media player. For example, the interactive media player may include an interface that allows a user to “switch channels” similar to switching channels on a television or radio station. In some implementation, when a user switches to a different channel, the user presence indicator may be modified to show users viewing the exhibited media. In other implementations, the user presence indicator may display all users logged onto the website. The interactive media player may include social network controls and indicators such as, messages to the user from other users and/or the social network, log on status, and/or number or lists of other users that are also logged on that are members of a user controlled list (e.g., a list of friends).
Channels, media stations, content, and/or media being displayed may be controlled by an administrator or network operator. In some implementations, an open or free for all channel setup may be provided where users are able to serve their own media content or stream, as they deem appropriate (e.g., in a more free network setup). A channel may be controlled by an administrator or a user with administrator rights. A network operator may have the ability to modify content on the total network. The social network may be represented as a hierarchy where nodes are channels and media sources associated with them and administrators may be assigned to control nodes, grouped nodes, and/or branches of a hierarchy. Administrators may be assigned across network segments grouped other ways. Since channels exist in any number of ways on the network or community, administration of the channels may likewise be performed and/or assigned in any number of ways.
The interactive media player may allow users to watch a musical performance live and interact with members of the musical group and/or other viewers. In another implementation, a user may watch a movie and/or interact with director, producer, actors in the movie, and/or other viewers. The interactive media player may allow a user to transmit an image of himself/herself performing an activity (e.g., bowling, swinging a golf club, dancing, singing, etc.) and interact with experts or other users who may critique the user's performance. In one implementation, a user may listen to a radio station and interact with disc jockeys or other users. A user may watch music videos and interact with video jockeys or other users. Allowing users to interact with other members of the social network and view media concurrently, may promote the development and growth of the social network.
A director, a disc jockey, or a band may be an administrator for a channel either temporarily or permanently. Channel administrators may launch promotions, initiate surveys, take requests, play interactive games with the network users, or perform any number of interactions with the on-line community. A channel may include a normal administrator that controls the channel and works with director, disc jockey, or band being featured on the channel and operates like a mediator or a host of a talk show on the channel. The administrator may operate behind the scenes or be an active participant on the channel. The administrator may grant channel participants additional channel management and content interaction capabilities on a short term or a more permanent basis for a given channel.
In some implementations, the actions of a user or the interactions between users or groups of users on a channel or collection of channels may trigger changes in the social network profile (e.g., data regarding activities of users and/or widgets, web pages, and/or websites associated with the user) of a network user, a network group (such as a band), or on a network page itself.
A user who voted in the interaction media player may have a widget representation 640 of the contest on their social network profile page. The widget representation may include messages such as “I voted for this band and helped them win the channel contest.” Web pages on the social network may include ongoing or historical contests and other interactive media player affected events. The web pages may include widgets that show the individual contests or any other type of widget that uses, computes, or analyzes the data stored in the system from interactions in the media player.
In some implementations, the data from media player activity and user interactive prompt responses may be summarized and analyzed (operation 750) to enhance pages on the social network or to create widgets which may be embedded on the network or on external sites. These widget components may use the data to create ordered lists of media or channels, to generate graphs of media or channel popularity or other statistics, and/or to display the results of an individual user's media consumption over time and/or a specific interactive promotional event conducted within the interactive media player. Other similar reports and informative graphical or textual summaries of the data analysis may be generated. For example, a user is presented with user participation or a historical list of views (operation 760). As another example, the user may also be presented with a channel popularity list or aggregate results of interactive participation (operation 770). In some implementations, the interactive media player history and/or interactive results may be retrieved and/or analyzed (operation 780).
The data may be queried in a granular fashion (e.g., a single user's media player data) or may be aggregated (e.g., by date, channel, collection of channels, social networking network, given node within the social network, and/or by any other detail which the system may utilize) (operation 790).
The widgets in the described implementation and other similar views of interactive media player activity and data may be requested by social network visitors (e.g., using any type of computer) or may be requested by other information systems. The social network may set up a services server which may provide detailed interactive media player data reports and reports may be tailored by authentication credentials and other constraints. Some widgets and services may be available to all types of computer clients and some may only be available to other servers or clients authorized to access the social network system.
Although a user has been described as a human, a user may be a person, a group of people, a person or persons interacting with one or more computers, and/or a computer system, as appropriate.
Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various implementations can include implementations in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.
These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.
To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be implemented on a computer (e.g., host or external host) having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to interact with a user as well. For example, feedback provided to the user by an output device may be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, and/or tactile feedback) and/or input from the user may be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.
The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), a middleware component (e.g., an application server), a front end component (e.g., a client computer with a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet.
The computing system may include clients and servers. A client and a server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.
Several implementations for the interactive media player have been described, and a number of others have been mentioned or suggested. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, the preceding flowcharts and accompanying description illustrate exemplary processes such as 400 and 700. Systems (e.g., illustrated in
It is to be understood the invention is not limited to particular systems or processes described which may, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used in this specification, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly indicates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a memory” includes a combination of two or more memories and reference to “a media” includes mixtures of different types of media.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/752,814, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CROSS-DOMAIN SOCIAL NETWORKING” filed on Dec. 22, 2005, and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/824,199, entitled “SOCIAL NETWORK-ENABLED INTERACTIVE MEDIA PLAYER” filed on Aug. 31, 2006, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60752814 | Dec 2005 | US | |
| 60824199 | Aug 2006 | US |
