Patent Application
20170019488
This disclosure generally relates to sending and receiving notifications within a social-networking environment.
A social-networking system, which may include a social-networking website, may enable its users (such as persons or organizations) to interact with it and with each other through it. The social-networking system may, with input from a user, create and store in the social-networking system a user profile associated with the user. The user profile may include demographic information, communication-channel information, and information on personal interests of the user. The social-networking system may also, with input from a user, create and store a record of relationships of the user with other users of the social-networking system, as well as provide services (e.g., wall posts, photo-sharing, event organization, messaging, games, or advertisements) to facilitate social interaction between or among users.
The social-networking system may send over one or more networks content or messages related to its services to a mobile or other computing device of a user. A user may also install software applications on a mobile or other computing device of the user for accessing a user profile of the user and other data within the social-networking system. The social-networking system may generate a personalized set of content objects to display to a user, such as a newsfeed of aggregated stories of other users connected to the user.
A mobile computing device—such as a smartphone, tablet computer, or laptop computer—may include functionality for determining its location, direction, or orientation, such as a GPS receiver, compass, gyroscope, or accelerometer. Such a device may also include functionality for wireless communication, such as BLUETOOTH communication, near-field communication (NFC), or infrared (IR) communication or communication with a wireless local area networks (WLANs) or cellular-telephone network. Such a device may also include one or more cameras, scanners, touchscreens, microphones, or speakers. Mobile computing devices may also execute software applications, such as games, web browsers, or social-networking applications. With social-networking applications, users may connect, communicate, and share information with other users in their social networks.
In particular embodiments, a social-networking system may determine a first geographic location of a client computer of a first user. The social-networking system may receive one or more first meet-up preferences from the first user, and identify a second user based on one or more notification rules and the first meet-up preferences. The second user may be associated with a client computer having a second geographic location within a threshold distance of the first geographic location, and the second user may be associated with one or more second meet-up preferences. The social-networking system may send a first notification to the client computer of the first user and a second notification to the client computer of the second user based on the first meet-up preferences and the second meet-up preferences. In response, the social-networking system may receive a first opt-in response from the first user and a second opt-in response from the second user, and then send a first meet-up confirmation to the first user and a second meet-up confirmation to the second user. In response to the first meet-up confirmation, the first user may directly contact the second user by a messaging application or other suitable application. In addition, the second user may directly contact the first user by the messaging application.
The embodiments disclosed above are only examples, and the scope of this disclosure is not limited to them. Particular embodiments may include all, some, or none of the components, elements, features, functions, operations, or steps of the embodiments disclosed above. Embodiments according to the invention are in particular disclosed in the attached claims directed to a method, a storage medium, a system and a computer program product, wherein any feature mentioned in one claim category, e.g. method, can be claimed in another claim category, e.g. system, as well. The dependencies or references back in the attached claims are chosen for formal reasons only. However any subject matter resulting from a deliberate reference back to any previous claims (in particular multiple dependencies) can be claimed as well, so that any combination of claims and the features thereof are disclosed and can be claimed regardless of the dependencies chosen in the attached claims. The subject-matter which can be claimed comprises not only the combinations of features as set out in the attached claims but also any other combination of features in the claims, wherein each feature mentioned in the claims can be combined with any other feature or combination of other features in the claims. Furthermore, any of the embodiments and features described or depicted herein can be claimed in a separate claim and/or in any combination with any embodiment or feature described or depicted herein or with any of the features of the attached claims.
This disclosure contemplates any suitable network 110. As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more portions of network 110 may include an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a cellular telephone network, or a combination of two or more of these. Network 110 may include one or more networks 110.
Links 150 may connect client system 130, social-networking system 160, and third-party system 170 to communication network 110 or to each other. This disclosure contemplates any suitable links 150. In particular embodiments, one or more links 150 include one or more wireline (such as for example Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS)), wireless (such as for example Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), or optical (such as for example Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)) links. In particular embodiments, one or more links 150 each include an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a MAN, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, a cellular technology-based network, a satellite communications technology-based network, another link 150, or a combination of two or more such links 150. Links 150 need not necessarily be the same throughout network environment 100. One or more first links 150 may differ in one or more respects from one or more second links 150.
In particular embodiments, client system 130 may be an electronic device including hardware, software, or embedded logic components or a combination of two or more such components and capable of carrying out the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by client system 130. As an example and not by way of limitation, a client system 130 may include a computer system such as a desktop computer, notebook or laptop computer, netbook, a tablet computer, e-book reader, GPS device, camera, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld electronic device, cellular telephone, smartphone, other suitable electronic device, or any suitable combination thereof. This disclosure contemplates any suitable client systems 130. A client system 130 may enable a network user at client system 130 to access network 110. A client system 130 may enable its user to communicate with other users at other client systems 130.
In particular embodiments, client system 130 may include a web browser 132, such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, GOOGLE CHROME or MOZILLA FIREFOX, and may have one or more add-ons, plug-ins, or other extensions, such as TOOLBAR or YAHOO TOOLBAR. A user at client system 130 may enter a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other address directing the web browser 132 to a particular server (such as server 162, or a server associated with a third-party system 170), and the web browser 132 may generate a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request and communicate the HTTP request to server. The server may accept the HTTP request and communicate to client system 130 one or more Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) files responsive to the HTTP request. Client system 130 may render a webpage based on the HTML files from the server for presentation to the user. This disclosure contemplates any suitable webpage files. As an example and not by way of limitation, webpages may render from HTML files, Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language (XHTML) files, or Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, according to particular needs. Such pages may also execute scripts such as, for example and without limitation, those written in JAVASCRIPT, JAVA, MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT, combinations of markup language and scripts such as AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT and XML), and the like. Herein, reference to a webpage encompasses one or more corresponding webpage files (which a browser may use to render the webpage) and vice versa, where appropriate.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may be a network-addressable computing system that can host an online social network. Social-networking system 160 may generate, store, receive, and send social-networking data, such as, for example, user-profile data, concept-profile data, social-graph information, or other suitable data related to the online social network. Social-networking system 160 may be accessed by the other components of network environment 100 either directly or via network 110. As an example and not by way of limitation, client system 130 may access social-networking system 160 using a web browser 132, or a native application associated with social-networking system 160 (e.g., a mobile social-networking application, a messaging application, another suitable application, or any combination thereof) either directly or via network 110. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include one or more servers 162. Each server 162 may be a unitary server or a distributed server spanning multiple computers or multiple datacenters. Servers 162 may be of various types, such as, for example and without limitation, web server, news server, mail server, message server, advertising server, file server, application server, exchange server, database server, proxy server, another server suitable for performing functions or processes described herein, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments, each server 162 may include hardware, software, or embedded logic components or a combination of two or more such components for carrying out the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by server 162. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include one or more data stores 164. Data stores 164 may be used to store various types of information. In particular embodiments, the information stored in data stores 164 may be organized according to specific data structures. In particular embodiments, each data store 164 may be a relational, columnar, correlation, or other suitable database. Although this disclosure describes or illustrates particular types of databases, this disclosure contemplates any suitable types of databases. Particular embodiments may provide interfaces that enable a client system 130, a social-networking system 160, or a third-party system 170 to manage, retrieve, modify, add, or delete, the information stored in data store 164.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may store one or more social graphs in one or more data stores 164. In particular embodiments, a social graph may include multiple nodes—which may include multiple user nodes (each corresponding to a particular user) or multiple concept nodes (each corresponding to a particular concept)—and multiple edges connecting the nodes. Social-networking system 160 may provide users of the online social network the ability to communicate and interact with other users. In particular embodiments, users may join the online social network via social-networking system 160 and then add connections (e.g., relationships) to a number of other users of social-networking system 160 to whom they want to be connected. Herein, the term “friend” may refer to any other user of social-networking system 160 with whom a user has formed a connection, association, or relationship via social-networking system 160.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may provide users with the ability to take actions on various types of items or objects, supported by social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, the items and objects may include groups or social networks to which users of social-networking system 160 may belong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested, computer-based applications that a user may use, transactions that allow users to buy or sell items via the service, interactions with advertisements that a user may perform, or other suitable items or objects. A user may interact with anything that is capable of being represented in social-networking system 160 or by an external system of third-party system 170, which is separate from social-networking system 160 and coupled to social-networking system 160 via a network 110.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may be capable of linking a variety of entities. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-networking system 160 may enable users to interact with each other as well as receive content from third-party systems 170 or other entities, or to allow users to interact with these entities through an application programming interfaces (API) or other communication channels.
In particular embodiments, a third-party system 170 may include one or more types of servers, one or more data stores, one or more interfaces, including but not limited to APIs, one or more web services, one or more content sources, one or more networks, or any other suitable components, e.g., that servers may communicate with. A third-party system 170 may be operated by a different entity from an entity operating social-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, however, social-networking system 160 and third-party systems 170 may operate in conjunction with each other to provide social-networking services to users of social-networking system 160 or third-party systems 170. In this sense, social-networking system 160 may provide a platform, or backbone, which other systems, such as third-party systems 170, may use to provide social-networking services and functionality to users across the Internet.
In particular embodiments, a third-party system 170 may include a third-party content object provider. A third-party content object provider may include one or more sources of content objects, which may be communicated to a client system 130. As an example and not by way of limitation, content objects may include information regarding things or activities of interest to the user, such as, for example, movie show times, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, restaurant menus, product information and reviews, or other suitable information. As another example and not by way of limitation, content objects may include incentive content objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, gift certificates, or other suitable incentive objects.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 also includes user-generated content objects, which may enhance a user's interactions with social-networking system 160. User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload, send, or “post” to social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user communicates posts to social-networking system 160 from a client system 130. Posts may include data such as status updates or other textual data, location information, photos, videos, links, music or other similar data or media. Content may also be added to social-networking system 160 by a third-party through a “communication channel,” such as a newsfeed or stream.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include a variety of servers, sub-systems, programs, modules, logs, and data stores. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include one or more of the following: a web server, action logger, API-request server, relevance-and-ranking engine, content-object classifier, notification controller, action log, third-party-content-object-exposure log, inference module, authorization/privacy server, search module, advertisement-targeting module, user-interface module, user-profile store, connection store, third-party content store, or location store. Social-networking system 160 may also include suitable components such as network interfaces, security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management-and-network-operations consoles, other suitable components, or any suitable combination thereof. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include one or more user-profile stores for storing user profiles. A user profile may include, for example, biographic information, demographic information, behavioral information, social information, or other types of descriptive information, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies or preferences, interests, affinities, or location. Interest information may include interests related to one or more categories. Categories may be general or specific. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user “likes” an article about a brand of shoes the category may be the brand, or the general category of “shoes” or “clothing.” A connection store may be used for storing connection information about users. The connection information may indicate users who have similar or common work experience, group memberships, hobbies, educational history, or are in any way related or share common attributes. The connection information may also include user-defined connections between different users and content (both internal and external). A web server may be used for linking social-networking system 160 to one or more client systems 130 or one or more third-party system 170 via network 110. The web server may include a mail server or other messaging functionality for receiving and routing messages between social-networking system 160 and one or more client systems 130. An API-request server may allow a third-party system 170 to access information from social-networking system 160 by calling one or more APIs. An action logger may be used to receive communications from a web server about a user's actions on or off social-networking system 160. In conjunction with the action log, a third-party-content-object log may be maintained of user exposures to third-party-content objects. A notification controller may provide information regarding content objects to a client system 130. Information may be pushed to a client system 130 as notifications, or information may be pulled from client system 130 responsive to a request received from client system 130. Authorization servers may be used to enforce one or more privacy settings of the users of social-networking system 160. A privacy setting of a user determines how particular information associated with a user can be shared. The authorization server may allow users to opt in to or opt out of having their actions logged by social-networking system 160 or shared with other systems (e.g., third-party system 170), such as, for example, by setting appropriate privacy settings. Third-party-content-object stores may be used to store content objects received from third parties, such as a third-party system 170. Location stores may be used for storing location information received from client systems 130 associated with users. Advertisement-pricing modules may combine social information, the current time, location information, or other suitable information to provide relevant advertisements, in the form of notifications, to a user.
In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may correspond to a user of social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user may be an individual (human user), an entity (e.g., an enterprise, business, or third-party application), or a group (e.g., of individuals or entities) that interacts or communicates with or over social-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, when a user registers for an account with social-networking system 160, social-networking system 160 may create a user node 202 corresponding to the user, and store the user node 202 in one or more data stores. Users and user nodes 202 described herein may, where appropriate, refer to registered users and user nodes 202 associated with registered users. In addition or as an alternative, users and user nodes 202 described herein may, where appropriate, refer to users that have not registered with social-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may be associated with information provided by a user or information gathered by various systems, including social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user may provide his or her name, profile picture, contact information, birth date, sex, marital status, family status, employment, education background, preferences, interests, or other demographic information. In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may be associated with one or more data objects corresponding to information associated with a user. In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may correspond to one or more webpages.
In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may correspond to a concept. As an example and not by way of limitation, a concept may correspond to a place (such as, for example, a movie theater, restaurant, landmark, or city); a website (such as, for example, a website associated with social-network system 160 or a third-party website associated with a web-application server); an entity (such as, for example, a person, business, group, sports team, or celebrity); a resource (such as, for example, an audio file, video file, digital photo, text file, structured document, or application) which may be located within social-networking system 160 or on an external server, such as a web-application server; real or intellectual property (such as, for example, a sculpture, painting, movie, game, song, idea, photograph, or written work); a game; an activity; an idea or theory; another suitable concept; or two or more such concepts. A concept node 204 may be associated with information of a concept provided by a user or information gathered by various systems, including social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, information of a concept may include a name or a title; one or more images (e.g., an image of the cover page of a book); a location (e.g., an address or a geographical location); a website (which may be associated with a URL); contact information (e.g., a phone number or an email address); other suitable concept information; or any suitable combination of such information. In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may be associated with one or more data objects corresponding to information associated with concept node 204. In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may correspond to one or more webpages.
In particular embodiments, a node in social graph 200 may represent or be represented by a webpage (which may be referred to as a “profile page”). Profile pages may be hosted by or accessible to social-networking system 160. Profile pages may also be hosted on third-party websites associated with a third-party server 170. As an example and not by way of limitation, a profile page corresponding to a particular external webpage may be the particular external webpage and the profile page may correspond to a particular concept node 204. Profile pages may be viewable by all or a selected subset of other users. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user node 202 may have a corresponding user-profile page in which the corresponding user may add content, make declarations, or otherwise express himself or herself. As another example and not by way of limitation, a concept node 204 may have a corresponding concept-profile page in which one or more users may add content, make declarations, or express themselves, particularly in relation to the concept corresponding to concept node 204.
In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may represent a third-party webpage or resource hosted by a third-party system 170. The third-party webpage or resource may include, among other elements, content, a selectable or other icon, or other inter-actable object (which may be implemented, for example, in JavaScript, AJAX, or PHP codes) representing an action or activity. As an example and not by way of limitation, a third-party webpage may include a selectable icon such as “like,” “check-in,” “eat,” “recommend,” or another suitable action or activity. A user viewing the third-party webpage may perform an action by selecting one of the icons (e.g., “check-in”), causing a client system 130 to send to social-networking system 160 a message indicating the user's action. In response to the message, social-networking system 160 may create an edge (e.g., a check-in-type edge) between a user node 202 corresponding to the user and a concept node 204 corresponding to the third-party webpage or resource and store edge 206 in one or more data stores.
In particular embodiments, a pair of nodes in social graph 200 may be connected to each other by one or more edges 206. An edge 206 connecting a pair of nodes may represent a relationship between the pair of nodes. In particular embodiments, an edge 206 may include or represent one or more data objects or attributes corresponding to the relationship between a pair of nodes. As an example and not by way of limitation, a first user may indicate that a second user is a “friend” of the first user. In response to this indication, social-networking system 160 may send a “friend request” to the second user. If the second user confirms the “friend request,” social-networking system 160 may create an edge 206 connecting the first user's user node 202 to the second user's user node 202 in social graph 200 and store edge 206 as social-graph information in one or more of data stores 164. In the example of
In particular embodiments, an edge 206 between a user node 202 and a concept node 204 may represent a particular action or activity performed by a user associated with user node 202 toward a concept associated with a concept node 204. As an example and not by way of limitation, as illustrated in
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may create an edge 206 between a user node 202 and a concept node 204 in social graph 200. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user viewing a concept-profile page (such as, for example, by using a web browser or a special-purpose application hosted by the user's client system 130) may indicate that he or she likes the concept represented by the concept node 204 by clicking or selecting a “Like” icon, which may cause the user's client system 130 to send to social-networking system 160 a message indicating the user's liking of the concept associated with the concept-profile page. In response to the message, social-networking system 160 may create an edge 206 between user node 202 associated with the user and concept node 204, as illustrated by “like” edge 206 between the user and concept node 204. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may store an edge 206 in one or more data stores. In particular embodiments, an edge 206 may be automatically formed by social-networking system 160 in response to a particular user action. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first user uploads a picture, watches a movie, or listens to a song, an edge 206 may be formed between user node 202 corresponding to the first user and concept nodes 204 corresponding to those concepts. Although this disclosure describes forming particular edges 206 in particular manners, this disclosure contemplates forming any suitable edges 206 in any suitable manner.
In particular embodiments, the social-networking system 160 may determine a geographic location (hereinafter also simply “location”) of an object (e.g., a user, a concept, or a mobile-client system 130 associated with a user or concept), as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/323,915, which is incorporated by reference herein. The location of an object may be identified and stored as a street address (e.g., “1601 Willow Road”), a set of geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude), a reference to another location or object (e.g., “the coffee shop next to the train station”), a reference to a map tile (e.g., “map tile 32”), or using another suitable identifier. In particular embodiments, the location of an object may be provided by a user of an online social network. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user may input his location by checking-in at the location or otherwise providing an indication of his location. As another example and not by way of limitation, a user may input the location of a concept (e.g., a place or venue) by accessing the profile page for the concept and entering the location information (e.g., the stress address) of the concept. In particular embodiments, the location of a mobile-client system 130 equipped with cellular, Wi-Fi, GPS, or other suitable capabilities may be identified with geographic-positioning signals. As an example and not by way of limitation, a mobile-client system 130 may include one or more sensors that may facilitate geo-location functionalities of the system. Processing of sensor inputs by the mobile-client system 130 with one or more sensor devices (for example, processing a GPS sensor signal and displaying in the device's graphical user interface a map of a location corresponding to the GPS sensor signal) may be implemented by a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware (or device drivers). Geographic-positioning signals may be obtained by cell tower triangulation, Wi-Fi positioning, or GPS positioning. In particular embodiments, a geographic location of an Internet-connected computer can be identified by the computer's IP address. A mobile-client system 130 may also have additional functionalities incorporating geographic-location data of the device, such as, for example, providing driving directions, displaying a map of a current location, or providing information of nearby points of interest such as restaurants, gas stations, etc. As an example and not by way of limitation, a web browser application on the mobile-client system 130 may access a mapping library (e.g., via a function call) that generates a map containing a GPS location obtained by a device driver interpreting a GPS signal from a GPS sensor, and display the map in the web browser application's graphical user interface. In particular embodiments, the location of a user may be determined from a search history associated with the user. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a particular user has previously queried for objects in a particular location, the social-networking system 160 (or the search-engine system 170) may assume that the user is still at that particular location. Although this disclosure describes determining the location of an object in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates determining the location of an object in any suitable manner.
In particular embodiments, the social-networking system 160 may maintain a database of information relating to locations. The social-networking system 160 may also maintain meta information about particular locations, such as, for example, photos of the location, advertisements, user reviews, comments, “check-in” activity data, “like” activity data, hours of operation, or other suitable information related to the location. In particular embodiments, a location may correspond to a concept node 204 in a social graph 200 (such as, for example, as described previously or as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/763,171, which is incorporated by reference herein). The social-networking system 160 may allow users to access information regarding a location using a client application (e.g., a web browser or other suitable application) hosted by a mobile-client system 130. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-networking system 160 may serve webpages (or other structured documents) to users that request information about a location. In addition to user profile and location information, the system may track or maintain other information about the user. As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking system 160 may support geo-social-networking functionality including one or more location-based services that record the user's location. As an example and not by way of limitation, users may access the geo-social-networking system using a special-purpose client application hosted by a mobile-client system 130 of the user (or a web- or network-based application using a browser client). The client application may automatically access GPS or other geo-location functions supported by the mobile-client system 130 and report the user's current location to the geo-social-networking system. In addition, the client application may support geo-social networking functionality that allows users to “check-in” at various locations and communicate this location to other users. A check-in to a given location may occur when a user is physically located at a location and, using a mobile-client system 130, access the geo-social-networking system to register the user's presence at the location. The social-networking system 160 may automatically check-in a user to a location based on the user's current location and past location data, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/042,357, which is incorporated by reference herein. In particular embodiments, the social-networking system 160 may allow users to indicate other types of relationships with respect to particular locations, such as “like,” “fan,” “worked at,” “recommended,” “attended,” or another suitable type of relationship. In particular embodiments, “check-in” information and other relationship information may be represented in the social graph 200 as an edge 206 connecting the user node 202 of the user to the concept node 204 of the location.
In particular embodiments, mobile client system 130 many include a communication component coupled to antennae 134A-B for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC), wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless network, such as for example a WI-FI network or modem for communicating with a cellular network, such third generation mobile telecommunications (3G), or Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. This disclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitable communication component 20 for it. As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile client system 130 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or more portions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these. One or more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless. As another example, mobile client system 130 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3G, or LTE network), or other suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more of these. Mobile client system 130 may include any suitable communication component for any of these networks, where appropriate.
In particular embodiments, the communication component coupled to antennae 134A-B of mobile client system 130 may be configured to determine location data based on global positioning system (GPS) signals, cellular triangulation, wireless hotspots, or any suitable methods for determining location data. In particular embodiments, the location service of mobile client system 130 may use one or more methods of location determination, such as for example, using the location of one or more cellular towers, crowd-sourced location information associated with a WI-FI hotspot, or a GPS function of mobile client system 130. As an example and not by way of limitation, the application may use GPS data as the primary source of location information depending at least in part on whether mobile client system 130 is able to acquire GPS data within a pre-determined period of time. As another example, if mobile client system 130 is unable to acquire the GPS data within the pre-determined sampling duration, the application may use the location determined using one or more cellular towers or WI-FI hotspots. Although this disclosure describes a location service using particular methods of location determination, this disclosure contemplates a location service using any suitable method or combination of methods of location detection.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may be able to automatically and without any manual input from the user, track the location of mobile client system 130, such as, for example, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/323,915, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0331119, filed 6 Feb. 2013, which are both incorporated by reference herein. For example, social-networking system 160 may poll or “ping” the mobile client system 130 at pre-determined intervals to obtain location information through an application of mobile client system 130 running in a background mode. In response to the ping, the application of mobile client system 130 may activate a location service of mobile client system 130. Social-networking system 160 may adjust the polling frequency or sampling duration based on various factors.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may determine the geographic locations of a first user and one or more second users, where the user node 202 of social graph 200 associated with the first user is connected to the user nodes 202 associated with the second users. Social-networking system 160 may then determine if the first user would be interested in being notified of the location of the one or more second users, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/323,915, which in incorporated by reference herein. For example, a user of an online social network may wish to be notified when another user is within a threshold distance from the user, which would facilitate meeting up in person, hanging out together, etc., and these notifications may be pushed to a user's mobile client system 130 if various notification rules are satisfied. The user may also access a list of other users that are within this threshold distance, for example by accessing the online social network and reviewing a page referencing one or more nearby users.
In particular embodiments, determination of whether the first user is interested in meeting with one or more of the second users, in addition to determination of whether the one or more second users are interested in meeting with the first user, may be done prior to notifying the first user that one or more of the second users are nearby. This additional step of confirming whether a user is interesting in meeting with other users may help bypass a situation in which a user potentially feels awkward about messaging another user after being notified that the other user is nearby for fear of potentially invading the other user's private time and/or space. As an example and not by way of limitation, this additional step of confirming that the first user and the second user are interested in meeting with each other may allow both users to confirm that they are both open and available to meet prior to sending notifications informing the users that they are nearby to each other. Moreover, in the case where one of the users declines to meet, that user's preferences may be kept private and the other user will not receive any notifications of that user's geographic proximity.
In particular embodiments, determination of whether the first user would be interested in meeting with one or more second users may be based at least in part on the geographical proximity of the second users to the first user, and thus one or more of these second users may be selected based at least in part on their geographic proximity to the first user. Social-networking system 160 may determine that if one or more second users are nearby in location to the first user, the first user may desire to contact the one or more second users and meet up in person. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may determine the distance between the detected geographic location of the first user and the detected geographic locations of one or more second users. This distance may be a straight-line (absolute) distance, a travel distance (e.g. walking or driving distance), another suitable distance, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may determine a place associated with the location of the first user, and one or more places associated with the locations of the one or more second users. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-networking system 160 may determine that the first user and a second user are in the same place of business, building, landmark, or neighborhood. As another example, social-networking system 160 may determine that the first user and a second user are in adjacent or proximate places of business, buildings, landmarks, or neighborhoods.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may calculate a distance between the location of the first user and the locations of the second user to determine if the second user is within a threshold distance from the first user. In particular embodiments, this threshold distance may be based on a variety of factors, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/323,915, which in incorporated by reference herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, the threshold distance may be higher for a second user who is travelling far from his place of residence, compared to a second user whose current location is close to their place of residence. As another example, if the first user and second user are both residents of the same city, the threshold distance may be reduced further. In particular embodiments, the threshold distance may scale with the distance between residences of the first user and the second user. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may determine a minimum distance between residences of the first user and the second user for setting an increased threshold distance.
In particular embodiments, the threshold distance may be adjusted based on a social affinity or closeness of the second user with respect to the first user on social graph 200. Two second users who are first-degree connections to the first user (i.e., the users correspond to user nodes 202 that are connected by a single edge 206 to the user node 202 corresponding to the first user in social graph 200) may have different social affinities or closeness based on interactions between the users (which may be interaction both on and off the online social network). In particular embodiments, second users who have a greater social affinity or are closer to the first user on the social graph may have an increased threshold distance. This may allow the first user to be notified if a close friend is anywhere near their current location. In particular embodiments, if the affinity of a second user with respect to the first user is below a threshold affinity, social-networking system 160 may determine that no notification should be sent, even if the physical geographical locations are very close. Although this disclosure describes using particular methods of determining whether the location of a second user is within a threshold distance from the first user, this disclosure contemplates any suitable method or combination of methods of determining whether the location of the second user is within the threshold distance from the first user. In particular embodiments, once social-networking system 160 determines that the geographic locations of one or more second users are within the threshold distance from the geographic location of the first user, social-networking system 160 may use a set of notification rules to determine whether the second user is a user that a notification should be sent to the first user informing them that this second user is nearby. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-networking system 160 may only generate of list of second users that social-networking system 160 decides that the first user would want to know the locations of and would likely meet up with these particular second user after being notified. On the other hand, social-networking system 160 may eliminate from the list of second users any users that social-networking system 160 determines the first user would not care as much about or would not subsequently meet up with even if they received notifications of the locations of these users. Notification rules used by social-networking system 160 to identify one or more second users that are potentially of interest to the first user include a number of notification rules as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/323,915, which is incorporated by reference herein.
In particular embodiments, if any of the notification rules are not met, social-networking system 160 may decide not to include a particular second user in the list of identified one or more second users. In particular embodiments, the notification rules comprising the set of notification rules may be weighted, with a weighted score being associated with each notification rule. Social-networking system 160 may require a threshold score to be exceeded in order include a particular second user in the list of identified one or more second users (e.g., whose location may be sent as a notification to the first user). Although this disclosure describes notification rules using particular methods of determining whether a notification should be sent, this disclosure contemplates a set of notification rules using any suitable method or combination of methods of determining whether a user would be interested in the notification and subsequently act based on the notification.
In particular embodiments, once social-networking system 160 determines that the locations of one or more second users are within the threshold distance from the location of the first user, and the identified one or more second users satisfy one or more notification rules (e.g., notification rules associated with the first user), social-networking system 160 may use a two-way opt-in system to confirm that both parties are interested in meeting up prior to allowing the two parties to connect with each other. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may first request meet-up preference information from the first user. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may also request meet-up preference information from each of the one or more second users. As an example and not by way of limitation, the meet-up preference information associated with the first user may include one or more of an indication of whether the first user is interested in meeting anyone, an indication of whether the first user is only interested in meeting certain other users (e.g., users listed as a connection of the first user on the first user's social graph), and an indication of whether the first user is interested in meeting with one or more of the second users. Similarly, the meet-up preference information associated with the second user may include one or more of an indication of whether the second user is interested in meeting with anyone, an indication of whether the first user is only interested in meeting certain other users, and an indication of whether the second user is interested in meeting with the first user.
In particular embodiments, the meet-up preference information from the first and second users may include additional layers of user-specific preferences. In particular embodiments, the user-specific preferences may include user-inputted preferences that the user may select and/or choose from on a user interface (discussed below), and/or user preferences automatically determined for the user based on accessing user information. As an example and not by way of limitation, the user-specific preferences may include limiting a meeting with potential other users to certain affinity groups within a user's social network (e.g., only a user's first degree friends; only a user's second degree friends; excluding all other users not connecting to the user on the user's social graph; etc.). As an example and not by way of limitation, the user-inputted preferences may include certain timing and/or time limitations (e.g., availability only after 6 PM today; availability limited to sometime in the next two hours; availability limited to only weeknights after 5 PM and/or weekends; etc.), and social-networking system 160 may access a user's calendar (e.g., by accessing a calendar application associated with the user) and/or other suitable accessible user information to automatically determine and/or confirm when a user has a slot of free and/or open time. As an example and not by way of limitation, the user-inputted preferences may include certain user groups defined by a particular commonality (e.g., only other users living in San Francisco; only other users not currently in a romantic relationship; etc.). As an example and not by way of limitation, the user-inputted preferences may include certain venue limitations (e.g., only other users interested in certain restaurants; only other users interested in certain restaurants located in certain cities; etc.). As an example and not by way of limitation, the user-inputted preferences may include certain distance limitations (e.g., only users within X miles from the current location). As an example and not by way of limitation, the user-inputted preferences may include context based on the user's current state or activity, which may be determined by accessing the user's information (e.g., accessed from the user's calendar information, email information, daily routine and/or task list information, and structured minutiae associated with a user, etc.). Although this disclosure describes particular user-inputted preferences, this disclosure contemplates any suitable user-inputted preference or combination of user-inputted preferences associated with the meet-up preference information for either the first user or the one or more second users.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may send a notification to a client system (e.g., a mobile client system 130) associated with the first user. As an example and not by way of limitation, the notification to the client system of the first user may be based on meet-up preference information received from the first user. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 150 may also send a notification to a client system (e.g., a mobile client system 130) associated with each of the one or more second users. As an example and not by way of limitation, the notification to the client system of the second user may be based on meet-up preference information received from the second user. In particular embodiments, the notifications to the client systems of the first and second users may be based on both the meet-up preference information received from the first user and the second user.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may receive a response from the first user indicating that the first user wishes to “opt-in,” for example, as an indication that the first user is interested and available to meet with at least one other user. In particular embodiments, the first user's opt-in response may include a limitation on the number and/or identify of the second user(s), and/or a limitation based on one or more user-specific preferences, as discussed above. As an example and not by way of limitation, the first user's opt-in response may be limited to the first user's first degree friends, limited to the first user's second degree friends, limited to only users connected to the first user's social graph, limited to only certain users (e.g., Users A, B, and C; users who are family members of the first user; etc.). In particular embodiments, the first user's opt-in response may include certain timing and/or time limitations. As an example and not by way of limitation, the first user's opt-in response may include details such as availability only at certain times (e.g., only available after 6 PM today and tomorrow; only available between 6-9 PM today; etc.). In particular embodiments, the first user's opt-in response may include limitations on the users the first user would like to meet up with as defined by certain user groups, particular commonalities, certain venue limitations, and/or certain distance limitations. As an example and not by way of limitation, the first user's opt-in response may include details such as location limitations (e.g., only other users living in San Francisco), second-user status limitations (e.g., only other users not currently in a romantic relationship), meet up venue limitations (e.g., meeting up only if the location is set at an Italian restaurant; meeting up only the location is set at a restaurant in Palo Alto; etc.) and/or certain distance limitations (e.g., meeting up only if the location is set at a location within 5 miles from the location of the first user). In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may receive a response from one or more second users indicating that these second users wish to “opt-in,” for example, as an indication that the second users are interested and available to meet with at least one other user (e.g., specifically including the first user). As an example and not by way of limitation, the second users' opt-in responses may each include limitations based on one or more user-specific preferences, which may be the same or similar to the user-specified preferences discussed above with regard to the first user.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may request an immediate and/or timely response from a user so that social-networking system 160 can present timely notifications of others users' availability based on the location and availability of these other users that are determined to be within a threshold distance from the location of the user and satisfying the one or more notification rules (discussed above). As an example and not by way of limitation, social-networking system 160 may send a push notification to mobile-client system 130 of a first user informing him that a particular second user is nearby. The notification may be, for example, a SMS message, a MMS message, an email message, a banner notification, a pop-up notification, an in-app notification (e.g., a jewel notification), a cloud-to-device notification (e.g., C2DM notification), another suitable type of notification, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments, the notification may be a push notification. Push technology may be used in a variety of circumstances. For example, in a client-server environment, a server may push communications to a client. A notification may be sent (pushed) from the server to the client through a push channel. The client may be any type of electronic device capable of network communications. In particular embodiments, the client may be a mobile device (e.g., a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc.) capable of wireless communications, and the server may push communications, sent over a mobile network or a wireless network, to the mobile device. As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking system 160 may initiate a communication transaction with a user's mobile-client system 130 and send the notification to the mobile-client system 130 without obtaining a permission from the receiving system first. In other words, the notification may be “pushed” to the receiving device whether or not the receiving device (or the user of the device) actually wants to receive the communication.
In particular embodiments, once social-networking system 160 receives a response from the first user and a second user indicating that they are open to meet (e.g., by receiving the opt-in responses from the first user and the second user), in addition to other meet-up preference information (as discussed above) from each user on the parameters of their availability after receiving a response from two users, then the first user may be directed to a messaging UI or other suitable communication platform for communication with the second user. In particular embodiments, the messaging UI or other suitable communication platform may be associated with social-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, the messaging UI or other suitable communication platform may be associated with mobile client system 130 of the first user and mobile client system 130 of the second user, and may allow for a direct communication channel between mobile client system 130 of the first user and mobile client system 130 of the second user. In particular embodiments, the communication platform may include a framework and workflow for planning a group event where elements of the details of the group event are left as “TBD,” as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/571,164, which in incorporated by reference herein.
In particular embodiments, if social-networking system 160 receives a response from the first user indicating that the first user wishes to “opt-out” (e.g., the first user responds by indicating that he/she does not want to meet at all, or indicates certain parameters for meeting with the second user or other users in general that do not align with the meet-up preferences associated with the second user), the second user will not receive any notifications of the first user's geographic proximity and/or availability. In particular embodiments, if social-networking system 160 receives a response from the second user indicating that the second user wishes to “opt-out” (e.g., the second user response by indicating that he/she does not want to meet at all, or indicates certain parameters for meeting with the first user or other users in general that do not align with the meet-up preferences associated with the first user), the first user will not receive notifications of the second user's geographic proximity and/or availability. Moreover, if one user's situation changes after the user has indicated that he/she is available to meet, that user may update their meet-up preferences to decline future meetings and revoke their availability. As an example and not by way of limitation, the first user may initially have indicated that he wanted to opt-in and was open to meet up sometime in the next 5 hours. However, one hour later, the first user may receive a message from his brother asking the user if he had time to go eat a meal sometime in the next 3 hours. In this situation, the first user may now determine that he no longer can meet up with other users, and thus may update his opt-in response to an opt-out response by revoking his availability for the next 3 hours and declining any meet-up request during this time.
In particular embodiments, the notifications and subsequent communication between the first user and the second user may involve the scheduling of a physical meet-up between the users. Alternatively, the notifications and subsequent communication between the first user and the second user may involve the scheduling of an online meeting (e.g., a virtual meet-up) between the users. As an example and not by way of limitation, two or more users may be matched up for a virtual meet-up based on their preferences and statuses (e.g., two or more users may meet up for a music session, a video gaming session, or other suitable virtual meet-up session). Although this disclosure describes methods of meeting up in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates any suitable method of meeting up in any particular manner between two or more users.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may determine the social-graph affinity (which may be referred to herein as “affinity”) of various social-graph entities for each other. Affinity may represent the strength of a relationship or level of interest between particular objects associated with the online social network, such as users, concepts, content, actions, advertisements, other objects associated with the online social network, or any suitable combination thereof. Affinity may also be determined with respect to objects associated with third-party systems 170 or other suitable systems. An overall affinity for a social-graph entity for each user, subject matter, or type of content may be established. The overall affinity may change based on continued monitoring of the actions or relationships associated with the social-graph entity. Although this disclosure describes determining particular affinities in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates determining any suitable affinities in any suitable manner.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may measure or quantify social-graph affinity using an affinity coefficient (which may be referred to herein as “coefficient”). The coefficient may represent or quantify the strength of a relationship between particular objects associated with the online social network. The coefficient may also represent a probability or function that measures a predicted probability that a user will perform a particular action based on the user's interest in the action. In this way, a user's future actions may be predicted based on the user's prior actions, where the coefficient may be calculated at least in part a the history of the user's actions. Coefficients may be used to predict any number of actions, which may be within or outside of the online social network. As an example and not by way of limitation, these actions may include various types of communications, such as sending messages, posting content, or commenting on content; various types of a observation actions, such as accessing or viewing profile pages, media, or other suitable content; various types of coincidence information about two or more social-graph entities, such as being in the same group, tagged in the same photograph, checked-in at the same location, or attending the same event; or other suitable actions. Although this disclosure describes measuring affinity in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates measuring affinity in any suitable manner.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may use a variety of factors to calculate a coefficient. These factors may include, for example, user actions, types of relationships between objects, location information, other suitable factors, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments, different factors may be weighted differently when calculating the coefficient. The weights for each factor may be static or the weights may change according to, for example, the user, the type of relationship, the type of action, the user's location, and so forth. Ratings for the factors may be combined according to their weights to determine an overall coefficient for the user. As an example and not by way of limitation, particular user actions may be assigned both a rating and a weight while a relationship associated with the particular user action is assigned a rating and a correlating weight (e.g., so the weights total 100%). To calculate the coefficient of a user towards a particular object, the rating assigned to the user's actions may comprise, for example, 60% of the overall coefficient, while the relationship between the user and the object may comprise 40% of the overall coefficient. In particular embodiments, the social-networking system 160 may consider a variety of variables when determining weights for various factors used to calculate a coefficient, such as, for example, the time since information was accessed, decay factors, frequency of access, relationship to information or relationship to the object about which information was accessed, relationship to social-graph entities connected to the object, short- or long-term averages of user actions, user feedback, other suitable variables, or any combination thereof. As an example and not by way of limitation, a coefficient may include a decay factor that causes the strength of the signal provided by particular actions to decay with time, such that more recent actions are more relevant when calculating the coefficient. The ratings and weights may be continuously updated based on continued tracking of the actions upon which the coefficient is based. Any type of process or algorithm may be employed for assigning, combining, averaging, and so forth the ratings for each factor and the weights assigned to the factors. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may determine coefficients using machine-learning algorithms trained on historical actions and past user responses, or data farmed from users by exposing them to various options and measuring responses. Although this disclosure describes calculating coefficients in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates calculating coefficients in any suitable manner.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may calculate a coefficient based on a user's actions. Social-networking system 160 may monitor such actions on the online social network, on a third-party system 170, on other suitable systems, or any combination thereof. Any suitable type of user actions may be tracked or monitored. Typical user actions include viewing profile pages, creating or posting content, interacting with content, tagging or being tagged in images, joining groups, listing and confirming attendance at events, checking-in at locations, liking particular pages, creating pages, and performing other tasks that facilitate social action. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may calculate a coefficient based on the user's actions with particular types of content. The content may be associated with the online social network, a third-party system 170, or another suitable system. The content may include users, profile pages, posts, news stories, headlines, instant messages, chat room conversations, emails, advertisements, pictures, video, music, other suitable objects, or any combination thereof. Social-networking system 160 may analyze a user's actions to determine whether one or more of the actions indicate an affinity for subject matter, content, other users, and so forth. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user may make frequently posts content related to “coffee” or variants thereof, social-networking system 160 may determine the user has a high coefficient with respect to the concept “coffee”. Particular actions or types of actions may be assigned a higher weight and/or rating than other actions, which may affect the overall calculated coefficient. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first user emails a second user, the weight or the rating for the action may be higher than if the first user simply views the user-profile page for the second user.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may calculate a coefficient based on the type of relationship between particular objects. Referencing the social graph 200, social-networking system 160 may analyze the number and/or type of edges 206 connecting particular user nodes 202 and concept nodes 204 when calculating a coefficient. As an example and not by way of limitation, user nodes 202 that are connected by a spouse-type edge (representing that the two users are married) may be assigned a higher coefficient than a user nodes 202 that are connected by a friend-type edge. In other words, depending upon the weights assigned to the actions and relationships for the particular user, the overall affinity may be determined to be higher for content about the user's spouse than for content about the user's friend. In particular embodiments, the relationships a user has with another object may affect the weights and/or the ratings of the user's actions with respect to calculating the coefficient for that object. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user is tagged in first photo, but merely likes a second photo, social-networking system 160 may determine that the user has a higher coefficient with respect to the first photo than the second photo because having a tagged-in-type relationship with content may be assigned a higher weight and/or rating than having a like-type relationship with content. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may calculate a coefficient for a first user based on the relationship one or more second users have with a particular object. In other words, the connections and coefficients other users have with an object may affect the first user's coefficient for the object. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first user is connected to or has a high coefficient for one or more second users, and those second users are connected to or have a high coefficient for a particular object, social-networking system 160 may determine that the first user should also have a relatively high coefficient for the particular object. In particular embodiments, the coefficient may be based on the degree of separation between particular objects. The lower coefficient may represent the decreasing likelihood that the first user will share an interest in content objects of the user that is indirectly connected to the first user in the social graph 200. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-graph entities that are closer in the social graph 200 (i.e., fewer degrees of separation) may have a higher coefficient than entities that are further apart in the social graph 200.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may calculate a coefficient based on location information. Objects that are geographically closer to each other may be considered to be more related or of more interest to each other than more distant objects. In particular embodiments, the coefficient of a user towards a particular object may be based on the proximity of the object's location to a current location associated with the user (or the location of a client system 130 of the user). A first user may be more interested in other users or concepts that are closer to the first user. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user is one mile from an airport and two miles from a gas station, social-networking system 160 may determine that the user has a higher coefficient for the airport than the gas station based on the proximity of the airport to the user.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may perform particular actions with respect to a user based on coefficient information. Coefficients may be used to predict whether a user will perform a particular action based on the user's interest in the action. A coefficient may be used when generating or presenting any type of objects to a user, such as advertisements, search results, news stories, media, messages, notifications, or other suitable objects. The coefficient may also be utilized to rank and order such objects, as appropriate. In this way, social-networking system 160 may provide information that is relevant to user's interests and current circumstances, increasing the likelihood that they will find such information of interest. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may generate content based on coefficient information. Content objects may be provided or selected based on coefficients specific to a user. As an example and not by way of limitation, the coefficient may be used to generate media for the user, where the user may be presented with media for which the user has a high overall coefficient with respect to the media object. As another example and not by way of limitation, the coefficient may be used to generate advertisements for the user, where the user may be presented with advertisements for which the user has a high overall coefficient with respect to the advertised object. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may generate search results based on coefficient information. Search results for a particular user may be scored or ranked based on the coefficient associated with the search results with respect to the querying user. As an example and not by way of limitation, search results corresponding to objects with higher coefficients may be ranked higher on a search-results page than results corresponding to objects having lower coefficients.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may calculate a coefficient in response to a request for a coefficient from a particular system or process. To predict the likely actions a user may take (or may be the subject of) in a given situation, any process may request a calculated coefficient for a user. The request may also include a set of weights to use for various factors used to calculate the coefficient. This request may come from a process running on the online social network, from a third-party system 170 (e.g., via an API or other communication channel), or from another suitable system. In response to the request, social-networking system 160 may calculate the coefficient (or access the coefficient information if it has previously been calculated and stored). In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may measure an affinity with respect to a particular process. Different processes (both internal and external to the online social network) may request a coefficient for a particular object or set of objects. Social-networking system 160 may provide a measure of affinity that is relevant to the particular process that requested the measure of affinity. In this way, each process receives a measure of affinity that is tailored for the different context in which the process will use the measure of affinity.
In connection with social-graph affinity and affinity coefficients, particular embodiments may utilize one or more systems, components, elements, functions, methods, operations, or steps disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/503,093, filed 11 Aug. 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/977,027, filed 22 Dec. 2010, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/978,265, filed 23 Dec. 2010, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/632,869, filed 1 Oct. 2012, each of which is incorporated by reference.
In particular embodiments, one or more of the content objects of the online social network may be associated with a privacy setting. The privacy settings (or “access settings”) for an object may be stored in any suitable manner, such as, for example, in association with the object, in an index on an authorization server, in another suitable manner, or any combination thereof. A privacy setting of an object may specify how the object (or particular information associated with an object) can be accessed (e.g., viewed or shared) using the online social network. Where the privacy settings for an object allow a particular user to access that object, the object may be described as being “visible” with respect to that user. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user of the online social network may specify privacy settings for a user-profile page that identify a set of users that may access the work experience information on the user-profile page, thus excluding other users from accessing the information. In particular embodiments, the privacy settings may specify a “blocked list” of users that should not be allowed to access certain information associated with the object. In other words, the blocked list may specify one or more users or entities for which an object is not visible. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user may specify a set of users that may not access photos albums associated with the user, thus excluding those users from accessing the photo albums (while also possibly allowing certain users not within the set of users to access the photo albums). In particular embodiments, privacy settings may be associated with particular social-graph elements. Privacy settings of a social-graph element, such as a node or an edge, may specify how the social-graph element, information associated with the social-graph element, or content objects associated with the social-graph element can be accessed using the online social network. As an example and not by way of limitation, a particular concept node 204 corresponding to a particular photo may have a privacy setting specifying that the photo may only be accessed by users tagged in the photo and their friends. In particular embodiments, privacy settings may allow users to opt in or opt out of having their actions logged by social-networking system 160 or shared with other systems (e.g., third-party system 170). In particular embodiments, the privacy settings associated with an object may specify any suitable granularity of permitted access or denial of access. As an example and not by way of limitation, access or denial of access may be specified for particular users (e.g., only me, my roommates, and my boss), users within a particular degrees-of-separation (e.g., friends, or friends-of-friends), user groups (e.g., the gaming club, my family), user networks (e.g., employees of particular employers, students or alumni of particular university), all users (“public”), no users (“private”), users of third-party systems 170, particular applications (e.g., third-party applications, external websites), other suitable users or entities, or any combination thereof. Although this disclosure describes using particular privacy settings in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates using any suitable privacy settings in any suitable manner.
In particular embodiments, one or more servers 162 may be authorization/privacy servers for enforcing privacy settings. In response to a request from a user (or other entity) for a particular object stored in a data store 164, social-networking system 160 may send a request to the data store 164 for the object. The request may identify the user associated with the request and may only be sent to the user (or a client system 130 of the user) if the authorization server determines that the user is authorized to access the object based on the privacy settings associated with the object. If the requesting user is not authorized to access the object, the authorization server may prevent the requested object from being retrieved from the data store 164, or may prevent the requested object from be sent to the user. In the search query context, an object may only be generated as a search result if the querying user is authorized to access the object. In other words, the object must have a visibility that is visible to the querying user. If the object has a visibility that is not visible to the user, the object may be excluded from the search results. Although this disclosure describes enforcing privacy settings in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates enforcing privacy settings in any suitable manner.
This disclosure contemplates any suitable number of computer systems 600. This disclosure contemplates computer system 600 taking any suitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation, computer system 600 may be an embedded computer system, a system-on-chip (SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computer system, a laptop or notebook computer system, an interactive kiosk, a mainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a server, a tablet computer system, or a combination of two or more of these. Where appropriate, computer system 600 may include one or more computer systems 600; be unitary or distributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple data centers; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloud components in one or more networks. Where appropriate, one or more computer systems 600 may perform without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more computer systems 600 may perform in real time or in batch mode one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein. One or more computer systems 600 may perform at different times or at different locations one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein, where appropriate.
In particular embodiments, computer system 600 includes a processor 602, memory 604, storage 606, an input/output (I/O) interface 608, a communication interface 610, and a bus 612. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular computer system having a particular number of particular components in a particular arrangement, this disclosure contemplates any suitable computer system having any suitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.
In particular embodiments, processor 602 includes hardware for executing instructions, such as those making up a computer program. As an example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 602 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, an internal cache, memory 604, or storage 606; decode and execute them; and then write one or more results to an internal register, an internal cache, memory 604, or storage 606. In particular embodiments, processor 602 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplates processor 602 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate. As an example and not by way of limitation, processor 602 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs). Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions in memory 604 or storage 606, and the instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions by processor 602. Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory 604 or storage 606 for instructions executing at processor 602 to operate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor 602 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 602 or for writing to memory 604 or storage 606; or other suitable data. The data caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 602. The TLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 602. In particular embodiments, processor 602 may include one or more internal registers for data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplates processor 602 including any suitable number of any suitable internal registers, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 602 may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-core processor; or include one or more processors 602. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, this disclosure contemplates any suitable processor.
In particular embodiments, memory 604 includes main memory for storing instructions for processor 602 to execute or data for processor 602 to operate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system 600 may load instructions from storage 606 or another source (such as, for example, another computer system 600) to memory 604. Processor 602 may then load the instructions from memory 604 to an internal register or internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 602 may retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cache and decode them. During or after execution of the instructions, processor 602 may write one or more results (which may be intermediate or final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor 602 may then write one or more of those results to memory 604. In particular embodiments, processor 602 executes only instructions in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 604 (as opposed to storage 606 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 604 (as opposed to storage 606 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (which may each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 602 to memory 604. Bus 612 may include one or more memory buses, as described below. In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units (MMUs) reside between processor 602 and memory 604 and facilitate accesses to memory 604 requested by processor 602. In particular embodiments, memory 604 includes random access memory (RAM). This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate, this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, where appropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. This disclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 604 may include one or more memories 604, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates any suitable memory.
In particular embodiments, storage 606 includes mass storage for data or instructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 606 may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory, an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive or a combination of two or more of these. Storage 606 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, where appropriate. Storage 606 may be internal or external to computer system 600, where appropriate. In particular embodiments, storage 606 is non-volatile, solid-state memory. In particular embodiments, storage 606 includes read-only memory (ROM). Where appropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these. This disclosure contemplates mass storage 606 taking any suitable physical form. Storage 606 may include one or more storage control units facilitating communication between processor 602 and storage 606, where appropriate. Where appropriate, storage 606 may include one or more storages 606. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.
In particular embodiments, I/O interface 608 includes hardware, software, or both, providing one or more interfaces for communication between computer system 600 and one or more I/O devices. Computer system 600 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate. One or more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a person and computer system 600. As an example and not by way of limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone, monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet, touch screen, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination of two or more of these. An I/O device may include one or more sensors. This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitable I/O interfaces 608 for them. Where appropriate, I/O interface 608 may include one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 602 to drive one or more of these I/O devices. I/O interface 608 may include one or more I/O interfaces 608, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.
In particular embodiments, communication interface 610 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) between computer system 600 and one or more other computer systems 600 or one or more networks. As an example and not by way of limitation, communication interface 610 may include a network interface controller (NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. This disclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitable communication interface 610 for it. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system 600 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or more portions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these. One or more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless. As an example, computer system 600 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network), or other suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more of these. Computer system 600 may include any suitable communication interface 610 for any of these networks, where appropriate. Communication interface 610 may include one or more communication interfaces 610, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular communication interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable communication interface.
In particular embodiments, bus 612 includes hardware, software, or both coupling components of computer system 600 to each other. As an example and not by way of limitation, bus 612 may include an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT) interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBAND interconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express (PCIe) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, or another suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. Bus 612 may include one or more buses 612, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosure contemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.
Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media may include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs), magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs), RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitable computer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these, where appropriate. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, where appropriate.
Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B” means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.
The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments described or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited to the example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates respective embodiments herein as including particular components, elements, feature, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments may include any combination or permutation of any of the components, elements, features, functions, operations, or steps described or illustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Furthermore, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative. Additionally, although this disclosure describes or illustrates particular embodiments as providing particular advantages, particular embodiments may provide none, some, or all of these advantages.
