Patent Application
20100082683
Social networking services are focused on building networks of people that share the same background, interests, and/or activities. Many types of social networking services are World Wide Web (“Web”) -based and provide a variety of mechanisms for users to discover and add other users to their social network. These types of Web-based social networking services also provide a variety of mechanisms for users to communicate with one another.
In order to facilitate the creation of a social network, many Web-based social networking services ask users to submit information about themselves that is shown to visitors. For instance, a user may be asked to submit their contact information, their date and place of birth, a list of interests, and the names of the schools they have attended. This information is commonly referred to as a “profile,” and is typically shown to other users on a profile page accessible through the social networking service.
One type of social networking service user gladly takes the time necessary to provide most, or even all, of the information that may be stored in a profile. In contrast, another type of user will supply only the absolute minimum amount of information necessary to create a valid profile. This second type of user is generally happy to visit and interact with the profile pages of other users without taking the time necessary to create a rich and expressive profile page of their own. However, an incomplete user profile can limit the ability of a social networking service user to locate and interact with other users of the social networking service.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.
Technologies are described herein for visitor-assisted user profile creation. In particular, through the concepts and technologies presented herein, one user can suggest modifications to a user profile of another user. In this way, third parties can assist a user with the creation of their user profile, thereby removing the burden from the user and increasing the likelihood that the user will have a complete user profile.
According to one aspect presented herein, a user profile is maintained that includes data about a user. A profile page is also maintained through which information contained in the user profile can be viewed. In one embodiment, the profile page also includes an invitation to visitors to the profile page to suggest a modification to the data stored in the user profile about the corresponding user. For instance, the profile page may include an invitation that invites a visitor to the profile page to submit the birth date of the user or another type of information.
If the visitor to the profile page accepts the invitation and submits a suggested modification to the user profile, a message is transmitted to the user that owns the user profile. In one embodiment, the message is a private message that asks the user if they would like to authorize the modification of their user profile in the suggested manner. The message may also permit the user to decline the suggested modification to the user profile or to edit the suggested modification. If the user accepts the suggested modification to the user profile or edits the suggested modification to the user profile, the user profile is updated accordingly.
In one embodiment, a social networking Web application maintains the user profile and provides the functionality described herein for allowing a visitor to a profile page to suggest a modification to the user profile. It should be appreciated, however, that although the embodiments presented herein are described in the context of a social networking Web application, the concepts and technologies presented herein may also be utilized with any type of information site that allows a user to maintain a user profile.
It should also be appreciated that the above-described subject matter may also be implemented as a computer-controlled apparatus, a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer-readable medium. These and various other features will be apparent from a reading of the following Detailed Description and a review of the associated drawings.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended that this Summary be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.
The following detailed description is directed to technologies for visitor-assisted profile creation. While the subject matter described herein is presented in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with the execution of an operating system and application programs on a computer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that other implementations may be performed in combination with other types of program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the subject matter described herein may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.
In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments or examples. Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements through the several figures, aspects of a computing system and methodology for visitor-assisted user profile creation will be described.
Turning now to
The server computer 104 illustrated in
It should be appreciated that while three client computers 102A-102N and a single server computer 104 have been illustrated in
According to embodiments, the users 110A-110N may utilize a respective client computer 102A-102N to execute the Web browser application 112 and to establish a connection with the social networking Web application 116. The social networking Web application 116 is a software application configured to provide a social networking service. As described briefly above, a social networking service is a computing service focused on building networks of people that share the same background, interests, and or activities. The social networking Web application 116 may be configured to provide a variety of mechanisms for users to discover and add other users to a social network. Mechanisms may also be provided for users to communicate with one another.
It should be appreciated that the social networking Web application 116 illustrated in
According to implementations, the social networking Web application 116 allows the users 110A-110N to maintain a user profile 118A-118N, respectively. As discussed briefly above, the user profiles 118A-118N include information about the users 110A-110N, respectively. For instance, according to embodiments, the social networking Web application 116 provides a user interface through which the users 110A-110N can provide information about themselves that is shown to other users on a profile page provided by the social networking Web application 116. This information may include a user's contact information, their date and place of birth, a list of interests, the names of the schools they have attended, and virtually any other type of information regarding the user's 110A-110N.
It should be appreciated that the embodiments herein are not limited by the type of data stored in the user profile 118A-118N. Moreover, it should be appreciated that the profile page provided by the social networking Web application 116 may comprise any type of information page through which one of the users 110A-110N can view information stored within a user profile 118A-118N for another user. The term “visitor” will be utilized herein to refer to the user that is visiting the profile page of another user. For instance, if the user 110B visits a profile page that includes data stored in the user profile 118A for the user 110A, the user 110B will be referred to as a “visitor”.
As discussed briefly above, one type of user of the social networking Web application 116 will complete most or all of the information that may be stored in a user profile 118. In contrast, another type of user will supply only the absolute minimum amount of information necessary to create a valid user profile 118. An incomplete user profile, however can limit the ability of the social networking Web application 116 to provide meaningful facilities for allowing the users 110A-110N to discover and interact with one another. Accordingly, the concepts and technologies presented herein allow a visitor, such as the user 110B, to another user's profile page to assist with the creation of the user's user profile 118. Additional details regarding the concepts and technologies presented herein for visitor-assisted user profile creation will be provided below with respect to
Referring now to
It should be appreciated that the logical operations described herein are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance and other requirements of the computing system. Accordingly, the logical operations described herein are referred to variously as states operations, structural devices, acts, or modules. These operations, structural devices, acts and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof. It should also be appreciated that more or fewer operations may be performed than shown in the figures and described herein. These operations may also be performed in a different order than those described herein.
The routine 200A begins at operation 202, where the user 110B in one example utilizes the client computer 102B and the Web browser application 112 executing thereupon to transmit a request for another user's profile page to the server computer 104. The Web server application program 114 and the social networking Web application 116 receive the request for the profile page at operation 232 of the routine 200B. In response thereto, the Web server application 114 transmits the requested profile page and any associated data files to the client computer 102B at operation 234 of the routine 200B. The Web browser application 112 executing on the client computer 102B receives the profile page and renders the page for display at operation 204 of the routine 200A.
In the embodiment shown in
In the implementation shown in
It should be appreciated that, in embodiments, the invitation 304 may be shown selectively based upon the relationship of the visitor to the profile page 300 to the owner of the profile page 300. For instance, in one implementation, the invitation 304 is only shown to those visitors who have an established two-way relationship with the owner. In this implementation, the invitation 304 would not be shown to those visitors that have no relationship with the owner, who have a pending unconfirmed relationship with the owner, or a one-way relationship with the owner. Other factors may be utilized in embodiments to determine which visitors to the profile page 300 are shown the invitation 304. By limiting the display of the invitation 304 to specific classes of individuals, the likelihood that the suggested modifications to the user profile are meaningful may be maximized.
Returning now to
Once a visitor to the profile page 300 has completed the specification of the suggested modification to the corresponding user profile 118A, the routine 200A proceeds from operation 208 to operation 210. At operation 210, the Web browser application 112 transmits a request to modify the user profile 118A corresponding to the profile page 300 with the specified new or modified profile data.
The server computer 104 receives the request to modify the user profile 118 at operation 236 of the routine 200B. In response thereto, the server computer 104 requests authorization from the owner of the corresponding user profile 118A to modify the data stored therein. For instance, in one implementation, the social networking Web application 116 is configured to transmit a private message to the owner of the user profile 118A to which a modification has been suggested. The private message may be displayed to the user when they next login to the social networking Web application 116. It should be appreciated that other types of messages may be utilized to request the authorization to modify the user profile 118A, such as electronic mail messages, short messaging system (“SMS”) messages, instant messages, and others.
The routine 200C begins at operation 262, where the user that owns the user profile 118A for which a modification has been has been suggested utilizes their client computer 102A to receive the request to authorize the modification of their user profile 118A. A user interface for providing such an authorization is illustrated in
The user interface 500 shown in
In one implementation, selectable items 506A-506C are also provided that may be selected by the owner of the user profile 118A to be modified that will allow the user to reply to the request for authorization by accepting the suggested modification to the user profile 118A, editing the suggested modification to the profile 118A, or declining the suggested modification to the user profile 118A, respectively. In one embodiment, the selectable items 506A-506C are hyperlinks that may be utilized to perform the requested action. In one embodiment, a selectable item 508 is also provided for allowing the user to change preferences regarding the receipt of messages such as those illustrated in
Returning now to
At operation 240, the server computer 104 does not perform the suggested modification to the user profile. If, at operation 264, the social networking Web application 116 determines that the user has authorized the suggested modification to their user profile 118A, the routine 200C proceeds from operation 264 to operation 266. At operation 266, a determination is made as to whether the user has indicated that they would like to edit the suggested modification. If so, the routine 200C proceeds to operation 268, where the social networking Web application 116 provides a user interface through which the user that owns the user profile can edit the suggested modification to the user profile 118. If the data is correct, the routine 200 proceeds from operation 266 to operation 270, where the user that owns the user profile 118A to be modified authorizes modification of the profile 118A.
Once the user has authorized modification of their profile 118A, the routine 200B proceeds to operation 242, where the modification to the user profile 118A suggested by the visitor to the profile page is performed. If the owner of the user profile 118A has made edits to the suggested modification, then the edited suggested modification will be utilized to modify the user profile 118A. From operation 210, the routine 200A proceeds to operation 212, where it ends. From operation 242, the routine 200B proceeds to operation 244, where it ends. From operation 270, the routine 200C proceeds to operation 272, where it ends.
The computer architecture shown in
The mass storage device 610 is connected to the CPU 602 through a mass storage controller (not shown) connected to the bus 604. The mass storage device 610 and its associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage for the computer 600. Although the description of computer-readable media contained herein refers to a mass storage device, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that computer-readable media can be any available computer storage media that can be accessed by the computer 600.
By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. For example, computer-readable media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (“DVD”), HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer 600.
According to various embodiments, the computer 600 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to remote computers through a network such as the network 620. The computer 600 may connect to the network 620 through a network interface unit 606 connected to the bus 604. It should be appreciated that the network interface unit 606 may also be utilized to connect to other types of networks and remote computer systems. The computer 600 may also include an input/output controller 612 for receiving and processing input from a number of other devices, including a keyboard, mouse, or electronic stylus (not shown in
As mentioned briefly above, a number of program modules and data files may be stored in the mass storage device 610 and RAM 614 of the computer 600, including an operating system 618 suitable for controlling the operation of a networked desktop, laptop, or server computer. The mass storage device 610 and RAM 614 may also store one or more program modules. In particular, the mass storage device 610 and the RAM 614 may store the Web server application program 114, the social networking Web application 116, and a user profile 118A, each of which was described in detail above with respect to
Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that technologies for visitor-assisted user profile creation are provided herein. Although the subject matter presented herein has been described in language specific to computer structural features, methodological acts, and computer readable media, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features, acts, or media described herein. Rather, the specific features, acts and mediums are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications and changes may be made to the subject matter described herein without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
