U.S. patent application number 16/842977 was filed with the patent office on 2020-07-23 for creation, publication and display of content on a social media network.
The applicant listed for this patent is INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Lisa M. W. Bradley, Brian O'Donovan, Aaron J. Quirk, Lin Sun.
Application Number | 20200236199 16/842977 |
Document ID | 20200236199 / US20200236199 |
Family ID | 58692154 |
Filed Date | 2020-07-23 |
Patent Application | download [pdf] |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200236199 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bradley; Lisa M. W. ; et
al. |
July 23, 2020 |
CREATION, PUBLICATION AND DISPLAY OF CONTENT ON A SOCIAL MEDIA
NETWORK
Abstract
A method and associated server and computer program product for
publishing content on a social media network. A probability that
content requested for publication by a user would be published
independently by the user on the social media network is calculated
in real time. The probability is calculated in real time as a
function of a comparison of the content with a repository of stored
information about the user. In response to determining the
probability, in real time, as having a value greater than or equal
to a confidence interval selected by the user, the content is
published automatically and in real time as a joint publication on
the social medial network, accessible for viewing by joint-content
viewers.
Inventors: |
Bradley; Lisa M. W.; (Cary,
NC) ; O'Donovan; Brian; (Dublin, IE) ; Quirk;
Aaron J.; (Cary, NC) ; Sun; Lin; (Cary,
NC) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION |
Armonk |
NY |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
58692154 |
Appl. No.: |
16/842977 |
Filed: |
April 8, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16163915 |
Oct 18, 2018 |
10673988 |
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16842977 |
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14939705 |
Nov 12, 2015 |
10142445 |
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16163915 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/10 20130101;
H04W 4/21 20180201; H04L 67/42 20130101; H04L 51/32 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 29/06 20060101
H04L029/06; H04L 12/58 20060101 H04L012/58; H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08; H04W 4/21 20060101 H04W004/21 |
Claims
1. A method for publishing content on a social media network, said
method implemented by a processor of a computing system, the method
comprising: calculating, in real time by the processor, a
probability that content requested for publication by a user would
be published independently by the user on the social media network,
said probability being calculated in real time as a function of a
comparison of the content with a repository of stored information
about the user; and in response to calculating the probability, in
real time by the processor, as having a value greater than or equal
to a confidence interval selected by the user, automatically and in
real time publishing, by the processor, the content as a joint
publication on the social medial network, accessible for viewing by
joint-content viewers.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: publishing
separately, in real time by the processor, the content on the
social media network to a first set of non-joint content viewers
subscribed to receive content from the user and a second set of
non-joint content viewers subscribed to receive content form an
associated user identified to jointly publish the content.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first set of non-joint
content viewers perceive the content as being published by the user
only and the second set of non-joint content viewers perceive the
content as being published by the associated user only.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein when the probability is less than
the confidence interval, the method further comprises: requesting,
in real time by the processor, permission from the associated user
to publish the content as the joint publication.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: receiving, in real
time by the processor, the permission from the associated user to
publish the content as the joint publication; and publishing, in
real time by the processor, the content as the joint
publication.
6. The method of claim 4, further comprising: receiving, in real
time by the processor, disapproval to publish the content as the
joint publication from the associated user; and publishing, in real
time by the processor, the content as a non-joint publication by
the user.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the joint-content viewers include
one or more individuals registered to use the social media network
and subscribed to receive content from both the user and the
associated user.
8. A computer program product, comprising a computer readable
storage device having a computer readable program code stored
therein, said program code configured to be executed by a processor
of a computing system to perform a method for publishing content on
a social media network, said method comprising: calculating, in
real time by the processor, a probability that content requested
for publication by a user would be published independently by the
user on the social media network, said probability being calculated
in real time as a function of a comparison of the content with a
repository of stored information about the user; and in response to
calculating the probability, in real time by the processor, as
having a value greater than or equal to a confidence interval
selected by the user, automatically and in real time publishing, by
the processor, the content as a joint publication on the social
medial network, accessible for viewing by joint-content
viewers.
9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method
further comprises: publishing separately, in real time by the
processor, the content on the social media network to a first set
of non-joint content viewers subscribed to receive content from the
user and a second set of non-joint content viewers subscribed to
receive content form an associated user identified to jointly
publish the content.
10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the first set
of non-joint content viewers perceive the content as being
published by the user only and the second set of non-joint content
viewers perceive the content as being published by the associated
user only.
11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computing
system is a cloud-based computer network having one or more
physical or virtual computing clients connected to the server.
12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein when the
probability is less than the confidence interval, the method
comprises: requesting, in real time by the processor, permission
from the associated user to publish the content as the joint
publication.
13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method
further comprises: computing, in real time by the processor, a
number of joint-content viewers shared by the user and the
associated user.
14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the processor
published the joint publication on at least two different social
media networks in real time.
15. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method
further comprises: providing at least one support service for at
least one of creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and
deploying computer-readable program code in a computer system,
where the computer-readable program code in combination with the
computer system is configured to implement the steps of receiving,
identifying, comprising, calculating, and publishing.
16. A server comprising a processor configured to execute a method
for publishing content on a social media network, said method
comprising: calculating, in real time by the processor, a
probability that content requested for publication by a user would
be published independently by the user on the social media network,
said probability being calculated in real time as a function of a
comparison of the content with a repository of stored information
about the user; and in response to calculating the probability, in
real time by the processor, as having a value greater than or equal
to a confidence interval selected by the user, automatically and in
real time publishing, by the processor, the content as a joint
publication on the social medial network, accessible for viewing by
joint-content viewers.
17. The server of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:
computing a number of joint-content viewers shared by the user and
the associated user.
18. The server of claim 16, wherein in response to the probability
being greater than the confidence interval, the step of publishing,
in real time, occurs without obtaining permission from the
associated user.
19. The server of claim 16, wherein when the probability is less
than the confidence interval, the method further comprises:
requesting, in real time, permission from an associated user to
publish the content as the joint publication, said associated user
having been identified to jointly publish the content.
20. The server of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:
in response to receiving the permission from the associated user to
publish the content as the joint publication, publishing the
content, in real time, as the joint publication; and in response to
receiving disapproval to publish the content as the joint
publication from the associated user, publishing the content as a
non-joint publication by the user.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation application claiming
priority to Ser. No. 16/163,915, filed Oct. 18, 2018, which is a
continuation of Ser. No. 14/939,705, filed Nov. 12, 2015, U.S. Pat.
No. 10,142,445, issued Nov. 27, 2018.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This disclosure relates generally to social media networks
and content generation on social media networks.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The Internet, World Wide Web and other computer networks use
social media as a platform for generating, distributing, publishing
and sharing content to users registered or participating within the
network. The user-driven content being created and distributed
through the social media network is an expression of unique
interests of each individual user in one or more topics. The
concept of social media and the idea surrounding the notion of
having a strong presence on social media networks has gained
significant popularity in recent years. A plethora of avenues for
creating, sharing and distributing content on a social media
network have been introduced allowing for expansive types of
communications, collaboration, messaging, photo and video sharing
and location services.
[0004] Sharing content amongst users on a social media network,
through content streams, such as a "feed" for example, can be
cumbersome and repetitive. Often, multiple users having common
friends or connections on the social media network share or publish
the same content which can result in duplicative alerts within a
single content stream.
SUMMARY
[0005] A first embodiment of the present disclosure provides a
method for publishing content on a social media network, said
method implemented by a processor of a computing system, the method
comprising the steps of: receiving, by the processor, a request to
publish content selected by a user; identifying, by the processor,
an associated user to jointly publish the content selected by the
user; comparing, by the processor, the content with a repository of
stored information about the associated user; calculating, by the
processor, as a function of the comparing step, a probability that
the content selected by the user will be published independently by
the associated user on the social media network; computing, by the
processor, a number of joint content viewers shared by the user and
the associated user; and publishing, by the processor, the content
as a joint publication on the social media network, accessible for
viewing by the joint-content viewers, wherein the publishing is
performed based on the probability having a value greater than or
equal to a pre-specified threshold value.
[0006] A second embodiment of the present disclosure provides a
computer system comprising a processor, a memory couple to the
processor, a computer readable storage device coupled to the
processor, said storage device containing program code configured
to be executed by the processor via the memory to perform a method
for publishing content on a social media network, said method
implemented by a processor of a computing system, the method
comprising the steps of: receiving, by the processor, a request to
publish content selected by a user; identifying, by the processor,
an associated user to jointly publish the content selected by the
user; comparing, by the processor, the content with a repository of
stored information about the associated user; calculating, by the
processor, as a function of the comparing step, a probability that
the content selected by the user will be published independently by
the associated user on the social media network; computing, by the
processor, a number of joint content viewers shared by the user and
the associated user; and publishing, by the processor, the content
as a joint publication on the social media network, accessible for
viewing by the joint-content viewers, wherein the publishing is
performed based on the probability having a value greater than or
equal to a pre-specified threshold value.
[0007] A third embodiment of the present disclosure provides a
computer program product, comprising a computer readable storage
device having a computer readable program code stored therein, said
program code configured to be executed by a processor of a
computing system to perform a method for publishing content on a
social media network, said method implemented by a processor of a
computing system, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, by
the processor, a request to publish content selected by a user;
identifying, by the processor, an associated user to jointly
publish the content selected by the user; comparing, by the
processor, the content with a repository of stored information
about the associated user; calculating, by the processor, as a
function of the comparing step, a probability that the content
selected by the user will be published independently by the
associated user on the social media network; computing, by the
processor, a number of joint content viewers shared by the user and
the associated user; and publishing, by the processor, the content
as a joint publication on the social media network, accessible for
viewing by the joint-content viewers, wherein the publishing is
performed based on the probability having a value greater than or
equal to a pre-specified threshold value.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an embodiment of a
computer system and computer program code that may be used to
publish content on a social media network,
[0009] FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of a schematic of a computing
network configured to perform a method for publishing content to a
social media network.
[0010] FIG. 3 depicts an alternate embodiment of a schematic of a
computing network configured to perform a method for publishing
content to a social media network.
[0011] FIG. 4 depicts a second alternate embodiment of a schematic
of a computing network configured to perform a method for
publishing content to a social media network.
[0012] FIG. 5 depicts a flow chart of an algorithm for performing a
method for publishing content to a social media network.
[0013] FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart of an alternative algorithm for
performing the method for publishing content to a social media
network.
[0014] FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart of a second alternative
algorithm for performing the method for publishing content to a
social media network.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] Existing methodologies for publishing content onto web pages
and user based networks such as social media networks, including
YouTube.RTM., Facebook.RTM., Tumblr.RTM., Instagram.RTM.,
Myspace.RTM., Linkedin.RTM., Twitter.RTM., Google+.RTM. and others,
lack the ability to allow for joint publications and collaborative
posting of content by multiple users of the social media network.
Often, multiple users may create content, republish content of
others or share content with a plurality of users who may subscribe
("subscribers") to receive the content from the user(s) publishing
the content (hereinafter "publishing user"). However, due to the
limitations of these social media networks, joint publishing and
automated joint publishing features are non-existent. Instead of
performing a single publication accrediting multiple users with the
publication of the content, each publishing user must independently
publish, republish or share the content to the social media network
individually in order to provide the content to their specific
subscribers who may view the content being published. In some
instances, each of the publishing users individually publishing,
republishing and sharing the content to their subscribers may be
considered inefficient, and duplicative. Often on social media
networks, multiple publishing users may have one or more
subscribers in common with other users or fellow collaborators.
When multiple publishing users publish content individually, this
may subject users-in-common to receiving multiple alerts or
notifications of content being published by one or more users, when
in fact, the publications include the same content being published
separately by each individual user.
[0016] Users may compensate for the lacking joint publication
features of social media networks by manipulating the features of
social media network in an unintended manner to draw the attention
of specific users to their published content. However, the
manipulation of social media network features may inadvertently
provide a false impression of one or more users being incorrectly
included or accredited within the content published, which may have
negative impacts on a user's reputation in both real life and in
the social media network. Accordingly, embodiments of the present
invention describe tools, methods and systems for controlling and
streamlining the publication and distribution of content associated
with one or more users on a social media network.
[0017] Embodiments of the present disclosure describe publication
tools and methods for jointly publishing content to social media
networks (including social media web pages and applications), which
incorporate the use of analytics into the decision making functions
of a computer processor. The analytics assist the processor to
identify whether or not the content being published by a publishing
user, would also be content published by an associated user of the
social media network for viewership by the associated user's
viewers. If the publication tools determine that the associated
user would publish the same content as the publishing user, the
publication tools may create a joint publication accrediting the
publication of the content to both users simultaneously or near
simultaneously. The joint publication accrediting both users may be
distributed and published to commonly shared content viewers of
both the publishing user and the associated user (joint-content
viewers). Conversely, for each non-joint content viewer subscribing
specifically to the publishing user or the associated user, the
publication tools may separately publish the content individually,
so that the separate viewers of either the publishing user or the
associated user only perceive the publication as being published by
the user that the non-joint viewers view content of.
[0018] Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment
of a computer system 101 capable of performing a method for
publishing content on a social media network. The embodiment of the
computing system may comprise a processor 103 coupled through one
or more I/O Interfaces 109 to one or more data storage devices 111,
one or more input or output (I/O) devices 113 and 115.
[0019] Hardware data storage devices 111 may include, but are not
limited to, magnetic tape drives, fixed or removable hard disks,
solid state drives (SSD), flash drives, optical discs,
storage-equipped mobile devices, and solid-state random-access or
read-only storage devices. I/O devices 113, 115 may comprise, but
are not limited to: input devices 113, such as keyboards, scanners,
handheld telecommunications devices, touch-sensitive displays,
tablets, cameras, biometric readers, thumb print scanners, retinal
scanners, joysticks, trackballs, or computer mice; and output
devices 115, may comprise, but are not limited to printers,
plotters, tablets, mobile telephones, displays, or sound-producing
devices. Data storage devices 111, input devices 113, and output
devices 115 may be connected to the computer system 101 either
locally or at remote location from which they may be connected to
I/O Interface 109 through a network interface or specialized
hardware.
[0020] In some embodiments, the computing system 101 may be
integrated into or communicate with a network 209 of computing
systems 101, each with one or more hardware and software components
to perform the method of publishing content on a social media
network. In order to communicate amongst the plurality of the
computing systems, additional specialized or network based I/O
devices may be implemented into the hardware and software of the
computing system 101 to facilitate communication between systems.
Examples of hardware components may include gateways, routers,
switches, bridges, hubs and repeaters, including hybrid network
devices such as multilayer switches, protocol converters, bridge
routers, proxy servers, firewalls, network address translators,
multiplexers, network interface controllers, wireless network
interface controllers, modems, ISDN terminal adapters, line
drivers, wireless access points and networking cables such as
Ethernet cables. Software components on the other hand may include
network interface cards (NIC), PC cards, servers, operating systems
(OS) such as a network operating system (NOS) and PIMs.
[0021] Processor 103 may be connected to one or more memory devices
105, which may include, but are not limited to, Dynamic RAM (DRAM),
Static RAM (SRAM), Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM),
Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), Secure Digital (SD) memory
cards, SIM cards, or other types of memory devices.
[0022] At least one memory device 105 may contain computer program
code 107, which may be a computer program that comprises
computer-executable instructions. The stored computer program code
107 may include a program that performs a method for publishing
content on a social media network in accordance with embodiments of
the present disclosure, and may implement other embodiments
described in this specification, including the methods illustrated
in the FIGS. 1-7. In some alternative embodiments, the data storage
devices 111 may also store the computer program code 107. Processor
103 may execute the stored computer program code 107. In some
embodiments of the computing system 101, the computer program code
107 stored in the storage devices 111 may be configured to be
launched by processor 103 via the memory devices 105.
[0023] In some embodiments, rather than being stored and accessed
from a hard drive, optical disc or other writeable, rewriteable, or
removable hardware data-storage device 111, stored computer program
code 107 may be stored on a static, nonremovable, read-only storage
medium such as a Read-Only Memory (ROM) device 105, or may be
accessed by processor 103 directly from such a static,
nonremovable, read-only medium 105. Similarly, in some embodiments,
stored computer program code 107 may be stored as computer-readable
firmware 105, or may be accessed by processor 103 directly from
such firmware 105, rather than from a more dynamic or removable
hardware data-storage device 111, such as a hard drive or optical
disc. Thus the present disclosure discloses a process for
supporting computer infrastructure, integrating, hosting,
maintaining, and executing computer-readable code 107 into the
computer system 101, wherein the code in combination with the
computer system 101 is capable of performing a method for
publishing content on a social media network.
[0024] Any of the components of the present disclosure may be
created, integrated, hosted, maintained, executed, managed,
serviced, supported, etc. by a service provider or a computing
solution that offers a method to facilitate the implementation of a
publication tool which may have an analytics engine incorporated
therein, allowing for a process of executing or integrating
computing infrastructure and/or integrating computer-readable code
into the computer system 101, wherein the code in combination with
the computer system 101 is capable of performing a method for
publishing content on a social media network.
[0025] One or more data storage devices 111 (or one or more
additional memory devices not shown in FIG. 1 may be used as a
computer-readable hardware storage device having a
computer-readable program embodied therein and/or having other data
stored therein, wherein the computer-readable program comprises
stored computer program code 107. Generally, a computer program
product (or, alternatively, an article of manufacture) of computer
system 101 may comprise the computer-readable hardware storage
device.
[0026] While it is understood that program code 107, the program
code 107 for publishing content on a social media network,
including program code 107 for a publishing tool may be manually
executed by loading the program code 107 directly into a computer
system 101 such as a computer client, server, proxy computers or
other computing systems through a computer-readable storage medium
(e.g., computer data storage device 111). Program code 107 may also
be automatically, semi-automatically or manually executed by a
computer system 101 by sending program code 107 to a central server
201 (e.g., computer system 101) or to a group of central servers
201a, 201b, 201c. Program code 107 may also be downloaded into
client computers that connect to the central server and execute
program code 107.
[0027] Alternatively, program code 107 may be sent directly to the
client computer via direct or indirect file transfer. One such
method for an indirect file transfer may include e-mail for
example. Program code 107 may then either be detached to a
directory on the client computer or loaded into a directory on the
client computer by an e-mail option that selects a program that
detaches program code 107 into the directory.
[0028] Another alternative may be to send program code 107 directly
to a directory on the client computer hard drive, for example using
a file transfer protocol (FTP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP),
peer to peer file transfer protocol or other network sharing
protocols to transfer the program code from one client to another
or from a central server to a client. If proxy servers are
configured, the process may select the proxy server code, determine
on which computers to place the proxy servers' code, transmit the
proxy server code, and then install the proxy server code on the
proxy computer. Program code 107 may be then transmitted to the
proxy server and stored on the proxy server.
[0029] In one embodiment, program code 107 implementing a method
for publishing content on to a social media network may be
integrated into a client 101a, 101b, 101c, server 201a, 201b, 201c
and network environment 209 by providing for program code 107 to
coexist with software applications (not shown), operating systems
(not shown) and network operating systems software (not shown) and
then installing program code 107 on the clients and servers in the
environment where program code 107 will function. The first step of
the aforementioned integration of code included in program code 107
may be to identify any software on the clients and servers,
including the network operating system, where program code 107 will
be executed that may be required by program code 107 or that work
in conjunction with program code 107. This identified software
includes the network operating system, where the network operating
system comprises software that enhances a basic operating system by
adding networking features. Next, the software applications and
version numbers are identified and compared to a list of software
applications and correct version numbers that have been tested to
work with program code 107. A software application that is missing
or that does not match a correct version number may be upgraded to
the correct version.
[0030] A program instruction that passes parameters from program
code 107 to a software application may be checked to ensure that
the instruction's parameter list matches a parameter list required
by the program code 107. Conversely, a parameter passed by the
software application to program code 107 may be checked to ensure
that the parameter matches a parameter required by program code
107. The client and server operating systems, including the network
operating systems, may be identified and compared to a list of
operating systems, version numbers, and network software programs
that have been tested to work with program code 107. An operating
system, version number, or network software program that does not
match an entry of the list of tested operating systems and version
numbers may be upgraded to the listed level on the client computers
and upgraded to the listed level on the server computers. After
ensuring that the software, where program code 107 is to be
executed, is at a correct version level that has been tested to
work with program code 107, the integration may be completed by
installing program code 107 on the clients and/or servers.
[0031] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented as
a method performed by a processor of a computer system, as a
computer program product, as a computer system, or as a
processor-performed process or service for supporting computer
infrastructure.
[0032] Referring to the drawings, FIG. 2 provides an overview of an
embodiment 200 of a system that may implement a method for
publishing content to a social media network. As shown in the
embodiment of FIG. 2, the system may include one or more computing
systems 101 that may be connected as clients. Each of the computing
clients may be a subtype of the computing system 101 and are
designated with an alphabetical denomination to differentiate each
computing client, for example, 101a, 101b, 101c. Each computing
client 101a, 101b, 101c may be connected via a network 209 to a
server 201. Embodiments of the clients 101a, 101b, 101c may be any
type of computing system 101. Examples of computing systems 101
that embodiments of the clients 101a, 101b, 101c may include but
are not limited to, are a personal computer (PC), desktop computer,
laptop computer, tablet computer, cellular telephone, smart phone,
network enabled watches such as a Pebble or Apple watch, network
enabled eye ware such as Google Glass, network enabled smart
televisions, video game consoles, or network enabled music players
or media devices such as an iPod, Roku box, Google Chromecast,
Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Amazon Kindle or any other computing system
101 equipped with a processor 103 coupled to a memory device 105
and an I/O interface 109, capable of connecting to a network and
communicates with the central server 201. Embodiments of the
clients 101a, 101b, 101c may be distinct and different types of
computing devices each connecting to the network 209 independently
from the other computing systems 101.
[0033] In some embodiments, each of the clients 101a, 101b and 101c
may be equipped with their own onboard or directly attached
computing components such as a processor 103, specifically
differentiated as 103a, 103b, 103c in the accompanying drawings to
differentiate each independent and distinct processor for each
client. Each processor 103a, 103b and 103c may be coupled to a
respective memory device 105a, 105b, 105c and an I/O interface
109a, 109b, 109c. In other embodiments, one or more clients may
establish a connection to another client and share or pool
computing system resources. Each of the clients may further have
program code 107a, 107b, 107c for a publishing tool loaded in the
memory device of the respective client. The computing components of
the computing clients may be comprised of physical hardware
components, virtual components or a combination thereof. In some
embodiments, the computing clients may include one or more
partitions of computing clients with resources allocated to each
partition, allowing each partition of the computing client to act
as its own independent computing client on the network 209.
[0034] As depicted in the figures, embodiments of the system may
include a plurality of computer clients 101a, 101b, 101c, however
it should be known by those skilled in the art that embodiments may
include more than the three clients depicted by the drawings.
Computing networks and social media networks in particular may
simultaneously serve dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions, and
even billions of users, each connecting with one or more of their
own independent computing clients. Embodiments of the disclosure
should not be limited to three clients depicted. The limited number
of computing clients is intended for sake of simplifying the
illustration.
[0035] Embodiments of the computer clients 101a, 101b, 101c may
each connect to a server 201 through a network 209. A network may
be any type of computing network capable of linking computing
systems together (including the computer clients and server
depicted), through one or more communication channels to facilitate
communication and resource-sharing among the member computing
systems of the network 209. Examples of the different types of
networks that network 209 may be may include but is not limited to
a local area network (LAN), personal area network (PAN), home area
network (HAN), wide area network (WAN), enterprise private network
(EPN), a virtual private network, a global area network (GAN), the
Internet, intranet, metropolitan area network (MAN), storage area
network, system area network (AKA cluster area network) or
combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the network may be a
cloud based computing network, having one or more physical or
virtual computing clients connected to a server administering the
resources of the cloud based network.
[0036] As shown in embodiment 200, the computing clients 101a, 101b
and 101c may not only communicate with one another through network
209, but they may also communicate with the server 201. A server
may be any computing system 101 connected on the network 209 that
may manage the resources of the network 209. The server 201 may
have a program or server application 210 loaded in the server's
memory device 205 which may direct the server 201 how resources of
the network should be managed. Examples of server applications 210
that may be loaded in the server memory device 205 may include
Apache, IBM's Domino, Microsoft's Internet Information Server
(IIS), nginx, Novell's Netware and Google Web Server (GWS).
[0037] Embodiments of a server 201, may be either a physical or
virtual server and the server may take the form of any known server
type, which may include but may not be limited to a web server,
application server, cloud server, database server, mail server,
real time communication server (i.e. chat or IRC server), FTP
server, list server and open source server. The server 201 may be a
dedicated server in some embodiments, while in other embodiments
the server 201 may be equipped to execute several programs
simultaneously, or nearly simultaneously.
[0038] In embodiment 200, the server 201 may be part of a social
media network and may be acting as a host to a social media website
or social media application. The term "social media network" may
refer to websites and/or application that may enable users of the
website or application to create, share and distribute published
content to users participating with the website or application. The
server 201 may receive requests from any of the client computing
systems 101a, 101b, 101c connected to the server through the
network. The requests from the computing clients may relate to
information and data (data sources) stored accessible to the server
201. Embodiments of the data sources may be stored in one or more
of the server's repositories 203. These requests from the client
computing systems may include requests to retrieve information
stored on the server 201, requests to alter or delete the content
stored on the server 201 and/or requests to add information to the
repository 203 of the server.
[0039] For example, the server may be web server that provides
media content to users of the website when the users visit the
website. A user may connect to a social media website or
application via a computing client through the use of their web
browser and request from the server a specific file or web page
containing text, images, video, audio or a combination thereof.
Through network 209, a computing client may request the file or
webpage from the server 201 and the server may subsequently
retrieve the page from repository 203 and provide the files or data
from the files back to the requesting client.
[0040] In another example, instead of simply requesting the
retrieval of a file, a computing client may request the file,
modify the data of the file and then upload the modified file back
to the server 201 for storage in the repository 203, so that the
user of the computing client or other users on separate computing
clients, may retrieve, modify or display the modified file at a
later point in time. Similarly, a computing client may not
initially request a file be provided, but instead, a user may
create a new file to upload to the server's repository 203.
[0041] The term "repository" 203 may refer to a location where
sources of data is stored and managed. The repository 203 may also
be referred to as a data warehouse which may contain additional sub
layers referred to as data marts. The types of data that may be
stored in repository 203 may include public or private databases,
flat files, unstructured files including text files, documents,
audio, video, analog data, images email, or web pages. Other types
of data that may be stored in repository 203 may further include
web services, social media services, software applications or
platforms, messaging services, user profile information, log files
such as network performance or application logs, and tracking
information.
[0042] In some embodiments of the system 200, the server 201 may
load program code 107 of a publishing tool program into the
server's memory device 205. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2,
the publishing tool may further include an analytics plugin module
loaded in the memory 205 of the server 201 as well. The analytics
module 207 may be integrated into the program code 107 of the
publishing tool, or alternatively, the analytics module 207 may be
part of a separate program, application, module, or service
communicating with the publishing tool.
[0043] The analytics module may include program code that utilizes
a computing system, such as server 201 or the network connected
computing clients, to perform analysis of the data managed and
stored by the computing systems 101 of the network 209. The
statistical analysis of the data may be performed by the analytics
module 207, receiving the data. The data received by the analytics
module may be received from one or more data sources, including
data stored in repository 203, separate joint repositories 401
connected to the network 209, data storage devices 11 or
repositories connected to individual clients 101a, 101b, 101c. The
data provided to the analytics module may be analyzed, stored
and/or retained by the analytics module in one or more
repositories, databases and/or or data warehouses and may be
recalled or queried at a later point in time by the publishing
tools, a user or administrator of the computing system(s) of the
network 209.
[0044] The analytics module 207 of the publishing tools may monitor
the activity of each user on the social media network, including
the publishing user and any associated users. The analytics module
207 may categorize and track habits of each user, the content of
the social media network that each user views, publishes,
republishes, shares with other users, or comments about while
connected to the social media network. Examples of information that
the analytics module may collect and categorize about the users of
the social media network and the user's social media network
preferences or habits, may include data relating to the content
published, content viewed, content searched, the types of content a
user may subscribe to and receive updates, ratings or expressions
of interest in the content viewed or the searched on the social
media network, published comments, "likes" and the content or
metadata of private messages between users. The analytics module
may observe, and record patterns of publication frequency or
viewing frequency and the module may draw conclusions based on the
correlation between the characteristics of the publishing user's
and associated user's habits and interests in order to identify
which associated users are most likely to publish, republish, view,
rate or comment on content. The analytics module may also determine
which publishing users on the network that an associated user is
most likely to interact with, based on the type or category of
content being published or viewed.
[0045] In some embodiments, the analytics module may also collect
and analyze information voluntarily supplied through forms or other
submissions provided to the social media network by the publishing
user and associated user, including names, addresses, phone
numbers, school, interests, and other information requested by the
social media network. In some embodiments, the analytics module may
collect location information and derive relationships between
publishing users and associated users, such as family, siblings,
children parents, classmates, roommates, etc.
[0046] In some embodiments, the analytics module may use the
information collected to draw conclusions about the publishing and
associated users participating in a social media network, their
publishing and viewing habits. Based on the information collected
and analyzed by the analytics module, the analytics module may
create a psychological profile detailing the content preferences of
each publishing and associated user, detailed relationship mappings
between a publishing user and associated users, including an
evaluation of the probabilities that an associated user may
publish, republish, or share the content published to the social
media network by a publishing user of the social media network.
[0047] Armed with the information provided to analytics module and
conclusions drawn by the analytics module, the publishing tools may
individually analyze each publishing request made by a publishing
user on a social media network and subsequently determine which
associated users of the social media network's user base would also
independently publish the same content, republish the content,
publish similar content or simply enjoy viewing the content. For
example, a publishing user may publish to the social media network
a series of video clips or photographs of the publishing user's
children. The analytics module may recognize that often or nearly
every time the user posts images of the user's children, the user's
wife, who is also the mother of the user's children republishes,
comments, rates the content the user publishes. Additionally, the
user's wife may also publish her own content regularly or
semi-regularly of herself with the user and the user's children.
Based on the activity of both the user and the user's wife, the
relationship between the publishing user and the publishing user's
wife as a married couple, and a common interest in the subject of
the publishing user's children, the analytics module may identify
the publishing user's wife as having a close enough association
with the user of the social media network, that the publishing
user's wife would be considered an associated user. The publishing
tools may also determine that it is likely that the associated user
(publishing user's wife) may independently publish the same
content, republish the content, publish similar content or simply
enjoy viewing the content of the publishing user. The analytics
module may draw these conclusions and record the conclusions in a
repository, such as a database, for further action at a later point
in time.
[0048] In some embodiments, the publishing tools may utilize the
conclusions drawn by the analytics module to assign probabilities
that certain events may occur on the social media network. When a
request is made by a publishing user to publish content to the
social media network, the publishing tools may assign probabilities
that an associated user may publish, republish, share or enjoy
viewing the same or similar content to the social media network as
well. The value of the probabilities and the confidence of the
publishing tools to accurately estimate these probabilities may
correlate to the types of data provided by the analytics module
from the data sources and the repository. The more data that is
available to the analytics module, and the more likely that the
data provided is on-point with the request being made by the
publishing user, the more likely that the publishing tools may
predict with higher confidence that one or more associated users of
the social media network may publish, republish, share, or enjoy
viewing the content being proposed for publication by the
publishing user. The Confidence levels of the publication tools in
the probabilities estimated of an event occurring may range from 0
to 100%, confidence. For example, the probability that that an
event, such as a publishing user publishing content, followed by an
associated user separately publishing the same content,
republishing the content, rating the content published, commenting
on the content, etc. may have a confidence level of .gtoreq.1%,
.gtoreq.10%, .gtoreq.20%, .gtoreq.30%, .gtoreq.40%, .gtoreq.50%,
.gtoreq.60%, .gtoreq.70, .gtoreq.80%, .gtoreq.85%, .gtoreq.90%,
.gtoreq.95%, .gtoreq.99%, or 100%.
[0049] In some embodiments of the publishing tools, the publishing
tools may trigger or execute specific actions when the probability
and/or confidence level of a specific event occurring rises above,
is equal to, or falls below a pre-determined or a specified
threshold value. For instance, the publication tool may be
programmed to request the server 201 to jointly publish content to
the social media network as if the content was published by both a
publishing user and the associated user. If, the publishing user
submits a request to publish a document, image, audio and/or video
to the social media network, and the publishing tools determines
there is a high probability and/or confident (i.e. .gtoreq.75-99%)
that the associated user may publish, republish or share the
content being published by the publishing user, with other users of
the social media network, the publication tools may request that
the server 201 publish the content to the social media network as a
joint publication.
[0050] In embodiments where a joint publication is published on the
social media network, the publishing user and each of the
associated users may be identified by one or more names that could
be considered interchangeable. For example, the publishing user who
initiates the request to publish the content on the social media
website may also be referred to as the original user, the original
author, requesting user, or the first user. Conversely, the
associated user that may jointly publish, republish or share the
content on the social media network may be referred to as the joint
user, other user, trusted user or republishing user.
[0051] The phrase "associated user" may indicate a user of the
social media network as having an approved status level either
identified by the publishing tools or approved by the publishing
user, to publish, republish, or share the content of the publishing
user's publications as either a joint publishing author when the
publishing user and associated user have a common collection of
subscribers or separately publishing the publishing user's content
under the associated user's name only where users of the social
media network subscribe to receive content of the associated user
only. In some embodiments, the publishing user making a request to
publish content as a joint publication, may be required to request
approval from the associated user to publish the content, before
the content is published to the social media network for content
viewers. If, the associated user accepts the publishing user's
request to make the content publication a joint publication, then
both the associated user and the publishing user may be displayed
as joint authors of the content.
[0052] In some embodiments of the publication tool, the publishing
tools may request publishing the content as a joint publication
automatically, without requesting permission from any of the
plurality of publishing users or associated users that will be
considered authors of the joint publication. In other embodiments,
the publication tool may request permission from the publishing
user initially requesting publication of the content and/or the one
or more associated users identified as being likely to publish,
republish or share the content, to publish the content under their
user name on the social media network. In some alternative
embodiments of the publishing tools, the publishing tools may
request permission from the associated user when the probability or
confidence level of the publishing tools falls below a
pre-determined threshold. For instance, based on the analytics
module's analysis of the publishing and associated user, the
publishing tools may determine that there is <85% probability
that the associated user may publish, republish or share content
being requested for publication by the publishing user. Under these
circumstances where the publishing tool is not overly confident, a
request for permission to publish the content as a joint
publication may be generated and submitted to the publishing user
and/or one or more of the associated users being considered for
joint publication. Upon approval of the request, the publishing
tools may publish a joint publication to the social media network
under the publishing user's name and the name of each of the
approving associated users. Conversely, if one or more of the
associated users disapprove of the proposed joint publication, the
publishing tools may not include these disapproving authors in the
joint publication of content. In some embodiments, the publication
tools may deny the joint publication when the published content is
not approved by any of the associated users and instead, the
publishing tools may publish the content as originally requested,
by including the publishing user's name as the only author.
[0053] The location of the analytics module 207 in the system
performing a method of publishing content to a social media network
may vary from embodiment to embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the
analytical analysis of data may be performed on the server side by
the server 201 side of the network, wherein the analytics module is
loaded in the server memory device 205. In an alternative
embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, the analytical analysis may be
performed on the client side of network 209, by one or more
computing clients 101a, 101b, 101c connected to the server 201.
While a plurality of computing clients may have an analytics module
loaded in the memory 105 of the computing client, it is not
necessary that every computing client has the analytics module
loaded for the described method to be implemented. The method for
publishing content to a social media network may be performed with
at the very least, a single computing client 101a, 101b, 101c or a
single server 201 having the analytics module loaded in the memory
device of the client or server.
[0054] In some embodiments, such as embodiment 300 shown in FIG. 3,
a computing system 101 lacking the analytics module or publishing
tool program may interpret information and requests by a computing
system loaded with the analytics module and/or publishing tools
through the use of an application programming interface (API) 301.
The API may allow for software applications to communicate with
remote applications over a network using a series of calls. The API
may integrate the features and functionalities of the publishing
tools and analytics module into existing software. In the
embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the API may facilitate the integration
of the publishing tool functionalities, including the analytics
module, into the server application 210, allowing for the server
201 to fulfill requests made by the computing clients having the
publishing tools and/or analytics module. The use of an API allows
for the server to operate in accordance with the methods for
publishing content to a social media network, without having to
require specific server application software to be loaded. The use
of an API, instead of a specific publishing tool program, may be
useful in situations where the functionalities of the publishing
tools is constantly changing or updated. The inclusion of an API
removes the hassle of having to constantly update the server with
an updated server application, or reduce the need for the
publishing tools to access the server in order to upload the most
recent publishing tool software.
[0055] In alternative embodiments, such as the embodiment 400
depicted in FIG. 4, the publishing tools and methods for publishing
content to a social media network may not be simply limited to a
single social media network. Instead, some embodiments of the
publishing tools and methods may allow for joint publications of
content across multiple social media networks. Embodiments directed
toward publishing across different social media networks may also
have an increased amount of analytics information provided to the
analytics module because additional data directed toward each of
the social media networks being analyzed may be collected as one or
more data sources. The data collected and analyzed by the analytics
module may be stored in individual repositories 203a, 203b, 203c
containing data specifically targeted toward the users of the
specific social media networks hosted by each server. Additionally,
in some embodiments, a central repository 401 may be implemented to
receive data, user information and publication content from each
social media network and further supply the data or publication
content to another social media network when requested by the
publication tools.
[0056] For example, social media server 201 a may be dedicated
toward serving requests made for a social media network such as
Facebook.RTM., while social media server 201b may be dedicated
toward serving requests made for the social media network
Twitter.RTM.. While each server may serve separate social media
networks, the data collected from the users of each social media
network may be analyzed by the analytics module and used for
determining probabilities and/or confidence levels for identifying
a situation where joint publications by publishing users and
associated users across multiple social media networks could be
performed. In this embodiment, a publishing user may post an image,
video, text, audio or any other type of information to a first
social media network and the publishing tools may determine that it
would be probable that an associated user on a separate social
media network may publish, republish or share the same content for
others on the second social media network.
[0057] In one or more embodiments, a situation may arise where the
publishing tool may determine that the publishing user on the first
social network and the associated user on the second social network
are in fact the same person reposting the same information across
multiple social media networks. The publishing tools may reduce the
time it takes to republish the same content multiple times, and
instead automatically jointly publish the content across all social
media networks the publishing user participates in using various
associated user names.
[0058] Referring back to the drawings, the flow chart of FIGS. 5-7
depict embodiments 500, 600, 700 of algorithms for implementing a
method for publishing content to a social network. Embodiments of
the algorithm may implement procedures that vary from those
specifically described in FIGS. 5-7. For example, certain steps may
be omitted, or performed in a different order. The examples
specifically shown in FIGS. 5-7, or any of the other figures in
this disclosure should not be construed as limiting embodiments of
the present disclosure. Furthermore, each of the steps in the
algorithm of the figures, may be enabled and executed in any order
by a computer processor executing computer code.
[0059] In step 501 a computing system receives a request to publish
content, selected by a publishing user on a social media network.
The publishing user may perform step 501 by requesting to upload
the content to a social media network from a computing client 101a,
101b, 101c connected to the network 209. The request to upload may
be performed to the appropriate server 201 on the network
associated with managing and maintaining the social media network.
Examples of content being requested to be uploaded may include
newly created content, republication of existing content,
modification of existing content, or deletion of content.
[0060] In step 503, the publishing tool may identify the existence
of any associated users who may have granted permission to the
publishing user or the publication tool to jointly publish content
as a joint publication naming both the publishing user and
associated user as the authors. To implement step 503, the
publishing tool may make a determination of whether any additional
associated users on the social media network have granted
permission to the publishing user or publishing tool to jointly
publish the publishing user's content. The granting of permission
by an associated user on the social media network may be performed
through express approval, selection, request or agreement by the
publishing user and the associated user. The associated user status
indicates to the publishing tool that there is approval for the
publication tool to make a joint publication with the associated
user as a co-author, when the publication tool determines that it
is appropriate to do so.
[0061] If the publishing tool makes the determination that one or
more associated users have granted permission to jointly publish
content with the publishing user, the publishing tool may proceed
to perform step 507, which may include the step of comparing the
content being requested for publication with the stored data about
the associated user. As described above, the stored data being used
for comparison may include information relating to the associated
user's publishing habits, preferences, and interests. In some
embodiments of step 507 the publication tool may utilize the data
and conclusions drawn by the analytics module about the publishing
user and associated user, including the psychological profile
generated by the publishing tool to determine whether or not an
associated user would also publish, republish or share the content
being proposed for publication. The profile generated by the
publishing tool may catalog historical information and data about
the activity, habits and relationships of the publishing user and
associated user on the social media network. Using the generated
profile, the publishing tool in step 509 may predict whether or not
the associated user would independently publish the same or similar
content, republish content or share the content being proposed for
publication by the user.
[0062] In some embodiments, the publishing tool may implement step
509 by assigning a quantitative value or score based on the
comparison made in step 507. For example, the publishing tool may
make a prediction in step 509 by tabulating points or values
assigned to the data collected and compared in step 507. The
publishing tools may award points or values for data suggesting
that the associated user may publish, republish or share the
content. The publishing tools may be pre-programmed to identify
specific categories of information that may positively suggest the
associated user may have an interest in the content requested for
publication. The categories of information may include data
identifying the associated user's previous postings, interest or
viewership in content of a similar nature, positive ratings or
comments directed toward similar published content or categories,
activity amongst users who post similar content, subscribing to the
publishing user's publications, the presence of a close
relationship with the publishing user, the content of the
associated user's own publications and any known patterns for
republishing the publishing user's published content.
[0063] The quantitative value or score assigned by the publishing
tools may be in the form of a probability, confidence interval,
grade, or numerical score on a fixed scale. If the quantitative
value or score assigned by the publishing tools is greater than or
equal to a pre-specified threshold level, the publishing tools may
draw the conclusion that the associated user would more than likely
publish, republish or share the content proposed for publication by
the user, within a certain level of confidence. On the other hand,
if the prediction score, probability or confidence interval falls
below the predetermined threshold, the publishing tools may
consider the insufficient score as a lack of interest by the
associated user in the proposed publication content, or a lack of a
discernable pattern by the associated user that suggests to the
publishing tools that such content would not be published,
republished or shared by the associated user in this instance.
[0064] If the publishing tools determine in step 503 that there are
not any associated users on the social media network who have been
granted permission to jointly publish the content of the publishing
user, or the publishing tool has determined in step 509 that the
associated user(s) would more than likely not publish, republish or
share the content being proposed for publication, the publishing
tool may proceed to publish the content in accordance with step
511, using only original user as the author to publish the content
for the user's content viewers. A "content viewer" may refer to one
or more users of a social media network that observes content
published to the social media network by the publishing user. In
some instances, the content viewer may be a "subscriber." The term
"subscriber" may refer to a content viewer who has subscribed to
view the content of the publishing user or subscribes to receive
periodic updates or notifications when new publications are
uploaded to the social media network. In some instances, a
subscriber may provide money to the publishing user or social media
network in exchange for the ability to view the content being
published.
[0065] If, on the other hand, a determination is made in step 509
that there is a sufficient probability, or high enough confidence
by the publication tool that an associated user may publish,
republish or share the content of the publishing user, the
publishing tool may proceed by performing step 513. The performance
of step 513 may include making a determination of whether or not
the publishing user and the associated user share in common any
content viewers, hereinafter referred to as "joint content
viewers." A "joint content viewer" may refer to a content viewer
that observes or is known to observe both publications made by the
publishing user and the associated user. In some embodiments, the
publishing tool may make the determination based on whether or not
the joint content viewer subscribes to both the publishing user's
and associated user's content. In other embodiments of step 513,
the publication tool may draw a conclusion about the existence of
joint content viewers by analyzing reviewing the publishing
history, social media activity, tracking information and habits of
the content viewers of both the publishing user and associated
user. The publishing tool may identify each of the users that view,
subscribe, comment or actively participate with the user or
associated user when a publication is uploaded to the social media
network. The publishing tool may subsequently cross reference the
social media network users viewing, subscribing, commenting,
rating, and actively participating in the publications of the
publishing user and associated user to determine if the publishing
user and associated user share any social media users in common.
The publishing tools may consider the social media users that view,
subscribe, comment, rate and actively participate in the
publications of both the publishing user and the associated user as
a joint content viewer. Once the publishing tool has identified the
existence of one or more joint content viewers in step 513, the
publishing tool may, in step 517 compute the total number of joint
content that exist between the publishing user and associated
user.
[0066] In step 519, the publishing tools may publish the content
requested for publication, as a joint publication 517 by both the
publishing user and the associated user, for each of the joint
content viewers determined in step 513 and computed in step 517.
Publishing jointly in step 519, may reduce duplicative publishing,
whereby the published content can be presented to the joint content
viewer as a single publication by both the publishing user and
associated user as the authors. Instead ofa joint content viewer
receiving multiple notifications, alerts or indications that two
separate publications of the same content by both the publishing
user and associated user are uploaded on the social media network.
Duplicative publications on the social network may lead to
confusion. By publishing jointly in step 519, the published content
may be presented cleanly in one location on the social media
network. In addition, each joint content viewer may be alerted to
the publication's existence via a single notification or alert
indicating the content that has been published, instead of
receiving multiple notifications, which may occur if the content
was published separately by multiple users.
[0067] Conversely, in some embodiments the publishing tool may
identify that not only do the publishing user and the associated
user have joint content viewers, but the publishing user and
associated user may also have non-joint content viewers that only
view the content of only the publishing user or associated user,
but not both. In view of the existence of non-joint viewers, in
step 515, the publishing tool may separately publish the content
for the non-joint content viewers that do not view the content of
both the publishing user and associated user. Step 515 may present
or display the published content on the social media network
differently if a social media network user viewing the content is a
joint or a non-joint content viewer. As stated above, the joint
content viewer may view or perceive the content being displayed on
a computing system as being uploaded and/or authored by both the
publishing user and the associated user. On the other hand, the
publishing tool in step 515 may separately publish the content for
each non-joint content viewer accessing and viewing the published
content.
[0068] The publishing tools may implement step 515 by performing
separate or multiple uploads of content to the server 201. The
first upload may include the published content as a joint
publication accessible and viewable by the joint content users,
displaying both the publishing user and associated user as the
authors of the content. A subsequent upload to the server may be
made to the server 201 by the respective publishing user or
associated user, wherein the content published in the subsequent
upload is viewable by non-joint content viewers and specifically
designates only one of either the publishing user or associated
user as the author of the content. Whether the publishing user or
associated user is being credited for the publication displayed on
the non-joint user's computing system may depend on whether the
publication tool classified the non-joint content viewer as a
content viewer of the publishing user or a content viewer of the
associated user. If the non-joint content viewer was classified as
a content viewer of the publishing user only, then, when the
non-joint content viewer accesses or views the published content,
the non-joint content viewer may only perceive the publishing user
as the author of the publication and vice versa when the non-joint
content viewer is a content viewer of the associated user only.
[0069] For example, two users on the social media network
Facebook.RTM. may jointly publish a series of one or more images on
the network. Each user has a separate list of friends which are
considered the content viewers of the respective users' published
content to their profile. It is well known on Facebook.RTM. that
often two users may have a plurality of friends in common between
both the publishing user and the associated user. These friends in
common would be considered joint content viewers, while the
remainder of the friends that are friends with only the publishing
user or the associated user would be considered non-joint content
viewers. Subsequently, when joint publication of the images is
made, each of the joint content viewers may be alerted that "the
publishing user and the associated user have published images." The
social media network, in this example Facebook.RTM., credits both
publishing user and associated user as having uploaded the content
and they appear jointly in the joint content viewers alert.
However, in some embodiments, the non-joint content viewers will
only be alerted that "the publishing user has published images" or
"the associated user has published images" depending which user the
non-joint content viewer is friends with.
[0070] In some embodiments of the method for publishing content to
a social media network, the publishing tool may not discriminate
between joint content viewers and non-joint content viewers.
Instead, the publication may be published on the social media
network as a joint publication naming both the publishing user and
associated user as authors for all content viewers on the social
media network.
[0071] In the alternative embodiment of the algorithm depicted in
FIG. 6, the method for publishing content may include additional
steps. For instance, in the exemplary embodiment depicted, the step
601 may further request permission to publish content as the
associated user, under the associated user's social media network
account. In this embodiment 600, the publishing tools are not only
relying on determination made in step 509 using the analytics
engine and the calculation of probability that an associated user
would publish, republish or share the content being requested for
publication on the social media network. Rather, once the
publishing tool has identified the existence of an associated user
in step 503 and has determined that the content presented for
publication would be content of interest to the associated user in
step 509, the publishing tool will request permission in step 601
from the associated user to publish the content as a joint
publication.
[0072] If the publishing tools determine in step 603 that the
associated user approves the request for permission made in step
601 to jointly publish the content, then the publishing tools will
proceed to identify joint content viewers in step 513, and publish
the content on the social media network as a publication for joint
and non-joint content viewers as described above. However, if the
permission request in step 601 is denied, the publishing tools may
proceed to perform step 511, wherein the publishing tools publish
the content to the social media network for the content viewers of
the user.
[0073] In the alternative embodiment 700 depicted in FIG. 7, the
algorithm of the method for publishing content to a social media
network may be a hybrid of embodiment 500 and embodiment 600. In
the alternative embodiment 700, additional step 701 may be
included. A publishing tool implementing step 701 may make a
determination of whether or not publishing the content as a joint
publication requires permission from the associated user. The
determination made in step 701 may be dependent upon the
probability or confidence level of the publishing tools. As
described above, the publishing tools or the user of the publishing
tools may set a threshold level of probability or a specific
confidence level when determining if an associated user would
publish, republish or share the content proposed for publication by
the user. The confidence level may be preset or preprogrammed, or
the appropriate level of confidence may be manually adjusted by a
user or administrator of the publishing tools through one or more
optional settings of the publishing tool. If the determination is
made in step 701 that the probability or confidence level of the
publishing tools is higher than a specific threshold, the
publishing tool may not request permission in step 601, rather,
step 601 may be bypassed and the publishing tools may proceed to
determining the presence of joint content viewers in step 513. For
example, the publishing tools may set the threshold to be a
probability of .gtoreq.75%, .gtoreq.85%, .gtoreq.90%, .gtoreq.95%,
.gtoreq.99%. If the publishing tools are confident enough in its
predictions, then no permission may be necessary and the joint
publication will proceed automatically by performing steps 513,
517, 519 and 515. However, if the probability or confidence level
of the publishing tools is below the pre-determined threshold
level, but the publishing tools have still calculated a probability
that the associated user would still publish, republish or share
the content being published by the user, then the publishing tools
may perform step 601, requesting permission of the associated user,
in a similar manner described above for the embodiment of FIG.
6.
[0074] Aspects of the present invention may take the form of an
entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment
(including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.) or an
embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all
generally be referred to herein as a "circuit," "module," or
"system."
[0075] The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a
computer program product. The computer program product may include
a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer
readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to
carry out aspects of the present invention.
[0076] The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible
device that can retain and store instructions for use by an
instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium
may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage
device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an
electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or
any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of
more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium
includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk,
a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable
programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static
random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a
floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or
raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon,
and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable
storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being
transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely
propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves
propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,
light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical
signals transmitted through a wire.
[0077] Computer readable program instructions described herein can
be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a
computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or
external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a
local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network.
The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical
transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls,
switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter
card or network interface in each computing/processing device
receives computer readable program instructions from the network
and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage
in a computer readable storage medium within the respective
computing/processing device.
[0078] Computer readable program instructions for carrying out
operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions,
instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine
instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware
instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object
code written in any combination of one or more programming
languages, including an object oriented programming language such
as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural
programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or
similar programming languages. The computer readable program
instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on
the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on
the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on
the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote
computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type
of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area
network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet
Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry
including, for example, programmable logic circuitry,
field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays
(PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by
utilizing state information of the computer readable program
instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to
perform aspects of the present invention.
[0079] Aspects of the present invention are described herein with
reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of
methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products
according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood
that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable
program instructions.
[0080] These computer readable program instructions may be provided
to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose
computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to
produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via
the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing
apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts
specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in
a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a
programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable
storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an
article of manufacture including instructions which implement
aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block
diagram block or blocks.
[0081] The computer readable program instructions may also be
loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing
apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps
to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or
other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that
the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable
apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified
in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0082] The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate
the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible
implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products
according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this
regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent
a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one
or more executable instructions for implementing the specified
logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the
functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in
the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in
fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may
sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of
the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations
of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can
be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that
perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations
of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
[0083] While this disclosure has been described in conjunction with
the specific embodiments outlined above, it is evident that many
alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to
those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the preferred embodiments of
the present disclosure as set forth above are intended to be
illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as required
by the following claims. The claims provide the scope of the
coverage of the invention and should not be limited to the specific
examples provided herein.
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