Systems and methods for flexibly using trending topics as parameters for recommending media assets that are related to a viewed media asset

1 . A method comprising:

determining that a media asset has been consumed by a user;

identifying a first attribute and a second attribute corresponding to the consumed media asset, wherein at least one of the first attribute or the second attribute is identified at least in part by processing one or more frames of the media asset;

determining that the first attribute matches a trending topic by comparing the first attribute to a plurality of topics with which a threshold number of viewers have interacted within a period of time that is shorter than a threshold period of time;

accessing a data structure associated with at least one social networking service to determine whether the trending topic is also trending on the at least one social networking service; and

based on determining that the first attribute matches the trending topic and the trending topic is also trending on the at least one social networking service:

increasing a weighting of the first attribute by an amount corresponding to a set of viewers that have interacted with the first attribute, wherein the increased weighting of the first attribute ranks the first attribute greater than the second attribute that does not match the trending topic; and

generating for display a recommendation of a second media asset that includes both the first attribute and the second attribute, and wherein the first attribute is weighted greater than the second attribute.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of viewers that have interacted with the first attribute is measured for a determined period of time.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a weighting of the first attribute in the second media asset; and

generating for display the recommendation of the second media asset that includes the first attribute if the determined weighting of the first attribute in the second media asset is in a high weighting ranking.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that a weighting of the first attribute in the second media asset is a low weighting ranking; and

in response to the determination, ranking the second media asset lower in recommendation than a third media asset that includes the first attribute and the determined weighting of the first attribute in the third media asset is in a high weighting ranking.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining that the first attribute matches the trending topic is refreshed at predetermined intervals to determine that the first attribute continues to match the trending topic.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, adjusting the recommendation of the second media asset based on weightings of attributes retrieved from a user profile.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the weightings of attributes in the user profile are based on genres.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a command from the user to adjust the weighting of the first attribute by a desired factor.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether the recommended second media asset has been consumed by the user; and

adjusting the weighting of the first attribute based on the determination of whether the recommended second media asset has been consumed by the user.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first attribute is one of a location identified in the media asset, a date of release, a plot detail, or an award of the media asset.

11 . A system comprising:

a user input interface configured to receive input signals at user equipment; and

control circuitry configured to:

determine that a media asset has been consumed by a user;

identify a first attribute and a second attribute corresponding to the consumed media asset, wherein at least one of the first attribute or the second attribute is identified at least in part by processing one or more frames of the media asset;

determine that the first attribute matches a trending topic by comparing the first attribute to a plurality of topics with which a threshold number of viewers have interacted within a period of time that is shorter than a threshold period of time;

access a data structure associated with at least one social networking service to determine whether the trending topic is also trending on the at least one social networking service; and

based on determining that the first attribute matches the trending topic and the trending topic is also trending on the at least one social networking service:

increase a weighting of the first attribute by an amount corresponding to a set of viewers that have interacted with first attribute, wherein the increased weighting of the first attribute ranks the first attribute greater than the second attribute that does not match the trending topic; and

generate for display a recommendation of a second media asset that includes both the first attribute and the second attribute, and wherein the first attribute is weighted greater than the second attribute.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the set of viewers that have interacted with the first attribute is measured by the control circuitry for a determined period of time.

13 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising, the control circuitry configured to:

determine a weighting of the first attribute in the second media asset; and

generate for display the recommendation of the second media asset that includes the first attribute if the determined weighting of the first attribute in the second media asset is in a high weighting ranking.

14 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising, the control circuitry configured to:

determine that a weighting of the first attribute in the second media asset is a low weighting ranking; and

in response to the determination, rank the second media asset lower in recommendation than a third media asset that includes the first attribute and the determined weighting of the first attribute in the third media asset is in a high weighting ranking.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the determining that the first attribute matches the trending topic is refreshed by the control circuitry at predetermined intervals to determine that the first attribute continues to match the trending topic.

16 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising, the control circuitry configured to adjust the recommendation of the second media asset based on weightings of attributes retrieved from a user profile.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the weightings of attributes in the user profile are based on genres.

18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to receive a command from the user to adjust the weighting of the first attribute by a desired factor.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

determine whether the recommended second media asset has been consumed by the user; and

adjust the weighting of the first attribute based on the determination of whether the recommended second media asset has been consumed by the user.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first attribute is one of a location identified in the media asset, a date of release, a plot detail, or an award of the media asset.