Broadcasting in chat system without topic-specific rooms

1. A method for disseminating messages in a communication system, comprising:

at a server having one or more processors and memory storing instructions for execution by the one or more processors:

for a respective message in a plurality of messages:

identifying users in a plurality of users for whom there is a match between one or more words in the respective message and a focus specification index generated for the plurality of users;

sending to the identified users the respective message; and

receiving from at least a subset of the identified users feedback data regarding a respective author of the respective message;

evaluating the feedback data for identifying one or more popular messages associated with the respective author; and

in accordance with the identifying of one or more popular messages, sending at least a portion of the one or more popular messages to a second plurality of users.

2. The method of claim 1 , including:

processing focus specifications of the plurality of users to generate the focus specification index.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending one or more additional messages to the identified users.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more additional messages include one or more advertisements.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second plurality of users includes users of the plurality of users who have not previously received the one or more popular messages.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the focus specification index is an inverted index based on the focus specifications of the plurality of users, the method including:

determining a level of popularity for the respective message based at least on a number of matches associated with the focus specification index; and

sending to at least a subset of the identified users one or more messages that exceed a preselected level of popularity.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

processing words recently entered by users in the plurality of users to generate a second inverted index; and

determining the level of popularity for the respective message also based on a number of matches associated with the second inverted index.

8. A method for disseminating messages in a communication system, comprising:

at a server having one or more processors and memory storing instructions for execution by the one or more processors:

for a respective message in a plurality of messages:

identifying users in a plurality of users for whom there is a match between one or more words in the respective message and a focus specification index generated for the plurality of users; and

sending to the identified users the respective message;

receiving from at least a subset of the identified users feedback data regarding respective authors of the plurality of messages;

evaluating the feedback data for identifying popular messages; and

in accordance with the identifying of popular messages, sending at least a portion of the popular messages to a second plurality of users.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second plurality of users includes users of the plurality of users who have not previously received the popular messages.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the focus specification index is an inverted index based on the focus specifications of the plurality of users, the method including:

determining a level of popularity for the respective message based at least on a number of matches associated with the focus specification index; and

sending to at least a subset of the identified users one or more messages that exceed a preselected level of popularity.

11. A method for disseminating messages in a communication system, comprising:

at a server having one or more processors and memory storing instructions for execution by the one or more processors:

for a respective message in a plurality of messages:

identifying users in a plurality of users for whom there is a match between one or more words in the respective message and a focus specification index generated for the plurality of users; and

sending to the identified users the respective message;

receiving from at least a subset of the identified users feedback data regarding respective authors of the plurality of messages;

evaluating the feedback data for identifying popular messages and respective authors of the popular messages; and

in accordance with the identifying of popular messages, sending messages by the respective authors of the popular messages to a second plurality of users.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the second plurality of users includes users of the plurality of users who have not previously received the popular messages.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the focus specification index is an inverted index based on the focus specifications of the plurality of users, the method including:

determining a level of popularity for the respective message based at least on a number of matches associated with the focus specification index; and

sending to at least a subset of the identified users one or more messages that exceed a preselected level of popularity.

14. A computer system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

for a respective message in a plurality of messages:

identifying users in a plurality of users for whom there is a match between one or more words in the respective message and a focus specification index generated for the plurality of users;

sending to the identified users the respective message; and

receiving from at least a subset of the identified users feedback data regarding a respective author of the respective message;

evaluating the feedback data for identifying one or more popular messages associated with the respective author; and

in accordance with the identifying of one or more popular messages, sending at least a portion of the one or more popular messages to a second plurality of users.

15. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more programs include instructions for:

processing focus specifications of the plurality of users to generate the focus specification index.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the focus specification index is an inverted index based on the focus specifications of the plurality of users, the one or more programs including instructions for:

determining a level of popularity for the respective message based at least on a number of matches associated with the focus specification index; and

sending to at least a subset of the identified users one or more messages that exceed a preselected level of popularity.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the one or more programs include instructions for:

processing words recently entered by users in the plurality of users to generate a second inverted index; and

determining the level of popularity for the respective message also based on a number of matches associated with the second inverted index.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of a computer system, the one or more programs including instructions for:

for a respective message in a plurality of messages:

identifying users in a plurality of users for whom there is a match between one or more words in the respective message and a focus specification index generated for the plurality of users;

sending the identified users the respective message; and

receiving from at least a subset of the identified users feedback data regarding a respective author of the respective message;

evaluating the feedback data for identifying one or more popular messages associated with the respective author; and

in accordance with the identifying of one or more popular messages, sending at least a portion of the one or more popular messages to a second plurality of users.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the one or more programs include instructions for:

processing focus specifications of the plurality of users to generate the focus specification index.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the focus specification index is an inverted index based on the focus specifications of the plurality of users, the one or more programs including instructions for:

determining a level of popularity for the respective message based at least on a number of matches associated with the focus specification index; and

sending to at least a subset of the identified users one or more messages that exceed a preselected level of popularity.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 20 , wherein the one or more programs include instructions for:

processing words recently entered by users in the plurality of users to generate a second inverted index; and

determining the level of popularity for the respective message also based on a number of matches associated with the second inverted index.