Computer-implemented system and method for visualizing message-related relationships within a social network

1. A computer-implemented system for visualizing message-related relationships within in a social network, comprising:

entities associated with a group of messages;

a network module to generate a social network based on a relationship of the entities and messages by connecting those entities that share at least one of the messages from the group;

a representation module to generate a representation of the social network by representing each message with a node;

an organization module to organize the nodes based on at least one characteristic of the messages; and

a visualization module to generate a visualization of a chronological relationship of the messages exchanged between the entities in the social network by chronologically arranging the nodes in a time view graph.

2. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a graph module to designate one or more time periods for the time view graph and for each time period, to group the nodes associated with that time period.

3. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a display module to display at least one of a concepts list and an entity list with the time view graph.

4. A system according to claim 3 , further comprising:

a selection module to receive a user selection comprising one of a concept selection and an entity selection from a user; and

an identification module to identify the nodes that are related to the user selection.

5. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a message selection module to select one of the messages as a message of interest; and

a placement module to place the node representing the message of interest in a center of a display and to place the nodes for the remaining messages around the node of interest.

6. A system according to claim 5 , further comprising:

a relevance module to determine placement of each remaining node by determining a relevance of each such node to the node of interest;

a distance module to calculate a distance of each node from the node of interest based on the relevance; and

the placement module to position the nodes in the display based on the calculated distance.

7. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a detection module to detect a visual indicator over one of the nodes; and

an information module to display information about the message represented by the node upon detection of the visual indicator.

8. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a parser to parse each of the messages and to identify the entities using information parsed from the messages.

9. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a visual representation module to represent each entity as a node; and

a relationship module to connect two or more entities based on those messages exchanged between the entities.

10. A computer-implemented method for visualizing message-related relationships within in a social network, comprising:

identifying entities associated with a group of messages;

building a social network based on a relationship of the entities and messages by connecting those entities that share at least one of the messages from the group;

generating a representation of the social network by representing each message with a node;

organizing the nodes based on at least one characteristic of the messages; and

generating a visualization of a chronological relationship of the messages exchanged between the entities in the social network by chronologically arranging the nodes in a time view graph.

11. A method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

designating one or more time periods for the time view graph; and

for each time period, grouping the nodes associated with that time period.

12. A method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

displaying at least one of a concepts list and an entity list with the time view graph.

13. A method according to claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving a user selection comprising one of a concept selection and an entity selection from a user; and

identifying the nodes that are related to the user selection.

14. A method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

selecting one of the messages as a message of interest;

placing the node representing the message of interest in a center of a display; and

placing the nodes for the remaining messages around the node of interest.

15. A method according to claim 14 , further comprising:

determining placement of each remaining node by determining a relevance of each such node to the node of interest; measuring a distance between each such node and the node of interest;

calculating a distance of each node from the node of interest based on the relevance; and

positioning the nodes in the display based on the calculated distance.

16. A method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

detecting a visual indicator over one of the nodes; and

displaying information about the message represented by the node upon detection of the visual indicator.

17. A method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

parsing each of the messages; and

identifying the entities using information parsed from the messages.

18. A method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

representing each entity as a node; and

connecting two or more entities based on those messages exchanged between the entities.