Processing of social media for selected time-shifted multimedia content

1. A method of processing social media posts, the method including:

receiving, by a filtering module, a first input stream comprising a first plurality of social media posts from a social networking service, the social media posts of the first input stream having been published concurrently with a first presentation of a certain multimedia content;

acquiring, by the filtering module, one or more content-specific filtering criteria that relate to the certain multimedia content;

filtering, by the filtering module, in accordance with the content-specific filtering criteria, the first input stream to extract, from the first input stream, a second plurality of social media posts, each of the second plurality of social media posts relating to the certain multimedia content;

for each of the second plurality of social media posts, storing, in a storage module operatively coupled to the filtering module, data corresponding to that social media post, thereby storing a first data set;

receiving, from the social networking service, by the filtering module, a second input stream comprising a third plurality of social media posts, the social media posts of the second input stream having been published concurrently with a second presentation of the certain multimedia content, the second presentation of the certain multimedia content being time-shifted relative to the first presentation of the certain multimedia content;

filtering, by the filtering module, in accordance with the content-specific filtering criteria, the second input stream to extract, from the second input stream, a fourth plurality of social media posts, each of the fourth plurality of social media posts relating to the certain multimedia content; and

for each of the fourth plurality of social media posts, storing, in the storage module, data corresponding to that social media post, thereby storing a second data set; wherein

the first data set is for ascertaining a time reference for each of the second plurality of social media posts, such that the second plurality of social media posts is accessible for future provision to a playback device associated with a user, and for playback, in the playback device, synchronously with a playback by the user of the certain multimedia content;

the second data set is for ascertaining a time reference for each of the fourth plurality of social media posts, such that the fourth plurality of social media posts is accessible for future provision to the playback device, and for playback, in the playback device, synchronously with a playback by the user of the certain multimedia content; and

the second data set comprises, for each social media post of the fourth plurality that includes information relating to an event that occurs within the certain multimedia content after the time corresponding to the time reference of that social media post, a spoiler indicator.

2. The method of claim 1 , the method further including:

in the playback device, displaying the second and fourth pluralities of social media posts to the user, and synchronously rendering the certain multimedia content for display to the user.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the social media posts of the fourth plurality that correspond to a spoiler indicator are only displayed to the user with the permission of the user.

4. The method of claim 1 , the method further including:

in the playback device, displaying the second and fourth pluralities of social media posts to the user, and synchronously rendering, with a second playback device, the certain multimedia content for display to the user.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the social media posts of the fourth plurality that correspond to a spoiler indicator are only displayed to the user with the permission of the user.

6. The method of claim 1 , the method further including:

receiving, by the filtering module, a third input stream comprising a fifth plurality of social media posts;

using the stored first and second data sets, identifying, by the filtering module, each social media post in the fifth plurality that is the same as a social media post in the second plurality or the fourth plurality; and

displaying, to the user, those social media posts in the fifth plurality that have been identified as being the same as a social media post in the second plurality or the fourth plurality, and synchronously rendering the certain multimedia content for display to the user.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein each of the social media posts in the first plurality is the same as a social media post in the fifth plurality.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein each of the social media posts in the third plurality is the same as a social media post in the fifth plurality.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the third input stream is received from the social networking service.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the third input stream is received in response to a request being sent by the filtering module, the request being a request that the third input stream be returned to the filtering module.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying each social media post in the fifth plurality that is the same as a social media post in the second plurality or the fourth plurality comprises:

determining data corresponding to each of the third plurality of social media posts;

for each social media post in the fifth plurality, comparing the data determined for that social media post to the stored data corresponding; and

for each social media posts in the fifth plurality, identifying that social media post as being the same as a social media post in the second plurality or fourth plurality if the data determined for that social media post is the same as the stored data corresponding a social media post in the second plurality or fourth plurality.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first data set comprises, for each social media post in the second plurality of social media posts, affinity information that indicates an affinity, in relation to a certain subject, of a publisher of the social media post; and

the second data set comprises, for each social media post in the fourth plurality of social media posts, affinity information that indicates an affinity, in relation to a certain subject, of a publisher of the social media post.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the information that indicates an affinity in relation to a certain subject comprises one or more social voting scores, wherein a social voting score for a social media post is indicative of an opinion of that social media post of a group of users of the social networking service.

14. The method of claim 12 , the method further comprising:

ascertaining a user affinity, the user affinity being indicative of an affinity, in relation to the certain subject, of the user;

in the playback device, displaying, to the user, social media posts in the second and fourth pluralities of social media posts; and

synchronously rendering, in the playback device, the certain multimedia content for display to the user; wherein

a social media post is only displayed if the affinity, in relation to the certain subject, of the publisher of the social media post is the same as the affinity, in relation to the certain subject, of the user.

15. The method of claim 12 , the method further comprising:

ascertaining a user affinity, the user affinity being indicative of the affinity, in relation to the certain subject, of the user;

in the playback device, displaying, to the user, social media posts in the second and fourth pluralities of social media posts; and

synchronously rendering, in a second playback device, the certain multimedia content for display to the user; wherein

a social media post is only displayed if the affinity, in relation to the certain subject, of the publisher of that social media post is the same as the affinity, in relation to the certain subject, of the user.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

identifying each social media post within the fourth plurality that includes information relating to an event that occurs within the certain multimedia content after the time corresponding to time reference of that social media post; and

assigning, to each identified social media post, a spoiler indicator.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more content-specific filtering criteria are specified by a provider of the certain multimedia content.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first data set comprises a time reference for each of the second plurality of social media posts; and

the second data set comprises a time reference for each of the fourth plurality of social media posts.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first data set comprises text content for each of the second plurality of social media posts; and

the second data set comprises text content for each of the fourth plurality of social media posts.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first data set comprises indicia for each of the second plurality of social media posts; and

the second data set comprises indicia for each of the fourth plurality of social media posts; wherein

indicia corresponding to a social media post is for future retrieval of that social media post from a social media post store for presentation of that social media post.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the second input stream further comprises:

receiving the second input stream responsive to a further set of filtering criteria, the one or more social media posts of the second input stream conforming to the further set of filtering criteria.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the further set of filtering criteria comprises filtering criteria that specify the user and does not comprise the content-specific filtering criteria.

23. Apparatus for processing social media posts, the apparatus including:

a filtering module configured to:

receive a first input stream comprising a first plurality of social media posts from a social networking service, the social media posts of the first input stream having been published concurrently with a first presentation of a certain multimedia content;

acquire one or more content-specific filtering criteria that relate to the certain multimedia content;

filter, in accordance with the content-specific filtering criteria, the first input stream to extract, from the first input stream, a second plurality of social media posts, each of the second plurality of social media posts relating to the certain multimedia content;

receive, from the social networking service, a second input stream comprising a third plurality of social media posts, the social media posts of the second input stream having been published concurrently with a second presentation of the certain multimedia content, the second presentation of the certain multimedia content being time-shifted relative to the first presentation of the certain multimedia content; and

filter, in accordance with the content-specific filtering criteria, the second input stream to extract, from the second input stream, a fourth plurality of social media posts, each of the fourth plurality of social media posts relating to the certain multimedia content; and

a storage module operatively coupled to the filtering module and configured to:

store data corresponding to each of the second plurality of social media posts, thereby storing a first data set; and

store data corresponding to each of the fourth plurality of social media posts, thereby storing a second data set; wherein

the first data set is for ascertaining a time reference for each of the second plurality of social media posts, such that the second plurality of social media posts is accessible for future provision to a playback device associated with a user, and for playback, in the playback device, synchronously with a playback by the user of the certain multimedia content;

the second data set is for ascertaining a time reference for each of the fourth plurality of social media posts, such that the fourth plurality of social media posts is accessible for future provision to the playback device, and for playback, in the playback device, synchronously with a playback by the user of the certain multimedia content; and

the second data set comprises, for each social media post of the fourth plurality that includes information relating to an event that occurs within the certain multimedia content after the time corresponding to the time reference of that social media post, a spoiler indicator.

24. A method of processing social media posts, the method including:

receiving, by a filtering module, a first input stream comprising a first plurality of social media posts from a social networking service, each of the first plurality of social media posts having been published concurrently with a first presentation of a certain multimedia content;

using one or more content-specific filtering criteria that relate to the certain multimedia content, filtering, by the filtering module, the first input stream to identify, from the first input stream, one or more social media posts that relate to the certain multimedia content, thereby providing a first set of social media posts;

for each social media post in the first set, ascertaining a time reference for that social media post, a time reference being a reference to a time within the certain multimedia content;

for each social media post in the first set, storing, in a storage module operatively coupled to the filtering module, data corresponding to that social media post such that that social media post may be acquired at a future time;

receiving, from the social networking service, by the filtering module, a second input stream comprising a second plurality of social media posts, each of the second plurality of social media posts having been published concurrently with a second presentation of the certain multimedia content, the second presentation of the certain multimedia content occurring some time after the first presentation of the certain multimedia content;

using the one or more content-specific filtering criteria that relate to the certain multimedia content, filtering, by the filtering module, the second input stream to identify, from the second input stream, one or more social media posts that relate to the certain multimedia content, thereby providing a second set of social media posts;

for each social media post in the second set, ascertaining a time reference for that social media post, a time reference being a reference to a time within the certain multimedia content;

for each social media post in the second set, storing, in a storage module operatively coupled to the filtering module, data corresponding to that social media post such that that social media post may be acquired at a future time; wherein

for each social media post in the first set, the stored data for that social media post includes the time reference for that social media post thereby providing for synchronous playback of that social media post with a playback of the certain multimedia content;

for each social media post in the second set, the stored data for that social media post includes the time reference for that social media post thereby providing for synchronous playback of that social media post with a playback of the certain multimedia content; and

for each social media post in the second set that relates to an event that occurs within the certain multimedia content after the time corresponding to that time reference of that social media post, the stored data for that social media post includes a spoiler indicator.