Search in Social Networks

1 . A computer-implemented method in a social network for retrieving social media, comprising:

presenting, to a first user, a list of available perspectives of different owners;

receiving, from the first user, a selection of a perspective from the list of available perspectives;

carrying out a search based on the selected perspective to obtain search results associated with social media; and

presenting, to the first user, the search results.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from the first user, at least one search term, wherein the search is further carried out based on the at least one search term.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein each of the available perspectives is associated with a set of social media, and wherein the search is carried out based on the set of social media associated with the selected perspective.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the set of social media associated with each of the available perspectives comprises social media that the owner of the respective perspective previously engaged with.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein each of the available perspectives is associated with a respective set of interests, topics, and/or search terms.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the owners of each of the available perspectives are users of the social network and/or groups of users of the social network.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the list of available perspectives comprises at least two of the following: a perspective associated with the first user, a perspective associated with a second user, and a perspective associated with a social group.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the search results are presented in an order that is determined based on the selected perspective.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the search is carried out in real time.

10 . An apparatus, comprising:

an input/output device coupled to at least one user access device of a first user;

a database storing sets of indications of social media, the sets of indications being associated with at least two different perspectives of a list of available perspectives of at least two different owners;

circuitry coupled to the input/output device and the database, and adapted to:

transmit, to the at least one user access device, the list of available perspectives;

receive, from the at least one user access device, a selection of a perspective from the list of available perspectives;

carry out a search based on the selected perspective to obtain search results associated with social media; and

transmit, to the at least one user access device, the search results.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the input/output device is adapted to be coupled to the at least one user access device via the Internet.

12 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further adapted to place a cookie on the at least one user access device to gather information about the social media that the first user engages in.

13 . A machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, result in the computer performing a method of:

presenting, to a first user, a list of available perspectives of different owners;

receiving, from the first user, a selection of a perspective from the list of available perspectives;

carrying out a search based on the selected perspective to obtain search results associated with social media; and

presenting, to the first user, the search results.