Techniques for generating and displaying a visual flow of user content through a social network

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining, at a computing device having one or more processors and being associated with a social network, a user content associated with a plurality of users;

generating, at the computing device, a first instruction for generating a visual display that includes a region for each user of the plurality of users;

generating, at the computing device, a second instruction for arranging the regions and one or more directional indicators in the visual display according to a set of layout rules such that the regions and the one or more directional indicators illustrate a flow of the user content through the social network, wherein the layout rules include:

determining a first set of regions based on a specific region, the first set of regions comprising sub-regions of the specific region, and

arranging each region of the first set of regions to be within the specific region; and

generating, at the computing device, a third instruction for providing the visual display to a user via a display associated with the computing device, the visual display including the regions and the one or more directional indicators.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the layout rules further include:

determining a second set of regions based on the specific region, the specific region being a sub-region of each region of the second set of regions; and

arranging the specific region to be within each region of the second set of regions.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein a size of each of the regions depends on a number of sub-regions of that region, and wherein the size of the region increases as the number of sub-regions in the region increases.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , further comprising generating, at the computing device, a fourth instruction for adding text to one or more of the regions, the text indicating a name of a user associated with the one or more of the regions, a size of the text being based on the size of the one or more of the regions associated with the text.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the layout rules include adding a first directional indicator from the specific region to a selected region of the first set of regions, the selected region having a larger number of sub-regions than other regions of the first set of regions.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising generating, at the computing device, a fourth instruction for aligning the first directional indicator in the visual display at an angle substantially similar to an angle of a second directional indicator from one of the second set of regions to the specific region.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising generating, at the computing device, a fifth instruction for aligning each region associated with the first and second directional indicators.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein arranging the regions according to the set of layout rules further includes selecting, at the computing device, a layout algorithm to use in arranging the regions, the layout algorithm being one of a golden-ratio spiral layout algorithm, an even spacing layout algorithm, and a randomized collision layout algorithm.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the user content is a posting to a website representing the social network, and wherein each user has either re-posted the user content or provided commentary to the user content.

10. A computing device associated with a social network and having one or more processors configured to perform operations comprising:

determining a user content associated with a plurality of users;

generating a first instruction for generating a visual display that includes a region for each user of the plurality of users;

generating a second instruction for arranging the regions and one or more directional indicators in the visual display according to a set of layout rules such that the regions and the one or more directional indicators illustrate a flow of the user content through the social network, wherein the layout rules include:

determining a first set of regions based on a specific region, the first set of regions comprising sub-regions of the specific region; and

arranging each region of the first set of regions to be within the specific region; and

generating a third instruction for providing the visual display to a user via a display associated with the computing device, the visual display including the regions and the one or more directional indicators.

11. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the layout rules further include:

determining a second set of regions based on the specific region, the specific region being a sub-region of each region of the second set of regions; and

arranging the specific region to be within each region of the second set of regions.

12. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein a size of each of the regions depends on a number of sub-regions of that region, and wherein the size of the region increases as the number of sub-regions in the region increases.

13. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a fourth instruction for adding text to one or more of the regions, the text indicating a name of a user associated with the one or more of the regions, a size of the text being based on the size of the one or more of the regions associated with the text.

14. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the layout rules include adding a first directional indicator from the specific region to a selected region of the first set of regions, the selected region having a larger number of sub-regions than other regions of the first set of regions.

15. The computing device of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a fourth instruction for aligning the first directional indicator in the visual display at an angle substantially similar to an angle of a second directional indicator from one of the second set of regions to the specific region.

16. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a fifth instruction for aligning each region associated with the first and second directional indicators.

17. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein arranging the regions according to the set of layout rules further includes selecting a layout algorithm to use in arranging the regions, the layout algorithm being one of a golden-ratio spiral layout algorithm, an even spacing layout algorithm, and a randomized collision layout algorithm.

18. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the user content is a posting to a website representing the social network, and wherein each user has either re-posted the user content or provided commentary to the user content.

19. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining, at a computing device having one or more processors and being associated with a social network, a user content associated with a plurality of users;

generating, at the computing device, a first instruction for generating a visual display that includes a region for each user of the plurality of users;

generating, at the computing device, a second instruction for arranging the regions and one or more directional indicators in the visual display according to a set of layout rules such that the regions and the one or more directional indicators illustrate a flow of the user content through the social network, wherein the second instruction specifies a layout algorithm to use in arranging the regions, the layout algorithm being one of (i) a golden-ratio spiral layout algorithm, (ii) an even spacing layout algorithm, and (iii) a randomized collision layout algorithm; and

generating, at the computing device, a third instruction for providing the visual display to a user via a display associated with the computing device, the visual display including the regions and the one or more directional indicators.