IP Library Granted Patent US 11,055,634
Granted Patent B2
US 11,055,634 · App. 14/278,616 · Granted Jul 6, 2021

System and method of selecting a relevant user for introduction to a user in an online environment

Inventor: Johann M. Schleier-Smith (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: IFWE INC.
G06Q10/00G06F3/0482G06F3/04842G06F16/9535G06Q30/02G06Q50/01H04L65/403H04W4/021H04W4/21
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,055,634
App. No.
14/278,616
Granted
Jul 6, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods of selecting a relevant user for introduction to a user in an online environment are disclosed. In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure include a method, which may be implemented on a system, of receiving a request to identify the relevant user to be introduced to the participating user in the social network, identifying a set of social history records that occurred among the multiple users in the social network, selecting, from the multiple users, the relevant user to be introduced to the participating user using the set of social history records. The relevant user that is selected is not a social connection of the participating user in the social network. One embodiment includes, determining whether the participating user is interested in meeting the relevant user in the social network based on an indication made by the participating user via interaction with the user device.

Claims (63)

1. A method for selecting relevant user accounts associated with relevant users to present to a participating user in an online environment, the method comprising:

receiving, by a server, a request to identify the relevant user accounts associated with relevant users to be presented to the participating user;

identifying, by the server, a set of social history records relating to interactions between multiple users that occurred in the online environment;

assigning weighting factors to each of the set of social history records among the identified multiple users based on a type of interaction in the corresponding social history record;

adjusting, by the server, each weighting factor based on an elapsed time from a time of occurrence of each interaction indicated by a timestamp for each interaction in each corresponding social history record;

selecting, by the server, multiple relevant users based on the set of social history records and the adjusted weighting factors assigned to the set of social history records, wherein the multiple relevant users are not social connections of the participating user in the online environment;

determining a responsiveness metric associated with each of the multiple relevant users, wherein determining the responsiveness metric includes:

increasing a responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that are presented to another user on the online environment, and

decreasing the responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that respond to notifications of interest from multiple participating users;

assigning, by the server, a rank to each of the multiple relevant users based on a relevancy determined using a combination of the adjusted weighting factors of the set of social history records, a last log-on time, a log-on frequency, and the responsiveness metric associated with each of the multiple relevant users; and

presenting, by the server, user data of the multiple relevant users to the participating user via a webpage executing on a user device in an order based on the rank assigned to each of the multiple relevant users, the webpage including links to initiate further interaction with the multiple relevant users in the order based on the rank assigned to each of the multiple relevant users.

2. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the user data of the multiple relevant users is presented to the participating user via the user device in a randomized order.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting a predetermined number of relevant users from the multiple relevant users, wherein the predetermined number of multiple relevant users are presented to the participating user in a randomized order.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, by the server, whether the participating user is interested the relevant user based on an indication made by the participating user via interaction with the user device; and

in response to determining that the participating user has indicated interest in the relevant user, sending, by the server, a notification of interest to the relevant user.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of social history records includes a set of social interactions among the multiple users in the online environment.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the set of social interactions includes sending and receiving of a message.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the set of social interactions includes responding to and sending a notification of interest.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the set of social interactions includes a friendship connection among at least some of the multiple users in the online environment.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the set of social interactions includes viewing a profile, posting a comment, and sending an invitation.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigning includes:

assigning a higher weighting factor to a first type of social history record than to a second type of social history record.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigning includes:

assigning a higher weighting factor to a first type of social interaction that occurred more recently than another social interaction of the first type that occurred less recently.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigning includes:

assigning a higher weighting factor to a first social interaction that occurred between the participating user and a first user of the multiple users than a second social interaction that occurred between the participating user and a second user of the multiple users, wherein the first social interaction occurred after the second social.

13. A system for identifying a relevant user to present to a participating user in an online environment, the system comprising:

a processor;

a memory storing instructions, which when executed, perform a method of:

receiving, by a server, a request to identify relevant user accounts associated with relevant users to be presented to the participating user in the online environment;

identifying, by the server, a set of social history records relating to interactions between multiple users that occurred in the online environment;

assigning weighting factors to each of the set of social history records among the identified multiple users based on a type of interaction in the corresponding social history record;

adjusting, by the server, each weighting factor based on an elapsed time from a time of occurrence of each interaction indicated by a timestamp for each interaction in each corresponding social history record;

selecting, by the server, multiple relevant users based on the set of social history records and the adjusted weighting factors assigned to the set of social history records, wherein the multiple relevant users are not social connections of the participating user in the online environment;

determining a responsiveness metric associated with each of the multiple relevant users, wherein determining the responsiveness metric includes:

increasing a responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that are presented to another user on the online environment, and

decreasing the responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that respond to notifications of interest from multiple participating users;

assigning, by the server, a rank to each of the multiple relevant users based on a relevancy determined using a combination of the adjusted weighting factors of the set of social history records, a last log-on time, a log-on frequency and the responsiveness metric associated with each of the multiple relevant users; and

presenting, by the server, user data of the multiple relevant users to the participating user via a webpage executing on a user device in an order based on the rank assigned to each of the multiple relevant users, the webpage including links to initiate further interaction with the multiple relevant users in the order based on the rank assigned to each of the multiple relevant users.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether the participating user is interested the relevant user based on an indication made by the participating user via interaction with the user device; and

in response to determining that the participating user has indicated interest in the relevant user, send a notification of interest to the relevant user.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer readable instructions, comprising:

instructions for receiving a request to identify a series of relevant users to present to a participating user in an online environment;

instructions for identifying a set of social history records relating to interactions between multiple users that occurred in the online environment;

instructions for assigning weighting factors to each of the set of social history records among the identified multiple users based on a type of interaction in the corresponding social history record;

instructions for adjusting each weighting factor based on an elapsed time from a time of occurrence of each interaction indicated by a timestamp for each interaction in each corresponding social history record;

instructions for selecting multiple relevant users based on the set of social history records and the adjusted weighting factors associated with the set of social history records, wherein different types of social history records have different weighting factors, wherein the multiple relevant users are not social connections of the participating user in the online environment;

instructions for determining a responsiveness metric associated with each of the multiple relevant users, wherein determining the responsiveness metric includes:

increasing a responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that are presented to another user on the online environment, and

decreasing the responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that respond to notifications of interest from multiple participating users;

instructions for assigning a rank to each of the multiple relevant users based on relevancy determined using a combination of the adjusted weighting factors of the set of social history records, a last log-on time, a log-on frequency and the responsiveness metric associated with each of the multiple relevant users; and

instructions for presenting user data of the multiple relevant users who are selected as the relevant user in an order based on the rank assigned to each of the multiple relevant users, to the participating user via a webpage executing on a user device, the webpage including links to initiate further interaction with the multiple relevant users in the order based on the rank assigned to each of the multiple relevant users.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 further comprising:

instructions for determining whether the participating user is interested in the relevant user based on an indication made by the participating user via interaction with the user device; and

instructions for, in response to determining that the participating user has indicated interest in the relevant user, sending, by the server, a notification of interest to the relevant user.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions for identifying the multiple relevant users include:

assigning a higher weighting factor to a first type of social history record than to a second type of social history record.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions for identifying the multiple relevant users include:

instructions for assigning a higher weighting factor to a first type of social history record that occurred more recently than another social history record of the first type that occurred less recently.

Assignments (9)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 11, 2020
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: IFWE INC.
Reel/Frame 053741/0080 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE CONVEYANCE TYPE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 053700 FRAME: 0163. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Sep 8, 2020
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
To: IFWE INC.
Reel/Frame 053718/0453 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 4, 2020
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
To: IFWE INC.
Reel/Frame 053700/0192 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 4, 2020
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
To: IFWE INC.
Reel/Frame 053700/0163 →
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Aug 29, 2019
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: THE MEET GROUP, INC.
Reel/Frame 050234/0505 →
NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Aug 29, 2019
From: IFWE INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 050234/0486 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 28, 2017
From: THE MEET GROUP, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 044050/0569 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Oct 16, 2014
From: TAGGED, INC.
To: IFWE INC.
Reel/Frame 034012/0286 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 10, 2014
From: SCHLEIER-SMITH, JOHANN M.
To: TAGGED, INC.
Reel/Frame 033070/0924 →
Continuity (3)
Division 13109931 · May 17, 2011
Division 12407746 · Mar 19, 2009
Related Publication 20140258159A1 · Sep 11, 2014