Modifying an activity stream to display recent events of a resource

1. A method of modifying an activity stream to display recent events of an electronic resource, the method comprising:

checking a user, based on a user action, into the electronic resource that the user wants to monitor to provide context about the electronic resource, wherein the user action includes selecting a check-in button displayed for the electronic resource in a user interface, the check-in button is not part of the electronic resource;

specifying a time duration for which the user is to be checked-in to the electronic resource by the user setting a time duration selection control displayed for the electronic resource, wherein the time duration selection control is not part of the electronic resource;

modifying, during the time duration, an activity stream of the user to display recent events of the electronic resource that the user is checked-in to, wherein the activity stream is a chronologically-organized stream of posts made by other users in a social collaboration and the electronic resource is a resource outside of a social network supporting the social collaboration; and

reverting the activity stream of the user by ceasing to modify the activity stream based on posts related to the electronic resource after expiration of the time duration and then displaying events unrelated to the electronic resource in the user interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , in which the electronic resource is a file, a forum, a text, an electronic mail (email), a web page, a community, a video, an image, or combinations thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 , in which specifying the time duration for which the user is checked-in to the electronic resource comprises specifying a default range of time for which the user is checked-in to the electronic resource.

4. The method of claim 3 , in which specifying the time duration for which the user is checked-in to the electronic resource further comprises modifying the default range of time to specify a specific range of time for which the user is checked-in to the electronic resource.

5. A method of modifying an activity stream to display recent events of an electronic resource, comprising:

accepting explicit user input to check-in the user to the electronic resource indicating that the user wants notice of events related to the resource, to provide context about the electronic resource, to be added to the activity stream of the user, wherein the activity stream is a chronologically-organized stream of posts made by other users in a social collaboration, wherein the user input comprises selection of a check-in button displayed for the electronic resource, wherein the check-in button is not part of the electronic resource;

setting a time duration in response to the user selecting a time duration control displayed for the electronic resource into which the user is to be checked, wherein the time duration control is not part of the electronic resource;

modifying, a during the time duration, the activity stream of the user to display notice of recent events of the electronic resource within the activity stream, wherein modifying the activity stream includes prioritizing, in the activity stream, the recent events of the electronic resource such that the recent events of the electronic resource are displayed before other events unrelated to the electronic resource; and

accepting user input comprising selection of a check-out button displayed for the electronic resource in the user interface to check the user out of the electronic resource before expiration of the time duration, wherein the check-out button is not part of the electronic resource, so that the activity stream is modified to no longer include posts related to the electronic resource and to display events unrelated to the electronic resource in the user interface.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the electronic resource is a web page.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising displaying content from the electronic resource along with the activity stream.

8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising accepting the user accessing an electronic resource as input to check-in the user to that electronic resource.

9. A method comprising:

with a server, checking a user into an electronic resource based on a user action, wherein the user action includes selecting a check-in button displayed for the electronic resource in a user interface, the check-in button is not part of the electronic resource, where the user receives an activity stream comprising information posted by other users in a social collaboration;

with the server, establishing a time duration based on the user setting a time duration selection control displayed for the electronic resource for which the user is to be checked-in, wherein the time duration selection control is not part of the electronic resource;

with the server, modifying, during the time duration, the activity stream of the user to display recent events of the electronic resource into which the user is checked to include, along with chronologically-organized posts by other users, notification of the recent events of the electronic resource to which the user has checked-in, wherein the electronic resource is a resource outside of a social network supporting the social collaboration; and

with the server, accepting user input comprising selection of a check-out button displayed for the electronic resource in the user interface to check the user out of the electronic resource before expiration of the time duration, wherein the check-out button is not part of the electronic resource, so that the activity stream is reverted to displaying events unrelated to the electronic resource in the user interface and is no longer modified to include posts related to the electronic resource.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising checking the user into the electronic resource based on the user accessing that electronic resource.