System and methods for alerting a user consuming media to the progress of others consuming media

1. A method for enabling a first user to set up an alert that will notify the first user when the first user has caught up to a second user's progress in consuming media, the method comprising:

prior to the first user accessing a first media of a plurality of media, receiving a first selection, made by the first user of a media consumption application, of an identifier of a second user, wherein the media consumption application provides access to a plurality of media;

receiving a second selection, made by the first user, of an identifier of media, wherein the identifier corresponds to the first media of the plurality of media;

in response to receiving both the first selection and the second selection, monitoring for access of the first media by the first user;

detecting, during the monitoring, that the first user is accessing the first media;

retrieving a second consumption progress of the second user corresponding to the identifier of the second user selected by the first user prior to accessing the first media;

comparing, while the first user is accessing the first media, a first consumption progress of the first user with respect to the first media with the second consumption progress of the second user with respect to the first media;

determining, based on the comparing, that the first user has caught up to the second consumption progress of the second user; and

in response to determining that the first user has caught up to the second consumption progress of the second user, generating for display an alert indicating the first user has caught up to the second user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein monitoring for access of the first media by the first user further comprises:

storing a unique media identifier associated with the first media in a first data structure associated with the first user;

receiving an indication that the first user is using the media consumption application to consume a given media of the plurality of media;

querying the first data structure to determine if the given media corresponds to the unique media identifier.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the consumption progress of the first user with the consumption progress of the second user further comprises:

querying a first data structure associated with the first user for the first consumption progress;

retrieving the first consumption progress from the first data structure based on the querying;

querying a second data structure associated with the second user for the second consumption progress;

retrieving the second consumption progress from the second data structure based on the querying; and

analyzing a relationship of the first consumption progress with respect to the second consumption progress.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the first user has caught up to the consumption progress of the second user further comprises:

receiving a comparison result based on the comparing;

comparing the comparison result with a threshold criterion, wherein the threshold criterion defines a range of relative consumption progress of the first user with respect to relative consumption progress of the second user that qualifies the first user's consumption progress as being caught up to the second user's consumption progress; and

triggering the alert to be generated for display if the comparison result meets the threshold criterion.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

generating for display a plurality of selectable threshold criterion options; and

receiving a third selection from the first user of a given threshold criterion option of the plurality of selectable threshold criterion options that corresponds to the given threshold criterion, wherein comparing the comparison result with the threshold criterion comprises comparing the comparison result with the given threshold criterion.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert further comprises at least one of:

an option to pause the media,

an option to transmit a communication to the second user,

an option to ignore the alert, and

social media information for the second user.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the displayed alert further comprises:

querying a first data structure associated with the first user to identify a second media the first user has accessed;

querying a second data structure associated with the second user to identify a third media the second user has accessed;

comparing data of the second media and the third media to determine whether they are the same media;

in response to determining that the second media is the same as the third media, determining whether the first user consumption progress of the second media has not caught up to the second user consumption progress of the third media; and

generating for display on the alert an indication that the first user has not caught up to the second user with respect to the second media.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the first user has caught up to the consumption progress of the second user, pausing, without further input from the user, playback of the first media, wherein the alert is generated for display while the playback of the first media is paused.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating for display the displayed alert comprises:

querying a second data structure associated with the second user to identify a second media the second user has accessed;

determining whether the first user has accessed the second media;

in response to determining that the first user has not accessed the second media, retrieving media consumption progress of the second user for the second media from the second data structure;

determining whether a threshold criterion is met by the media consumption progress for the second media by the second user;

in response to determining that the threshold criterion is met by the media consumption progress for the second media by the second user, generating for display with the alert a selectable option for the first user to access the second media, wherein the selectable option is accompanied by an indicator of the media consumption progress by the second user of the second media.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating for display the displayed alert comprises:

generating for display an option to continue consumption of the first media;

receiving a third selection from the first user of the option; and

in response to receiving the third selection, transmitting an alert to the second user to indicate that the first user has caught up to the second user and is continuing media consumption.

11. A system for enabling a first user to set up an alert that will notify the first user when the first user has caught up to a second user's progress in consuming media, the system comprising:

user input circuitry; and

control circuitry configured to:

prior to the first user accessing a first media of a plurality of media, receive, using the user input circuitry, a first selection, made by the first user of a media consumption application, of an identifier of a second user, wherein the media consumption application provides access to a plurality of media;

receive a second selection, made by the first user, of an identifier of media, wherein the identifier corresponds to the first media of the plurality of media;

in response to receiving both the first selection and the second selection, monitor for access of the first media by the first user;

detect, during the monitoring, that the first user is accessing the first media;

retrieve a second consumption progress of the second user corresponding to the identifier of the second user selected by the first user prior to accessing the first media;

compare, while the first user is accessing the first media, a first consumption progress of the first user with respect to the first media with the second consumption progress of the second user with respect to the first media;

determine, based on the comparing, that the first user has caught up to the second consumption progress of the second user; and

in response to determining that the first user has caught up to the second consumption progress of the second user, generating for display, using display circuitry, an alert indicating the first user has caught up to the second user.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when monitoring for access of the first media by the first user further, to:

store a unique media identifier associated with the first media in a first data structure associated with the first user;

receive an indication that the first user is using the media consumption application to consume a given media of the plurality of media;

query the first data structure to determine if the given media corresponds to the unique media identifier.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when comparing the consumption progress of the first user with the consumption progress of the second user, to:

query a first data structure associated with the first user for the first consumption progress;

retrieve the first consumption progress from the first data structure based on the querying;

query a second data structure associated with the second user for the second consumption progress;

retrieve the second consumption progress from the second data structure based on the querying; and

analyze a relationship of the first consumption progress with respect to the second consumption progress.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when determining that the first user has caught up to the consumption progress of the second user to:

receive a comparison result based on the comparing;

compare the comparison result with a threshold criterion, wherein the threshold criterion defines a range of relative consumption progress of the first user with respect to relative consumption progress of the second user that qualifies the first user's consumption progress as being caught up to the second user's consumption progress; and

trigger the alert to be generated for display by display circuitry if the comparison result meets the threshold criterion.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

generate for display using graphics circuitry a plurality of selectable threshold criterion options; and

receive a third selection from the first user of a given threshold criterion option of the plurality of selectable threshold criterion options that corresponds to the given threshold criterion, wherein comparing the comparison result with the threshold criterion comprises comparing the comparison result with the given threshold criterion.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when generating for display the alert, to generate for display:

an option to pause the media,

an option to transmit a communication to the second user,

an option to ignore the alert, and

social media information for the second user.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when generating for display the alert, to:

query a first data structure associated with the first user to identify a second media the first user has accessed;

query a second data structure associated with the second user to identify a third media the second user has accessed;

compare data of the second media and the third media to determine whether they are the same media;

in response to determining that the second media is the same as the third media, determine whether the first user consumption progress of the second media has not caught up to the second user consumption progress of the third media; and

generate for display on the alert an indication that the first user has not caught up to the second user with respect to the second media.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, in response to determining that the first user has caught up to the consumption progress of the second user, to pause, without further input from the user, playback of the first media, wherein the alert is generated for display while the playback of the first media is paused.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when generating for display the displayed alert, to:

query a second data structure associated with the second user to identify a second media the second user has accessed;

determine whether the first user has accessed the second media;

in response to determining that the first user has not accessed the second media, retrieve media consumption progress of the second user for the second media from the second data structure;

determine whether a threshold criterion is met by the media consumption progress for the second media by the second user;

in response to determining that the threshold criterion is met by the media consumption progress for the second media by the second user, generate for display with the alert a selectable option for the first user to access the second media, wherein the selectable option is accompanied by an indicator of the media consumption progress by the second user of the second media.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when generating for display the alert, to:

generate for display an option to continue consumption of the first media;

receive a third selection from the first user of the option; and

in response to receiving the third selection, transmit an alert to the second user to indicate that the first user has caught up to the second user and is continuing media consumption.