Social incentive optimization in online social networks

1. A social networking system comprising: one or more processors; and

a computer readable non-transitory medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:

receive from a member of the social networking system an item for sharing on the social networking system;

determine whether the member has never shared an item on the social networking system such that the item for sharing is a first sharing for the member or whether the member has not shared an item for a time period that transgresses a threshold, when the item for sharing is a first sharing or a sharing that transgresses the threshold, mark the item for a promotion in a feed of another member of the social networking system;

promote the item for sharing without damaging a feed experience of the other member; and

avoid damaging the feed experience of the other member by limiting a number of infrequent sharers in the feed of the other member.

2. The social networking system of claim 1 , comprising instructions to cause the system to place the item at a top position of the feed of the other member.

3. The social networking system of claim 1 , comprising instructions to cause the system to receive a social incentive from the other member, and to display the social incentive to the member.

4. The social networking system of claim 3 , wherein the social incentive comprises one or more of an indication to the member that the other member liked the item for sharing, a comment by the other member on the item for sharing, and a transmission of the item for sharing to one or more third members of the social networking system.

5. The social networking system of claim 1 , wherein the member and the other member of the social networking system are connected in the social networking system.

6. The social networking system of claim 1 , comprising instructions to cause the system to:

extract a feature from a profile of the member; extract a feature from a profile of the other member;

compare the feature of the member with the feature of the other member, and determine the promotion of the item for sharing in the feed of the other member based on the comparison.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the feature comprises one or more of an educational background, a professional background, and a personal background.

8. The system of claim 1 , comprising instructions to cause the system to determine the promotion of the item for sharing in the feed of the other member based on interaction features between the member and the other member including an indication that the member likes the other member's updates to the other member's profile or the other member likes the member's updates to the member's profile.

9. The social networking system of claim 1 , comprising instructions to cause the system to:

determine a frequency of providing social incentives by the other member; and

promote the item for sharing in the feed of the other member based on the frequency that the other member provides social incentives.

10. A process comprising:

receiving from a member of a social networking system an item for sharing on the social networking system;

determining whether the member has never shared an item on the social networking system such that the item for sharing is a first sharing for the member or whether the member has not shared an item for a time period that transgresses a threshold;

when the item for sharing is a first sharing or a sharing that transgresses the threshold, marking the item for a promotion in a feed of another member of the social networking system; promoting the item for sharing without damaging a feed experience of the other member; and

avoiding damaging the feed experience of the other member by limiting a number of infrequent sharers in the feed of the other member.

11. The process of claim 10 , comprising placing the item at a top position of the feed of the other member.

12. The process of claim 10 , comprising receiving a social incentive from the other member, and displaying the social incentive to the member;

wherein the social incentive comprises one or more of an indication to the member that the other member liked the item for sharing, a comment by the other member on the item for sharing, and a transmission of the item for sharing to one or more third members of the social networking system.

13. The process of claim 10 , wherein the member and the other member of the social networking system are connected in the social networking system.

14. The process of claim 10 , comprising: extracting a feature from a profile of the member; extracting a feature from a profile of the other member;

comparing the feature of the member with the feature of the other member; and determining the promotion of the item for sharing in the feed of the other member based on the comparison.

15. The process of claim 14 , wherein the feature comprises one or more of an educational background, a professional background, and a personal background.

16. The process of claim 10 , comprising determining the promotion of the item for sharing in the feed of the other member based on interaction features between the member and the other member including an indication that the member likes the other member's updates to the other member's profile or the other member likes the member's updates to the member's profile.

17. The process of claim 10 , comprising:

determining a frequency of providing social incentives by the other member, and promoting the item for sharing in the feed of the other member based on the frequency that the other member provides social incentives.