Optimizing video conferencing using contextual information

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a client computing device associated with a user, a video conference data stream depicting a plurality of video conference participants;

accessing social networking system information corresponding to each participant of the plurality of video conference participants;

calculating, for each participant of the plurality of video conference participants, an importance score based on:

the social networking system information corresponding to the participant and social networking system information corresponding to the user of the client computing device, and

a social proximity, determined based on the social networking system information corresponding to the participant, between the participant and the user of the client computing device; and

customizing a display of the video conference data stream for the user based on the importance score calculated for each participant of the plurality of video conference participants.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein customizing the display of the video conference data stream comprises at least one of:

modifying a display size associated with at least one of a plurality of video conference channels within the video conference data stream;

repositioning a display position associated with at least one of the plurality of video conference channels within the video conference data stream; and

adjusting at least one of a zoom factor and a crop factor associated with at least one of the plurality of video conference channels within the video conference data stream.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein accessing social networking system information comprises:

determining a social networking system user identity for each participant of the plurality of video conference participants; and

accessing, based on the social networking system user identities, user information for each participant, wherein user information comprises employment information and social networking system information.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein calculating an importance score comprises:

for each of participant of the plurality of video conference participants:

identifying one or more types of employment information and one or more types of social networking system information associated with the participant;

determining a score for each type of employment information and each type of social networking system information;

calculating a total importance score for the participant based on the scores for each type of employment information and each type of social networking system information.

5. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:

receive a video conference data stream depicting a plurality of video conference participants;

access social networking system information corresponding to each participant of the plurality of video conference participants;

calculate, for each participant of the plurality of video conference participants, an importance score based on:

the social networking system information corresponding to the participant and social networking system information corresponding to a user of a client computing device, and

a social proximity, determined based on the social networking system information corresponding to the participant, between the participant and the user of the client computing device; and

customize, for the client computing device, a display of the video conference data stream for the user based on the importance score calculated for each of the plurality of video conference participants.

6. The system as recited in claim 5 , wherein customizing the display of the video conference data stream comprises modifying a display size associated with at least one of a plurality of video conference channels within the video conference data stream.

7. The system as recited in claim 5 , wherein accessing social networking system information comprises:

determining a social networking system user identity for each participant of the plurality of video conference participants; and

accessing, based on the social networking system user identities, user information for each participant, wherein user information comprises employment information and social networking system information.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computer system to:

receive a video conference data stream depicting a plurality of video conference participants;

access social networking system information corresponding to each participant of the plurality of video conference participants;

calculate, for each participant of the plurality of video conference participants, an importance score based on:

the social networking system information corresponding to the participant and social networking system information corresponding to a user of a client computing device, and

a social proximity, determined based on the social networking system information corresponding to the participant, between the participant and the user of the client computing device; and

customize, for the client computing device, a display of the video conference data stream for the user based on the importance score calculated for each of the plurality of video conference participants.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising,

for each participant of the plurality of video conference participants, determining, based on the social networking system information corresponding to the participant, the social proximity between the participant and the user of the client computing device.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a context associated with the video conference data stream by analyzing metadata related to the video conference data;

wherein calculating an importance score for each participant is further based on the context associated with the video conference data stream.

11. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein customizing the display of the video conference data stream comprises selectively compressing portions of the video conference data stream around video conference participants based on the importance score calculated for each participant.

12. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein customizing the display of the video conference data stream comprises:

identifying a subset of the plurality of video conference participants that are associated with importance scores above a predetermined threshold; and

customizing the display of the video conference data stream for the identified subset.

13. The system as recited in claim 5 , further storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to,

for each participant of the plurality of video conference participants,

determine, based on the social networking system information corresponding to the participant, a social proximity between the participant and the user of the client computing device.

14. The system as recited in claim 5 , further storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:

determine a context associated with the video conference data stream by analyzing metadata related to the video conference data;

wherein calculating an importance score for each participant is further based on the context associated with the video conference data stream.

15. The system as recited in claim 5 , wherein customizing the display of the video conference data stream comprises selectively compressing portions of the video conference data stream around video conference participants based on the importance score calculated for each participant.

16. The system as recited in claim 5 , wherein customizing the display of the video conference data stream comprises:

identifying a subset of the plurality of video conference participants that are associated with importance scores above a predetermined threshold; and

customizing the display of the video conference data stream for the identified subset.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 , further storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computer system to,

for each participant of the plurality of video conference participants,

determine, based on the social networking system information corresponding to the participant, a social proximity between the participant and the user of the client computing device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 , further storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computer system to:

determine a context associated with the video conference data stream by analyzing metadata related to the video conference data;

wherein calculating an importance score for each participant is further based on the context associated with the video conference data stream.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 , wherein customizing the display of the video conference data stream comprises selectively compressing portions of the video conference data stream around video conference participants based on the importance score calculated for each participant.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 , wherein customizing the display of the video conference data stream comprises:

identifying a subset of the plurality of video conference participants that are associated with importance scores above a predetermined threshold; and

customizing the display of the video conference data stream for the identified subset.