Social platform with enhanced privacy and integrated customization features
The present invention provides a social networking platform offering various services, such as, facilitating aggregation and management of a user's interaction on one or more social networking platforms, offering enhanced control over the level of privacy associated with the flow of user data, offering tools to customize the user's exposure to advertisement-related content on the social networking platform(s), integrating features to control aspects of how data/content is presented to and visualized by the user, empowering the user to multicast direct messages to other users without the other users having to meet certain constraints, empowering the user to create and/or join a group based on messaging threads, and the like. One or more of these enhanced services/features are associated with a powerful framework of authentication/permission model for access control.
1. A method of providing a message, the method comprising:
receiving identity information corresponding to a user of an interactive service, the interactive service having an operator;
determining a message viewing preference of the user;
determining, based on the message viewing preference, first message criteria;
receiving, from a message author, a first message;
in accordance with a determination that the first message satisfies the first message criteria, presenting the first message to the user;
receiving, from the user, input corresponding to the first message;
anonymizing the input with respect to the message author; and
communicating the anonymized input to the message author,
wherein:
the input is not communicated to the operator of the interactive service,
the identity information is not communicated to the message author, and
the identity information is not communicated to the operator of the interactive service.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein presenting the first message comprises presenting the first message to the user via a third party.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first message is associated with an item and the input indicates a request by the user to purchase the item.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
the request comprises a request that a supplier provide the item, and
the identity information is not communicated to the supplier.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first message comprises a coupon corresponding to the item.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first message comprises an advertisement and the message author comprises an advertiser.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the interactive service comprises a content distribution platform.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the interactive service comprises a social network platform.
9. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising receiving preference information, wherein the message viewing preference is determined based on the preference information.
10. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute a method comprising:
receiving identity information corresponding to a user of an interactive service, the interactive service having an operator;
determining a message viewing preference of the user;
determining, based on the message viewing preference, first message criteria;
receiving, from a message author, a first message;
in accordance with a determination that the first message satisfies the first message criteria, presenting the first message to the user;
receiving, from the user, input corresponding to the first message;
anonymizing the input with respect to the message author; and
communicating the anonymized input to the message author,
wherein:
the input is not communicated to the operator of the interactive service,
the identity information is not communicated to the message author, and
the identity information is not communicated to the operator of the interactive service.
11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein presenting the first message comprises presenting the first message to the user via a third party.
12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the first message is associated with an item and the input indicates a request by the user to purchase the item.
13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein:
the request comprises a request that a supplier provide the item, and
the identity information is not communicated to the supplier.
14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the first message comprises a coupon corresponding to the item.
15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the first message comprises an advertisement and the message author comprises an advertiser.
16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the interactive service comprises a content distribution platform.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the interactive service comprises a social network platform.
18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises receiving preference information, and wherein the message viewing preference is determined based on the preference information.
19. A system comprising:
one or more processors;
memory storing instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to execute a method comprising:
receiving identity information corresponding to a user of an interactive service, the interactive service having an operator;
determining a message viewing preference of the user;
determining, based on the message viewing preference, first message criteria;
receiving, from a message author, a first message;
in accordance with a determination that the first message satisfies the first message criteria, presenting the first message to the user;
receiving, from the user, input corresponding to the first message;
anonymizing the input with respect to the message author; and
communicating the anonymized input to the message author,
wherein:
the input is not communicated to the operator of the interactive service,
the identity information is not communicated to the message author, and the identity information is not communicated to the operator of the interactive service.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the message comprises an advertisement and the message author comprises an advertiser.