Systems and methods for utilizing and searching social network information
Methods and systems for indexing, storing, recalling and displaying social network user profiles, event calendar postings and user feed postings are described. A single, discrete set of keywords, can be utilized and assigned to both user profiles and postings and can operate as a method of indexing. The assignment of these keywords may allow users to control the display of calendar and feed content by matching assigned posting keywords to assigned profile keywords via a matching algorithm. Matched event-related postings may also be automatically displayed in a user's calendar. Searches of profiles and postings may also be performed by constructing queries using the same set of discrete keywords attached to profiles and postings. Users may have the ability to control the display of specific profile information and postings via privacy settings, which utilize unique methods of tracking relationship segmentation and social distance.
1. A method of displaying social network information customized to interests of a user comprising:
creating a central keyword database having one or more pre-defined keyword descriptors;
tagging a user profile of the user with one or more keyword descriptors for associating the user with the keyword descriptors;
tagging a posting within a social network with one or more keyword descriptors from the central keyword database for associating the posting with the keyword descriptors;
using one or more processors, applying a plurality of matching criteria to the user profile and the posting; and
displaying the posting to an event calendar of the user if (i) matched by the plurality of matching criteria to the user profile and (ii) the posting has been created by a posting user having a social connection with the user and designated by the posting user as being accessible by the user, wherein the matching criteria provides the user with postings customized to interests of the user;
wherein the plurality of matching criteria further comprises a comparison of keyword descriptors tagged to the user profile and keyword descriptors tagged to the posting and wherein the keyword descriptors are organized into categories and the plurality of matching criteria comprises an evaluation of the categories of the keyword descriptors tagged to the user profile and keyword descriptors tagged to the posting.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the social connection is a first degree relationship.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the posting is an event posting and comprises a title, an event time, and a location, and the event posting is displayed to the event calendar if the location is within a pre-defined distance of a current location of the user.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the posting is generated from a third party website.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of matching criteria is based on profile keyword descriptors of the user.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of matching criteria is based on the user profile.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the posting is posted by a posting user, and wherein the plurality of matching criteria is based on a relationship between the user and the posting user.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the posting is posted by a posting user and is published to the posting user's other social networking sites.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of matching criteria includes evaluating groupings of keyword descriptors.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying advertisements relating to keyword descriptors.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the posting is an event posting, and further comprising receiving a request from the user to join the event posting displayed to the user.
12. A method of searching social network information customized to interests of a user comprising:
creating a central keyword database having one or more pre-defined keyword descriptors;
receiving a search request having search criteria for postings from the user, wherein a user profile of the user is tagged with one or more keyword descriptors;
using one or more processors, applying a plurality of matching criteria to the user profile and a plurality of postings, wherein the plurality of postings are each tagged with one or more keyword descriptors; and
displaying a result set of postings which satisfy the search criteria and are matched by the plurality of matching criteria, wherein the result set of postings is customized to interests of the user and wherein the result set of postings is displayed if the postings have been created by a posting user having a first degree social connection with the user;
wherein the plurality of matching criteria further comprises a comparison of keyword descriptors tagged to the user profile and keyword descriptors tagged to the posting and wherein the keyword descriptors are organized into categories and the plurality of matching criteria comprises an evaluation of the categories of the keyword descriptors tagged to the user profile and keyword descriptors tagged to the posting.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of matching criteria further comprises a comparison of keyword descriptors tagged to the user profile and keyword descriptors tagged to the posting.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of matching criteria is based on keywords tagged to the user profile.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of matching criteria is based on the user profile.
16. A method of displaying social network information to a news feed customized to interests of a user comprising:
creating a central keyword database having one or more pre-defined keyword descriptors;
tagging a user profile of the user with one or more keyword descriptors for associating the user with the keyword descriptors;
tagging a posting within a social network with one or more keyword descriptors from the central keyword database for associating the posting with the keyword descriptors;
using one or more processors, applying a plurality of matching criteria to the user profile and the posting; and
displaying the posting to the news feed of the user if matched by the plurality of matching criteria to the user profile and the postings have a social connection with the user, wherein the matching criteria provides the user with postings customized to interests of the user;
wherein the plurality of matching criteria further comprises a comparison of keyword descriptors tagged to the user profile and keyword descriptors tagged to the posting and wherein the posting is an event posting, and further comprising displaying a number of users having a social connection with the user who have joined the event posting.