Systems and methods to determine trending topics for a user based on social graph data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016188704-A1
Application number	US-201414587575-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 31, 2014
Priority date	Dec 31, 2014
Publication date	Jun 30, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured to determine a degree of separation between a user and a connection within a social network of the user, the connection associated with an interaction from which at least topic is determined. A value of affinity between the user and the connection is determined. A weight reflecting a value of interest similarity between the user and the connection is determined. A term based on the degree of separation, the value of affinity, and the weight reflecting a value of interest similarity is calculated. Terms associated with the at least one topic are combined to generate a composite score associated with the at least one topic to determine whether to present the at least one topic to the user.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
determining, by a computing system, a degree of separation between a user and a connection within a social network of the user, the connection associated with an interaction from which at least one topic is determined; determining, by the computing system, a value of affinity between the user and the connection; determining, by the computing system, a weight reflecting a value of interest similarity between the user and the connection; calculating, by the computing system, a term based on the degree of separation, the value of affinity, and the weight reflecting a value of interest similarity; and combining, by the computing system, terms associated with the at least one topic to generate a composite score associated with the at least one topic to determine whether to present the at least one topic to the user.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a value of authority of the connection, wherein the term is further based on the value of authority.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the weight reflecting a value of interest similarity between the user and the connection is based on similarity of recently interacted topics and categories at different levels of granularity.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
analyzing a posting of content associated with the interaction to determine the at least one topic.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the connection is within a threshold value of a number of degrees of separation from the user.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the interaction is within a threshold value of a number of interactions of connections from which topics can be determined.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein a time associated with the interaction is within a threshold value of a historical time period over which to determine topics.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sorting composite scores associated with topics; and ranking the topics according to the composite scores to identify a cluster of the topics.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:
comparing the cluster of the topics with other topics identified as trending.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:
providing at least one of the cluster of the topics for presentation to the user.

11 . A system comprising:
at least one processor; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform: determining a degree of separation between a user and a connection within a social network of the user, the connection associated with an interaction from which at least one topic is determined; determining a value of affinity between the user and the connection; determining a weight reflecting a value of interest similarity between the user and the connection; calculating a term based on the degree of separation, the value of affinity, and the weight reflecting a value of interest similarity; and combining terms associated with the at least one topic to generate a composite score associated with the at least one topic to determine whether to present the at least one topic to the user.

12 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining a value of authority of the connection, wherein the term is further based on the value of authority.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the weight reflecting a value of interest similarity between the user and the connection is based on similarity of recently interacted topics and categories at different levels of granularity.

14 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising:
analyzing a posting of content associated with the interaction to determine the at least one topic.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the connection is within a threshold value of a number of degrees of separation from the user.

16 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method comprising:
determining a degree of separation between a user and a connection within a social network of the user, the connection associated with an interaction from which at least one topic is determined; determining a value of affinity between the user and the connection; determining a weight reflecting a value of interest similarity between the user and the connection; calculating a term based on the degree of separation, the value of affinity, and the weight reflecting a value of interest similarity; and combining terms associated with the at least one topic to generate a composite score associated with the at least one topic to determine whether to present the at least one topic to the user.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising:
determining a value of authority of the connection, wherein the term is further based on the value of authority.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the weight reflecting a value of interest similarity between the user and the connection is based on similarity of recently interacted topics and categories at different levels of granularity.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising:
analyzing a posting of content associated with the interaction to determine the at least one topic.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the connection is within a threshold value of a number of degrees of separation from the user.

Assignees

• Facebook Inc

Inventors

• Dassa Guy
• Kruger Louis Paul

Classifications

• G06Q10/40

  Business processes related to social networking or social networking services · CPC title

• G06F16/9535 Primary

  Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation · CPC title

• G06F16/9536 Primary

  Search customisation based on social or collaborative filtering · CPC title

• G06F17/30675 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30643

  Physics · mapped topic