System and method for providing social context to digital activity

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/009,776, filed Dec. 31, 2007 and entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SOCIAL CONTEXT TO DIGITAL ACTIVITY; which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of computing. More specifically, the present invention relates to the field of utilizing mobile device contact information with Internet application usernames.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many websites nowadays that allow user postings either to sell products, make comments, provide reviews or for a number of other reasons. However, when other users review these postings, it is difficult to determine if the poster is trustworthy. Furthermore, the poster might even be a close friend, but if the user is unaware that the friend goes by a certain user name, the user will view that poster as simply another random poster.

For example, if a user comments on a movie review website and rates the movie a “D”, that may be some help to other users, but maybe the person simply does not like a specific actor in the movie or some other aspect that is not highly relevant in other users' decisions about the quality of the movie. However, usually friends have similar tastes in movies and therefore it would be helpful to know that the review is someone the user knows. Since users tend to have different usernames for different sites, it is not necessarily simple to just remember usernames for each of a person's acquaintances since people are able to use different user names for each website and there are a plethora of websites available online.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The system and method for providing social context to digital activity combines mobile device contact information with user-provided website information to aid users when browsing the Internet. Users of mobile devices define identifications of themselves for websites, so that when another user in their contact list is browsing the Internet, an indicator is able to indicate that he is a known contact. The determination of whether the person is a known contact based on the identification definitions is able to be implemented either by direct interfacing between the host website and a server which stores the identification definitions, a browser plugin which communicates with the server or an API provided by the server or a mobile device.

In one aspect, a method of indicating a relationship on a computing device comprises communicating with a server device and presenting an indicator on a website in a browser if a match exists between a website username and a contact username stored on the server device. A browser plugin is configured for communicating with the server device. A host website server is configured for communicating with the server device. The indicator is selected from the group consisting of an asterisk, a different font type, a different font size, underlining, highlighting, an icon and a sound. The indicator is presented when a mouse hovers over at least one of the following: the website username, an item related to the website username and a hyperlink related to the website username. The method further comprises determining a current user of the computing device. The contact username is a direct contact of the current user, or the contact username is an indirect contact of the current user or the contact username is in a chain of direct contacts of the current user. The computing device is selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, laptop computer, computer workstation, a server, mainframe computer, handheld computer, personal digital assistant, cellular/mobile telephone, smart appliance and gaming console. Each contact username is associated with a webpage name on the server device. Communicating with the server device is through an application programming interface.

In another aspect, a method of associating one or more non-mobile identities with a mobile identity on a mobile device comprises manipulating one or more identification definitions and saving the one or more identification definitions. The method further comprises mining the Internet for the identification definitions. Manipulating includes one or more of adding, editing and deleting. Each of the one or more identification definitions include a website and a username corresponding to the website. The website is selected from one of automatically generated, retrieved from a source and user generated. The one or more identification definitions are saved on at least one of a server device and a mobile device. The identification definitions are manipulated using at least one of touch screen, mobile phone buttons, a keyboard and a mouse.

In another aspect, a method of providing social context to digital activity comprises generating a set of contact information on a first computing device, the set of contact information stored on a server device, generating a set of identification definitions on a second computing device, the set of identification definitions stored on the server device with a relationship with the set of contact information, communicating a website username to the server device from a third computing device and presenting an indicator on a website on a browser on the third computing device if a match exists between the website username and a contact username for a website in the set of identification definitions on the server device. The set of contact information includes at least one of a home phone number, a mobile phone number, a work phone number and an email address. Communicating includes determining a current user of the third computing device. The contact username is a direct contact of the current user, or the contact username is an indirect contact of the current user or the contact username is in a chain of direct contacts of the current user. The first computing device, the second computing device and the third computing device are selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, laptop computer, computer workstation, a server, mainframe computer, handheld computer, personal digital assistant, cellular/mobile telephone, smart appliance and gaming console. The contact information is manipulated using at least one of touch screen, mobile phone buttons, a keyboard and a mouse. The identification definitions are manipulated using at least one of touch screen, mobile phone buttons, a keyboard and a mouse.

In another aspect, a system for providing social context to digital activity comprises a server device, a first computing device for manipulating a set of contact information, the set of contact information stored on the server device, a second computing device for manipulating a set of identification definitions each including a website address and a contact username, the set of identification definitions stored on the server device with a relationship to the set of contact information and a third computing device for browsing a website by a current user, wherein an indicator is presented on the website if a match exists between a website username and the contact username for the website address for the current user in the set of identification definitions on the server device. The set of contact information includes at least one of a home phone number, a mobile phone number, a work phone number and an email address. The website address is selected from one of automatically generated, retrieved from a source and user generated. The first computing device, the second computing device and the third computing device are selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, laptop computer, computer workstation, a server, mainframe computer, handheld computer, personal digital assistant, cellular/mobile telephone, smart appliance and gaming console. The contact information is manipulated using at least one of touch screen, mobile phone buttons, a keyboard and a mouse. The identification definitions are manipulated using at least one of touch screen, mobile phone buttons, a keyboard and a mouse. The contact username is a direct contact of the current user, or the contact username is an indirect contact of the current user or the contact username is in a chain of direct contacts of the current user.

In another aspect, a computing device comprises a memory for storing an application, the application configured for generating a set of identification definitions and organizing the set of identification definitions and a processing component coupled to the memory, the processing component configured for processing the application. The set of identification definitions each include a website and a contact username corresponding to the website. The computing device is a mobile device. The application is configured for storing the set of identification definitions and sending the identification definitions to a server device.

In another aspect, a computing device comprises a memory for storing an application, the application configured for communicating with a server device to determine if a match exists between a website username and a contact username for a website address for a current user in a set of identification definitions on the server device and presenting an indicator for the match on a website and a processing component coupled to the memory, the processing component configured for processing the application. The application determines a current user. The application is a browser plugin. Communicating with the server device is through an application programming interface.

In another aspect, a server device comprises a memory for storing an application, the application configured for storing contact information and identification definitions in a database and determining if a match exists between a website username and a contact username for a website for a current user in the identification definitions and a processing component coupled to the memory, the processing component configured for processing the application. The contact information includes at least one of a home phone number, a mobile phone number, a work phone number and an email address. The application determines the current user. The application sends a response to a computing device to indicate the match exists.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a network of devices in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a list of contacts in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a list of identification definitions in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a website implementing the method of providing social context to digital activity in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a graphical representation of an exemplary computing device in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method of providing contact information according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method of providing one or more identification definitions according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method of displaying a website with social context included.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method of displaying a website with social context included.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

To enhance user experiences on the Internet, relationships generated for mobile devices are able to be applied on the Internet. As is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/128,121, filed on May 12, 2005 and entitled “ADVANCED CONTACT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM” which is hereby incorporated by reference, users are able to add contact information into their mobile device for friends, family, co-workers and so on. Users are also able to store information/definitions about themselves on their mobile device such as usernames for websites such as eBay®, Facebook®, Yelp® and many other websites. The contact information and identification definitions are able to be further stored or backed up on a server. In some embodiments, a user is able to update his profile and a server manages all of the information with an address book.

FIG. 1 illustrates a network of devices 100 in accordance with the present invention. A user of a first computing device 102 inputs and saves contact information of a user of a second computing device 104. Furthermore, the user of the second computing device 104 inputs and saves identification definitions about himself. Additional contact information is input and additional users input their identification definitions as well. An application downloads and stores the contact information and identification definitions on a server device 106 which is operatively coupled with the first computing device 102 and the second computing device 104. The contact information and identification definitions are stored in a database or another mechanism which allows efficient referencing of the information and definitions. A third computing device 108 is used to view websites which incorporate one or more indicators based on the usernames of the website and identification definitions stored on the server device 106. In some embodiments, the websites are viewed on one of the first or second computing devices 102, 104.

FIG. 2 illustrates a list 200 of contacts in accordance with the present invention. The list 200 of contacts includes names and contact information corresponding to each name. The contact information includes items such as home phone number, mobile phone number, work phone number, email address and any other relevant contact information. The contact information is able to be manipulated either on a mobile device or a computing device with access to the contact information. Manipulating the contact information includes adding, editing, deleting and/or otherwise modifying the information. The contact information is stored on the computing device such as a mobile device and/or the server device operatively coupled to the computing device.

FIG. 3 illustrates a list 300 of identification definitions in accordance with the present invention. A user is able to manipulate the list 300 as desired such as by adding, editing and/or deleting the contents. Manipulating the list 300 is able to be performed on a user's mobile device using standard input implementations and/or another computing device such as a personal computer. A first column 302 of the list 300 includes website names such as eBay®, Yelp®, Facebook®, Myspace® and Yahoo!®. The website names are able to be automatically generated, retrieved from another source and/or user-generated. An automatically-generated website name is one that comes pre-stored in the mobile device. For example, the most popular websites for a specific group of users of a certain phone are Facebook® and Myspace®, so those phones include designated locations for those web pages. Website names retrieved from another source are able to be downloaded from a server device or some other location. For example, Yahoo!® has an agreement with Verizon Wireless® to be included in the list, but is not pre-loaded on the actual phone. A user is able to download the Yahoo!® website name manually or the Yahoo!® website name is automatically downloaded when the user logs into the network. For user-generated website names, the user enters the name of the website, possibly including the prefix and extension, such as www and .com, respectively. A second column 304 includes usernames specific for the user of the mobile device for each website. For example, although the user's name is Bob, his username for eBay® is SuperBob22, and then the user has a different username for Yelp®, such as SeafoodKing. After the user manipulates identification definitions as desired, the definitions are saved on the mobile device and/or a server device.

By combining what is shown and discussed in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the contacts information and the identification definitions are stored on a server device in an organized manner so that relationships are easily recognized, such as within a relational database. For example, if Alice has the contacts shown in FIG. 2 and each of the contacts has defined identification definitions similar to those shown in FIG. 3, the server device stores the information so that when Alice is browsing websites, the information in her contacts list and the information in each contact's definitions list is conveniently organized. Moreover, in some embodiments, additional linking or relationships are involved so that contacts of contacts (also referred to as indirect contacts or a chain/sequence/series of direct contacts) are related (e.g. a friend of a friend). Any number of relationships are possible. One and two levels of relationships have been described, but three or more levels of relationships (chains of contacts) are able to be included, in some embodiments. The chain/sequence/series of contacts is able to include direct contacts and/or indirect contacts. In some embodiments, the number of relationships are configurable, and in some embodiments the number of relationships are static. In some embodiments, the number of relationships are configurable by an administrator of a system, and in some embodiments, the number of relationships are configurable by a specific user. For example, if one user only wants one level of relationships while another user prefers three levels of relationships, in some embodiments, those users are able to configure their relationship setup as desired. The relationships are able to be generated and organized in any number of ways utilizing the appropriate hardware and software. Using the information and relationships stored in the server device, social context is then able to be provided to digital activity as is shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 illustrates a website 400 implementing the method of providing social context to digital activity in accordance with the present invention. On a website such as Yelp®, reviews of items or places are listed, such as restaurants. The reviews are provided by any user who chooses to post a review. To distinguish completely random people from people that the current user knows, an indicator 402 is used to indicate people who are listed in the current user's mobile device contacts list with the proper identification definitions. The indicator 402 is able to be any item or quality to denote that this person is in the current user's mobile device contacts list. For example, the indicator 402 is able to be an asterisk, a different font type, a different font size, underlining, highlighting, an icon, a sound or something else that makes the known person stand out from the other people. In some embodiments, the indicator 402 also allows additional information to be displayed beyond the username such as the person's real name or other information. The amount of information displayed is configurable when that person sets up the identification definitions. In some embodiments, the indicator is presented when a mouse hovers over at least one of the following: the website username, an item related to the website username and a hyperlink related to the website username.

In some embodiments, the indicator 402 is implemented by the host website interfacing with a server which contains all of the contact information including the identification definitions. The host website includes code to present the indicator 402.

In some embodiments, the indicator 402 is implemented by a browser extension or plugin 404 which is able to be visible or hidden. The plugin 404 communicates with the server containing all of the contact information including the identification definitions and then annotates the page correctly.

FIG. 5 illustrates a graphical representation of an exemplary computing device 500 in accordance with the present invention. The computing device 500 is able to be used to input, store, serve, compute, communicate and/or display information to enable users to view and/or manipulate information. For example, a computing device 500 such as a server or a set of servers, stores and serves information such as contact information and identification definitions. Continuing with the example, a different computing device such as a mobile device or a personal computer is used by users to manipulate the contact information and the identification definitions. In general, a hardware structure suitable for implementing the computing device includes a network interface 502, a memory 504, processor 506, I/O device(s) 508, a bus 510 and a storage device 512. The choice of processor is not critical as long as a suitable processor with sufficient speed is chosen. The memory 504 is able to be any conventional computer memory known in the art. The storage device 512 is able to include a hard drive, CDROM, CDRW, DVD, DVDRW, flash memory card or any other storage device. The computing device 500 is able to include one or more network interfaces 502. An example of a network interface includes a network card connected to an Ethernet or other type of LAN. The I/O device(s) 508 are able to include one or more of the following: keyboard, mouse, monitor, display, printer, modem and other devices. Software used to perform the methods of the present invention are likely to be stored in the storage device 512 and memory 504 and processed as applications are typically processed.

Examples of suitable computing devices include a personal computer, laptop computer, computer workstation, a server, mainframe computer, handheld computer, personal digital assistant, cellular/mobile telephone, smart appliance, gaming console or any other suitable computing device.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method of providing contact information according to the present invention. In the step 600, the contact information is manipulated including, but not limited to, adding contact information, editing contact information and deleting contact information. As described above, the contact information includes a person's name, various phone numbers, email address and other information. Depending on the computing device, the contact information is manipulated using a touch screen, mobile phone buttons, a mouse and keyboard or any other input mechanism of the computing device. In some embodiments, manipulating the contact information includes mining the information. For example, in some embodiments, the Internet is mined based on an address book stored in a mobile device or a server, and usernames of the contacts are auto-generated. Using the example further, a network address book is able to contain a consolidated list of “ALL” user contacts. The Internet is able to be mined for the usernames and contacts stored, for example, going to Yelp® or Facebook® and searching for usernames based on the user's first and last name. Once found, the network address book is able to be updated to include the information. The network address book is able to then be accessed from any device such as a mobile phone or personal computer. APIs are able to be used to allow smooth interoperability. In the step 602, the contact information is saved. In some embodiments, the contact information is saved on the mobile device only, on a server device only or on both the mobile device and the server device.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method of providing one or more identification definitions according to the present invention. In the step 700, the identification definitions are manipulated by adding, editing and/or deleting. The identification definitions include at least a website name and a username associated with each website name. Depending on the computing device, the identification definitions are manipulated using a touch screen, mobile phone buttons, a mouse and keyboard or any other input mechanism of the computing device. As described above, the website name is able to be pre-installed, automatically added or manually added by a user. The username is able to be the same for some or all of the website names, but typically there is at least a slight variation of usernames. FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary list of identification definitions. The websites, eBay®, Facebook® and Myspace® came preinstalled with the mobile device, while Yahoo!® was downloaded automatically upon logging on to the network and Bob manually entered www.yelp.com. Then, Bob input the username SuperBob22 for eBay, SeafoodKing for www.yelp.com, Bob_Sacamano for Facebook® and Myspace® and BBBBOBBBB for Yahoo!®. In the step 702, the identification definitions are saved. In some embodiments, the identification definitions are saved on the mobile device only, on a server device only or on both the mobile device and the server device.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method of displaying a website with social context included. In some embodiments, an interface is supplied to a host website for coupling to a server device. In the step 800, a host website server communicates with the server device where the identification definitions are stored. The communication between the host website server and the server device determines if any of the usernames to be presented on a website match the identification definitions of contacts of the current user. More specifically, since each contact has a list of websites and corresponding usernames for each website, the specific website and the username for that website must match the username presented on the current website the user is browsing. In some embodiments, the determination is made on the computing device where the browser is displayed. In some embodiments, the determination is made on the server device. If the determination is made on the server device, a response is sent to the host website server to indicate which usernames match. In the step 802, the website is displayed utilizing the information received from the server device, and the website includes specially denoted usernames where applicable.

For example, eBay® is provided an interface to the server device which contains the identification definitions. Then, eBay® adds code into its website pages which operate according to the interface to query the identification definitions based on the current user of an Internet browser and the usernames on the website. If matches are found based on the usernames of the website and the usernames of the contacts of the current user, then those matches are highlighted in some manner using added code in eBay®'s website pages.

In some embodiments, an Application Programming Interface (API) is implemented so that other developers are able to interface with a server-side social context system. As described above, in some embodiments, an interface is supplied to a host website so that the host website is able to couple to and/or communicate with a server device, or specifically a social context system on the server device. In some embodiments, the description of the API is publicly available so that any web host is able to couple their site with the server-side social context system to be able to provide the social context to their site as described herein. With the description of the API publicly available, users will know what values to input and what values are output when communicating with the API.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method of displaying a website with social context included. In some embodiments, a browser plugin is downloaded and installed on a computing device. The browser plugin is able to determine the current user and communicate with a server device where the identification definitions are stored. In some embodiments, the current user is determined by registering the specific download of the browser to a certain person. In some embodiments, the user logs in to be the current user. Other methods of determining the current user are contemplated as well, such as using identification codes. In the step 900, the browser plugin communicates with the server device where the identification definitions are stored. In some embodiments, an API is utilized so that communication with the server device is easily implemented by those who do not have source code of the server-side social context system. The communication between the browser plugin and the server device determines if any of the usernames to be presented on a website match the identification definitions of contacts of the current user. More specifically, since each contact has a list of websites and corresponding usernames for each website, the specific website and the username for that website must match the username presented on the current website the user is browsing. In some embodiments, the determination is made on the computing device where the browser is displayed. In some embodiments, the determination is made on the server device. If the determination is made on the server device, a response is sent to the computing device displaying the browser to indicate which usernames match. In the step 902, a website is annotated by the browser plugin to denote matches from the communication with the server device.

For example, a user downloads and installs a browser plugin to his personal computer. The user then navigates using his browser to eBay®'s website where the user is searching for a toaster. After using eBay®'s search, an auction list is provided which includes usernames for each of the sellers on the website. The browser plugin automatically queries the server device and determines if any of the usernames on the website are found on the server device in the identification definitions for the contacts of the current user. If matches are found based on the usernames of the website and the usernames of the contacts of the current user, then those matches are highlighted in a way using the plugin such as to overlay an asterisk near the username on the website.

To utilize the system and method for providing social context to digital activity, users generate contact lists for their mobile devices. Additionally, each contact generates identification definitions which include usernames corresponding to websites. The order of these steps is not important. Then, when a user is navigating the Internet, if a username of a contact of the current browser is found, that username is indicated as someone known by the current browser. In some embodiments, a plugin is downloaded to communicate with a server to compare usernames with the identification definitions. In some embodiments, the interfacing is performed directly by the host website and the server. In some embodiments, another method is used to determine if the usernames match the identification definitions.

In operation, instead of users simply reading and believing reviews from people where the reader has no idea if the reviewers have any common interests with them, indicators are able to be used to indicate that the reviewer is in the contacts list of the reader's mobile device. Users' interests that are able to be found in profiles at various websites are also able to be incorporated in the intelligence of the system. This provides better confidence in the readers that the reviews they are basing their decisions on are relevant to their own interests. For example, if a person looks on Yahoo Movies to determine if a new movie is worth seeing, the fact that most people have rated the movie an “A+” is not necessarily a helpful indicator as to whether or not this specific person will also like the movie. Rather, the person's contacts such as family, friends and co-workers likely have similar tastes or at least the person knows the tastes of the contacts, thus it is helpful to know that some of the reviewers are known contacts. To provide the indicators, either a web host communicates with the server where the identification definitions are stored or a browser plugin is used to communicate with the server.

In some embodiments, a purchase history of a user is also stored and used for reference. The purchase history is able to keep track of the list of items bought by a user at various different web sites or catalogs. Then, when another user is browsing the web, that user is able to be informed that one of his friends bought this item or one of the people in his network bought this item. A contact to “interests” or “tastes” metadata is maintained and derived based on the purchase history. In some embodiments, if multiple contacts have purchased or recommended an item, the multiple purchases/recommendations are indicated. For example, a number is able to be displayed next to the item indicating the number of purchases, or a list of names are displayed. Other indicators are able to be used to indicate a different number of purchases.

In some embodiments, all of the stored information is synchronized so that the data is fresh or live and there are no incorrect associations. For example, if a user deletes a contact from his contacts list, that association is deleted or shown differently in any system storing or using the association.

In some embodiments, the system and method of providing social context to digital activity is implemented on top of a synchronization system such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,757, 6,694,336 or 6,757,696 which are all incorporated by reference.

The present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments incorporating details to facilitate the understanding of principles of construction and operation of the invention. Such reference herein to specific embodiments and details thereof is not intended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto. It will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that other various modifications may be made in the embodiment chosen for illustration without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.