System and method of selecting a relevant user for introduction to a user in an online environment

Abstract

Systems and methods of selecting a relevant user for introduction to a user in an online environment are disclosed. In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure include a method, which may be implemented on a system, of receiving a request to identify the relevant user to be introduced to the participating user in the social network, identifying a set of social history records that occurred among the multiple users in the social network, selecting, from the multiple users, the relevant user to be introduced to the participating user using the set of social history records. The relevant user that is selected is not a social connection of the participating user in the social network. One embodiment includes, determining whether the participating user is interested in meeting the relevant user in the social network based on an indication made by the participating user via interaction with the user device.

1 . A method of selecting a relevant user for introduction to a participating user in an online environment of a social network having multiple users, the method, comprising:
 receiving a request to identify the relevant user to be introduced to the participating user in the social network;   identifying a set of social history records that occurred among the multiple users in the social network;   selecting, from the multiple users, the relevant user to be introduced to the participating user using the set of social history records;   wherein, the relevant user that is selected is not a social connection of the participating user in the social network;   electronically presenting user data of the relevant user to the participating user via a user device; and   determining whether the participating user is interested in meeting the relevant user in the social network based on an indication made by the participating user via interaction with the user device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 computing statistical attributes of the set of social history records; and   wherein, the relevant user is selected using the statistical attributes.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 assigning weighting factors to one or more of the set of social history records; and   wherein, the statistical attributes are computed using the weighting factors.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 assigning a higher weighting factor to a sent or received message than a social connection;   assigning a higher weighting factor to an event that occurred more recently than another event that occurred less recently in the set of social history records.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the participating user is interested in meeting the relevant user, sending the relevant user an electronic notification;   wherein, the electronic notification is accessible by the relevant user via another user device; and   determining whether the relevant user is interested in meeting the participating user based on an indication made by the relevant user with the another user device in response to accessing the electronic notification.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the relevant user is also interested in meeting the participating user, sending the participating user an electronic notification;   wherein, the electronic notification is accessible by the participating user via the user device.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying multiple relevant users based on the set of social history records;   assigning a rank to each of the multiple relevant users based on relevancy to the participating user determined using the set of social history records; and   increasing a responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that are presented to the user;   wherein, a higher responsiveness metric indicates a lower responsiveness and a lower responsiveness metric indicates a higher responsiveness.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising,
 decreasing the responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that respond to notifications of interest from multiple participating users; and   wherein, the responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users is a factor in determining the rank of each of the multiple relevant users.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 ,
 wherein, the participating user is a new user; and   wherein, demographic information of the new user and the multiple relevant users are factors in determining the rank of each of the multiple relevant users.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein, the multiple relevant users are presented to the participating user in an order based on the ranking assigned to each of the multiple relevant users. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 ,
 wherein, the multiple relevant users are presented to the participating user in a randomized order.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 ,
 further comprising, selecting a predetermined number of relevant users from the multiple relevant users; and   wherein, the predetermined number of multiple relevant users are presented to the participating user in a randomized order.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, the set of social history records comprises, one or more of, initiating a notification of interest, receiving a notification of interest, and responding to a notification of interest received from the participating user. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, the set of social history records comprises, one or more of, an existing social connection among the multiple users in the social network and an act of sending an invitation to establish a social connection in the social network. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, the set of social history records comprises, one or more of, an act of sending a message and receiving a message. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, the set of social history records comprises, one or more of, an act of viewing a profile and an act of posting a comment. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, the user data comprises, one or more of,
 an image of the relevant user; and   biographical data of the relevant user.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, the request is generated by a selection of the participating user to participate in a game by initiating an application in the online environment. 
     
     
         19 . A system for ranking a set of relevant users based on relevancy to a user determined from social interactions in an online social network, the system, comprising:
 an interaction manager module, wherein, when in operation, the interaction manager module identifies a set of social interactions that occurred among multiple users in the online social network;   wherein, each of the set of social interactions in the online social network are initiated by the multiple users via client devices;   a score generator module coupled to the interaction manager module, wherein, when in operation, the score generator generates relevancy scores for each of the multiple users using the set of social interactions among the multiple users;   a selection module coupled to the score generator module, wherein, when in operation, the selection module selects the set of relevant users based on the relevancy scores;   wherein, the set of relevant users that are selected are not social connections of the user in the online social network;   a presentation module coupled to the selection module, wherein, when in operation, the presentation module presents, one or more of the set of relevant users to the user via a user device.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising,
 a representation generator coupled to the interaction manager module and the score generator, wherein, when in operation, the representation generator generates a representation of the set of social interactions;   wherein, in the representation, each of the multiple users corresponds to a node, the user corresponds to an origin node, each of the set of social interactions corresponds to a node-connecting edge and, the origin node corresponds to a set of origin node-connecting edges;   a node traversing module coupled to the representation generator,   wherein, when in operation, the node traversing module selects an origin node-connecting edge from the set of origin node-connecting edges of the origin node;   identifies a connected intermediary node with which the origin node-connecting edge connects from the origin node;   increases a frequency counter associated with the connected intermediary node;   for a number of occurrences, the node traversing module continuously selects node-connecting edges of each connected intermediary node with which a previously selected node-connecting edge is connected and increments the frequency counters associated with each connected intermediary node;   wherein, the relevancy scores for each of the multiple users is generated using the frequency counters of each of the nodes associated with each of the multiple users; and wherein, a higher relevancy score corresponds to a higher frequency counter.   
     
     
         21 . A method of ranking a set of relevant users based on relevancy to a user in an online social network, the method, comprising:
 identifying a set of social interactions among multiple users that occurred in the online social network;   wherein, each of the set of social interactions in the online social network are initiated by the multiple users via client devices;   using the set of social interactions among the multiple users to identify the set of relevant users in the online social network that are relevant to the user;   generating relevancy scores for each of the multiple users;   selecting the set of relevant users based on the relevancy scores; and   electronically presenting, one or more of the set of relevant users to the user via a user device.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein, the set of relevant users that are selected are not social connections of the user in the online social network. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising,
 in response to determining that the user has indicated, using the user device, interest in the one or more of the set of relevant users;   sending a notification of interest to the one or more of the set of relevant users.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising,
 using a representation of the set of social interactions to identify the set of relevant users;   wherein, in the representation, each of the multiple users corresponds to a node, the user corresponds to an origin node;   wherein, each of the set of social interactions corresponds to a node-connecting edge; and   wherein, the origin node corresponds to a set of origin node-connecting edges.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising, selecting a origin node-connecting edge from the set of origin node-connecting edges of the origin node;
 identifying a connected intermediary node with which the origin node-connecting edge connects from the origin node;   increasing a frequency counter associated with the connected intermediary node;   for a number of occurrences, continuously selecting node-connecting edges of each connected intermediary node with which a previously selected node-connecting edge is connected and incrementing the frequency counters associated with at least a portion of the connected intermediary node;   wherein, the relevancy scores for each of the multiple users is generated using the frequency counters of each of the nodes associated with each of the multiple users; and   wherein, a higher relevancy score corresponds to a higher frequency counter.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , the frequency counters are incremented for the connected intermediary nodes selected at odd number occurrences of the number of occurrences;
 wherein, the selection of the origin node-connecting edge is the first odd occurrence.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein, the set of social interactions comprises, one or more of, sending and receiving of a message. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein, the set of social interactions further comprises, one or more of, responding to or sending a notification of interest. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein, the set of social interactions further comprises, a friendship connection among the multiple users in the online social network. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein, the set of social interactions further comprises, one or more of, viewing a profile, posting a comment, and sending an invitation. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising, generating the relevancy score using a search parameter. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein, the search parameter depends on, one or more of, demographics, a keyword, most recent activity online, and location. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein, the relevancy score is generated as a weighted combination of the search parameter and the frequency counter. 
     
     
         34 . A machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon a set of instructions which when executed, causes a processor to perform a method of identifying a relevant user to introduce to a participating user in an online environment having a social network of multiple users, the method, comprising:
 receiving a request to identify the relevant user to be introduced to the participating user in the social network;   identifying a set of social history records among the multiple users that occurred in the social network;   identifying multiple relevant users based on the set of social history records;   assigning a rank to each of the multiple relevant users based on relevancy determined using the set of social history records;   wherein, the multiple relevant users are not social connections of the participating user in the social network;   presenting user data of at least a portion of the multiple relevant users to the participating user via a user device; and   determining whether the participating user is interested in meeting the at least a portion of the multiple relevant users based on an indication made by the participating user via interaction with the user device.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein, the multiple relevant users are presented to the participating user in an order based on the ranking assigned to each of the multiple relevant users. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein, the multiple relevant users are presented to the participating user in a randomized order. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 34 ,
 further comprising, selecting a predetermined number of relevant users from the multiple relevant users; and   wherein, the predetermined number of multiple relevant users are presented to the participating user in a randomized order.   
     
     
         38 . A system for ranking a set of relevant users based on relevancy to a user in an online social network, the system, comprising:
 means for, identifying a set of social interactions among multiple users that occurred in the online social network;   wherein, each of the set of social interactions in the online social network are initiated by the multiple users via client devices;   means for, using the set of social interactions among the multiple users to identify the set of relevant users in the online social network that are relevant to the user;   wherein, the set of relevant users that are selected are not social connections of the user in the online social network;   means for, generating relevancy scores for each of the multiple users;   means for, selecting the set of relevant users based on the relevancy scores; and   means for, presenting, one or more of the set of relevant users to the user via a user device.   
     
     
         39 . A method of selecting a user for introduction to a participating user in an online environment of a social network having multiple users based on responsiveness, the method, comprising:
 receiving a request to identify the user to be introduced to the participating user in the social network;   determine a responsiveness metric associated with each of the multiple users by tracking a set of social history records;   selecting, from the multiple users, the user to be introduced to the participating user using the responsiveness metrics associated with each of the multiple users;   wherein, the user that is selected is not a social connection of the participating user in the social network; and   electronically presenting user data of the user to the participating user via a user device.   determining whether the participating user is interested in meeting the user in the social network based on an indication made by the participating user via interaction with the user device.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , further comprising:
 identifying multiple relevant users based on the responsiveness metrics;   assigning a rank to each of the multiple relevant users based on the responsiveness metrics.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 39 , further comprising,
 decreasing a responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that are presented to the participating user; and   increasing the responsiveness metric of each of the multiple relevant users that respond to notifications of interest from participating users.