Real time expert dialog service

Abstract

Methods and systems provide for establishment of online dialogs between a person and a user of an online community where those people are not necessarily familiar with each others areas of expertise or interests. The methods and systems can categorize a dialog topic received from the person, and determine, from categorization of users, a selection of users of a system to receive the dialog topic. That selection can be further narrowed according to user availability and/or ranking determinations, as well as an initial subject matter test posed to the selection of users. Judging the acceptability of the users' responses can help determine subject matter expertise in an area relevant to the proposed topic.

1 . A method of initiating an interactive dialog in an online community, comprising:
 capturing a dialog, which has not been published to an online community, that occurred between a first user of the online community and one or more particular second users of the online community;   wherein the dialog was carried out over a network using a dialog mechanism provided to the online community;   providing to each of the first user and the one or more particular second users, over the network, a mechanism by which to indicate approval to publish the dialog; and   publishing the dialog electronically to the online community only upon determining that, through use of the mechanism, each of the first user and the one or more particular second users decided the dialog should be committed for electronic publication;   wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 prior to capturing the dialog, receiving a topic suggestion from the first user;   identifying, from the online community, one or more second users based, at least in part, on the topic suggestion; and   selecting the one or more particular second users from among the one or more second users.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 posing, to the one or more second users, a test related to the topic suggestion;   receiving responses to the test; and   selecting the one or more particular second users, from the one or more second users, based on from whom an acceptable response to the test was received.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, prior to capturing the dialog, determining participants in the dialog, wherein determining participants in the dialog includes:
 posing, to the first user, a test related to the topic suggestion;   receiving, from the first user, a response to the test; and   providing, to one or more second users, the response to the test;   wherein the dialog is facilitated between the first user and the one or more particular second users, of the one or more second users, that determined the response to the test was acceptable.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, prior to capturing the dialog, determining participants in the dialog, wherein determining participants in the dialog includes:
 receiving, from the first user, a level of expertise associated with the topic suggestion, and   identifying one or more second users based, at least in part, on the level of expertise associated with the topic suggestion;   wherein the one or more particular second users are from the one or more second users.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising, prior to capturing the dialog, determining participants in the dialog, wherein determining participants in the dialog includes:
 receiving from the one or more second users an indication of a willingness to participate in topics at a particular level of expertise, and   identifying one or more second users based at least in part on each corresponding indication of willingness to participate in the dialog topic;   wherein the one or more particular second users are from the one or more second users.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, prior to capturing the dialog, determining participants in the dialog, wherein determining participants in the dialog includes:
 ranking users of the online community for expertise in dialog topics;   identifying one or more second users based, at least in part, on a ranking associated with each of the one or more second users; and   wherein the one or more particular second users are from the one or more second users.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the ranking is based on other online content generated by each ranked user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising providing a facility for the first user to generate the test and determine the acceptable responses from among the responses received. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising querying each of the first person and the one or more particular second users for approval to publish the dialog. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions, wherein processing the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes:
 capturing a dialog, which has not been published to an online community, that occurred between a first user of the online community and one or more particular second users of the online community;   wherein the dialog was carried out over a network using a dialog mechanism provided to the online community;   providing to each of the first user and the one or more particular second users, over the network, a mechanism by which to indicate approval to publish the dialog; and   publishing the dialog electronically to the online community only upon determining that, through use of the mechanism, each of the first user and the one or more particular second users decided the dialog should be committed for electronic publication;   wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , further comprising instructions for:
 prior to capturing the dialog, receiving a topic suggestion from the first user;   identifying, from the online community, one or more second users based, at least in part, on the topic suggestion; and   selecting the one or more particular second users from among the one or more second users.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions for:
 posing, to the one or more second users, a test related to the topic suggestion;   receiving responses to the test; and   selecting the one or more particular second users, from the one or more second users, based on from whom an acceptable response to the test was received.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , further comprising instructions for, prior to capturing the dialog, determining participants in the dialog; wherein determining participants in the dialog includes:
 posing, to the first user, a test related to the topic suggestion;   receiving, from the first user, a response to the test; and   providing, to one or more second users, the response to the test;   wherein the dialog is facilitated between the first user and the one or more particular second users, of the one or more second users, that determined the response to the test was acceptable.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , further comprising instructions for, prior to capturing the dialog, determining participants in the dialog; wherein determining participants in the dialog includes:
 receiving, from the first user, a level of expertise associated with the topic suggestion, and   identifying one or more second users based, at least in part, on the level of expertise associated with the topic suggestion;   wherein the one or more particular second users are from the one or more second users.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions for, prior to capturing the dialog, determining participants in the dialog, wherein determining participants in the dialog includes:
 receiving from the one or more second users an indication of a willingness to participate in topics at a particular level of expertise, and   identifying one or more second users based at least in part on each corresponding indication of willingness to participate in the dialog topic;   wherein the one or more particular second users are from the one or more second users.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , further comprising instructions for, prior to capturing the dialog, determining participants in the dialog, wherein determining participants in the dialog includes:
 ranking users of the online community for expertise in dialog topics;   identifying one or more second users based, at least in part, on a ranking associated with each of the one or more second users; and   wherein the one or more particular second users are from the one or more second users.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the ranking is based on other online content generated by each ranked user. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions for providing a facility for the first user to generate the test and determine the acceptable responses from among the responses received. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , further comprising instructions for querying each of the first person and the one or more particular second users for approval to publish the dialog.