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.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed by a host server for selecting a relevant user for introduction to a participating user in an online social network, comprising:
 receiving, by the host server and from a user device of the participating user, a request to identify the relevant user, wherein the request is generated responsive to a user initiation of an application executing on the user device;   generating, by the host server, a set of social history records associated with multiple users in the online social network, wherein the generating includes:
 recording, by the host server, a set of social interactions for the set of social history records, the set of social interactions including social interactions performed by the multiple users for interaction with one another in the online social network; and 
 assigning, by the host server, weighting factors to the set of social interactions based on a type of social interaction, wherein a higher weighting factor is assigned to a particular type of social interaction than to another type of social interaction; 
   selecting, by the host server, a set of one or more relevant users, from the multiple users, for introduction to the participating user based on the set of social history records;   retrieving user data of the set of one or more relevant users from a database associated with the host server;   electronically presenting, by the host server, the user data of the set of one or more relevant users for display to the participating user at the user device; and   determining, by the host server, whether the participating user is interested in meeting any of the set of one or more relevant users in the online social network based on detection of a user interaction made by the participating user at the user device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the application is a game application accessible by the user device through a web-interface of the online social network. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the database is configured to store static user data and dynamic user data, the dynamic data including any of user connections, user relationships, or the social interactions associated with the relevant user, the static user data including any of photos or biographical data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user interaction includes any of:
 a sending of a text message, an email, or a voice message to a predetermined web-location; or   a selection of a button in a user interface at the user device.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating, by the host server, a score for each of the multiple users based on the weighting factors, wherein the set of one or more relevant users is selected further based a score for each relevant user relative to other users.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 computing, by the host server, statistical attributes of the set of social history records using the weighting factors, the statistical attributes computed to determine a selection probability of a particular user associated with a particular social history record of the set of social history records, wherein the set of one or more relevant users is selected based on the statistical attributes.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein assigning the weighting factors to the set of social interactions comprises:
 assigning the higher weighting factor to a sent message than to a received message.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein assigning the weighting factors to the set of social interactions comprises:
 assigning the higher weighting factor to an event that occurred more recently than another event that occurred less recently in the set of social history records.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 increasing a responsiveness metric of at least one of the set of one or more relevant users that responds to notifications of interest from other users; and   determining a rank of each of the set of one or more relevant users based on the responsiveness metric.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the set of one or more relevant users is electronically presented to the participating user in an order based on the rank of each of the set of one or more relevant users. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 selecting a predetermined number of relevant users from the set of one or more relevant users; and   electronically presenting the predetermined number of relevant users to the participating user in a randomized order.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the type of social interaction includes any of:
 initiating a notification of interest;   sending an invitation to establish a social connection in the online social network; or   responding to a notification of interest.   
     
     
         13 . A method performed by a server, comprising:
 responsive to an initiation, by a participating user, of an application executing on a user device of the participating user, selecting, by the server, a relevant user for introduction to the participating user in an online social network, the application associated with the online social network;
 wherein the relevant user is selected based on a set of social interactions recorded in a set of social history records, the set of social interactions including social interactions performed by multiple users for interaction with one another in the online social network; and 
 wherein the relevant user is selected based on weighting factors assigned to the set of social interactions based on a type of social interaction, wherein a higher weighting factor is assigned to a particular type of social interaction than to another type of social interaction; 
   electronically presenting, by the server, user data of the relevant user for display to the participating user at the user device; and   determining, by the server, whether the participating user is interested in meeting any of the set of one or more relevant users in the online social network based on detection of a user interaction made by the participating user at the user device.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the application is a game application accessible by the user device through a web-interface of the online social network. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the user interaction includes a sending of a text message, an email, or a voice message to a predetermined web-location. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the user interaction includes a selection of a button in a user interface at the user. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the higher weighting factor is assigned to a sent or received message than a social connection. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the higher weighting factor is assigned to an event that occurred more recently than another event that occurred less recently in the set of social history records. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the type of social interaction includes any of:
 initiating a notification of interest;   sending an invitation to establish a social connection in the online social network; or   responding to a notification of interest.   
     
     
         20 . A system, comprising:
 a memory;   a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute a set of operations including:
 recording, into a set of social history records, a set of social interactions performed by multiple users of an online social network; 
 assigning weighting factors to the set of social interactions based on a type of social interaction, wherein a particular type of social interaction is assigned a higher weighting factor than another type of social interaction; 
 identifying a relevant user, from the multiple users, to be introduced to a participating user in the online social network based on the weighting factors, wherein said identifying the relevant user includes: 
 generating scores for the multiple users based on the weighting factors; and 
 selecting the relevant user based on a score associated with the relevant user relative to other scores associated with remaining users of the multiple users; 
 electronically presenting user data of the relevant user to the participating user; and 
 determining whether the participating user is interested in meeting the relevant user in the online environment of the social network based on an indication made by the participating user via interaction with the user device.