System and method for identifying influential social media and providing location-based alerts

Abstract

The invention relates to systems and methods of identifying social media influencers and providing location-based alerts based on social media content items posted to social media providers from monitored locations. The system may identify a user who visited a specified location based on a social media content item posted by the user from the specified location. The system may provide an alert to an entity such as a retailer whenever the user re-posts from the specified location. The system may further determine whether, to what extent, and identity of users over whom the user has influence based on one or more influence factors. An influencer is a user who is determined to have influenced the behavior of other users, as determined from the user's social media activity and/or the influenced users' social media activity.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer implemented method of identifying social media influencers, the method being implemented in a computer system having one or more physical processors programmed with computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, program the computer system to perform the method, the method comprising:
 obtaining, by the computer system, a location parameter that specifies one or more geographically definable locations to be monitored;   aggregating, by the computer system, a plurality of social media content items from one or more social media content providers based on the location parameter, wherein the plurality of social media content items is associated with metadata indicating that it was posted from a given one of the one or more geographically definable locations, and wherein the plurality of social media content items include at least a first social media content item associated with first metadata indicating it was posted from a first geographically definable location;   identifying, by the computer system, a first user that posted the first social media content item;   identifying, by the computer system, a second user associated with the first user;   obtaining, by the computer system, a second social media content item posted by the second user;   obtaining, by the computer system, at least a first property of the first social media content item and at least a second property of the second social media content item;   determining, by the computer system, that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item based on the first property and the second property; and   determining, by the computer system, that the first user is an influential user based on the determination that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first property and the second property each comprises a keyword, a topic, a subject matter, an image, and/or a link. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 determining, by the computer system, that the first user is a user of interest based on the identification of the first user.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 determining, by the computer system, that the first user posted a subsequent social media content item from the one or more geographically definable locations after the first social media content item; and   providing, by the computer system, an alert that indicates that the first user has posted the subsequent social media content item from the one or more geographically definable locations.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the second user comprises determining that the second user is a social media contact of the first user. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 determining, by the computer system, a number of social media content items posted by one or more other users that were influenced by the first user; and   determining, by the computer system, a level of influence of the first user based on determined number.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , the method further comprising:
 providing, by the computer system, one or more relevant messages to the first user based on the level of influence of the first user.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 identifying, by the computer system, one or more other users that were influenced by the first user; and   providing, by the computer system, one or more relevant messages to the one or more other users.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item comprises:
 determining, by the computer system, that the second social media content item was posted before or after the first social media content item.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 determining, by the computer system, a number of followers, a social media influencer score, or a number of re-posts associated with the first user, wherein determining that the first user is an influential user is further based on the number of followers, the social media influencer score, or the number of re-posts.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item comprises:
 determining, by the computer system, that the second social media content item was posted from the first geographically definable location after the first social media content item was posted from the first geographically definable location.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first property relates to first content of the first social media content item and the second property relates to second content of the second social media content item, and wherein determining that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item further comprises:
 determining, by the computer system, that at least some of the first content is the same as at least some of the second content.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein determining that at least some of the first content is the same as at least some of the second content comprises determining that the first content includes a keyword and the second content also includes the keyword. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second social media content item does not contain a link to the first social media content item. 
     
     
         15 . A system of identifying influential users, the system comprising:
 a computer system comprising one or more physical processors programmed with computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, program the computer system to:
 obtain a location parameter that specifies one or more geographically definable locations to be monitored; 
 aggregate a plurality of social media content items from one or more social media content providers based on the location parameter, wherein the plurality of social media content items is associated with metadata indicating that it was posted from a given one of the one or more geographically definable locations, and wherein the plurality of social media content items include at least a first social media content item associated with first metadata indicating it was posted from a first geographically definable location; 
 identify a first user that posted the first social media content item; 
 identify a second user associated with the first user; 
 obtain a second social media content item posted by the second user; 
 obtain at least a first property of the first social media content item and at least a second property of the second social media content item; 
 determine that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item based on the first property and the second property; and 
 determine that the first user is an influential user based on the determination that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the first property and the second property each comprises a keyword, a topic, a subject matter, an image, and/or a link. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
 determine that the first user is a user of interest based on the identification of the first user.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
 determine that the first user posted a subsequent social media content item from the one or more geographically definable locations after the first social media content item; and   provide an alert that indicates that the first user has posted the subsequent social media content item from the one or more geographically definable locations.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein identifying the second user comprises determining that the second user is a social media contact of the first user. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
 determine a number of social media content items posted by one or more other users that were influenced by the first user; and   determine a level of influence of the first user based on determined number.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
 provide one or more relevant messages to the first user based on the level of influence of the first user.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
 identify one or more other users that were influenced by the first user; and   provide one or more relevant messages to the one or more other users.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein to determine that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item, the computer system is further programmed to:
 determine that the second social media content item was posted before or after the first social media content item.   
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
 determine a number of followers, a social media influencer score, or a number of re-posts associated with the first user, wherein determining that the first user is an influential user is further based on the number of followers, the social media influencer score, or the number of re-posts.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein to determine that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item, the computer system is further programmed to:
 determine that the second social media content item was posted from the first geographically definable location after the first social media content item was posted from the first geographically definable location.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the first property relates to first content of the first social media content item and the second property relates to second content of the second social media content item, and wherein to determine that the second social media content item was posted in response to the first social media content item, the computer system is further programmed to:
 determine that at least some of the first content is the same as at least some of the second content.   
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein determining that at least some of the first content is the same as at least some of the second content comprises determining that the first content includes a keyword and the second content also includes the keyword. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the second social media content item does not contain a link to the first social media content item.