Social graph that includes web pages outside of a social networking system

Abstract

A social networking system includes a mechanism for incorporating nodes in the social graph, where the nodes are associated with a web page. Each web page includes one or more tags, which contain meta-information for defining the node in the social networking system, such as the type of the node. The social networking system retrieves the tags from the markup language document and stores their information in connection with the node for the web page. The web page may be outside of the social networking system's domain and may be operated by an entity other than the social networking operator; thus, third parties can define, create, and maintain nodes that are then used by the social networking system. Users may then interact with the nodes on websites outside of the social networking system, and these interactions are tracked by and reflected back within the social networking system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 accessing information from one or more tags in a web page by a social networking system, the web page being associated with a domain that is different from a domain associated with the social networking system;   creating a node in the social networking system, the created node defined at least in part based on the accessed information;   receiving information describing an action related to the node performed by a user of the social networking system; and   storing the information describing the user's action related to the node by the social networking system.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 maintaining the node in the social networking system and connections between the node and one or more additional nodes maintained by the social networking system; and   communicating the user's action related to the node in a stream directed to one or more other users of the social networking system with whom the user has established a connection.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 updating an affinity between a user and a node for the user who performed the action related to the node; and   updating a profile of the user who performed the action related to the node, the updated profiled indicating that the user has performed the action.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the node in the social networking system represents a page of content in the social networking system. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the action comprises the user's expressing an interest in the page, and wherein response to the user's expressing an interest in the page associated with the node, updating a profile of the user with the expressed interest. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the node in the social networking system represents an event, and wherein the action comprises the user's confirming attendance at the event. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the node in the social networking system represents a location, and wherein the action comprises the user's confirming the user's presence at the location. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein accessing the information from the web page comprises:
 obtaining a markup language document for the web page; and   identifying one or more tags in the markup language document, the tags containing the accessed information.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the accessed information comprises a definition of a type of the node, and wherein the method further comprises limiting the one or more actions that a user can perform related to the node based on the type of the node. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the accessed information comprises a textual description associated with the node, and wherein the method further comprises displaying the textual description at the social networking system in connection with the node. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the accessed information comprises an identity of one or more users of the social networking system designated as an administrator of the node, and wherein the method further comprises providing an interface enabling the one or more users designated as administrators for the node to update the information about the node stored by the social networking system. 
     
     
         12 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
 access information from one or more tags in a web page by a social networking system, the web page being associated with a domain that is different from a domain associated with the social networking system;   create a node in the social networking system, the created node defined at least in part based on the accessed information;   receive information describing an action related to the node performed by a user of the social networking system; and   store information describing the user's action related to the node by the social networking system.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
 maintain the node in the social networking system and connections between the node and one or more additional nodes maintained by the social networking system; and   communicate the user's action related to the node in a stream directed to one or more other users of the social networking system with whom the user has established a connection.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
 update an affinity between a user and a node for the user who performed the action related to the node; and   update a profile of the user who performed the action related to the node, the updated profiled indicating that the user has performed the action.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the node in the social networking system represents a page of content in the social networking system, and wherein the action comprises the user's expressing an interest in the page. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the node in the social networking system represents an event, and wherein the action comprises the user's confirming attendance at the event. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the node in the social networking system represents a location, and wherein the action comprises the user's confirming the user's presence at the location. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the accessed information comprises a definition of a type of the node, and wherein the method further comprises limiting the one or more actions that a user can perform related to the node based on the type of the node. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the accessed information comprises a textual description associated with the node, and wherein the method further comprises displaying the textual description at the social networking system in connection with the node. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the accessed information comprises an identity of one or more users of the social networking system designated as an administrator of the node, and wherein the method further comprises providing an interface enabling the one or more users designated as administrators for the node to update the information about the node stored by the social networking system. 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 receiving at a server of a social networking system from a user device a request for information in response for a web page of a third-party website that is within a domain of the third-party website that is different from a domain of the social networking system;   providing a markup language document to the user device, wherein the markup language document includes an instruction to create a frame within the web page that includes information obtained from the social networking system;   determining that a node associated with the web page of the third-party website does not exist in the social networking system;   accessing information from one or more tags in the web page by the social networking system;   responsive to a determination that the node associated with the web page of the third-party website does not exist in the social networking system, creating a new node in the social networking system, the created node defined at least in part based on the accessed information;   sending the requested information for display in the frame of the web page; and   storing at the server of the social networking system interaction with the new node by a user of the social networking system.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the new node is associated with the web page. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the frame comprises an iframe that contains a web page in the domain of the social networking system. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the iframe includes an action button for performing an action related to the node directly within the domain of the social networking system. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 sending for display on the user device information about one or more other users who have interacted with the new node and with whom the user has established a connection within the social networking system.