Rich media notice board

Abstract

A rich media notice board enables users to communicate with others in their own and related communities who use the rich media notice board or other rich media notice boards, such as those in related communities, as well as with others who use conventional interfaces via the Internet. The users of the rich media notice board can post notices including text, images, audio, and video to the rich media notice board. The notices may also include usage metaphors that may allow users to relate to the notices. A user interface of the rich media notice board may employ the usage metaphors to provide an interface that may be used by users who may not read or write with sufficient proficiency to otherwise use a computer. The users may access the rich media notice boards from computers, mobile phones, and kiosk systems.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, by a computing device using a first display interface, first user content for an electronic message board using a network;   automatically comparing, by the computing device, at least a portion of the first user content to a predetermined set of usage metaphors, each of the set of usage metaphors associated with an icon, to identify a list of usage metaphors corresponding to the received first user content;   providing for selection, via the first display interface, a list of images corresponding to the list of usage metaphors;   receiving, via the electronic message board, a selected metaphor corresponding to an image selected from the provided list of images;   forwarding first user content to an electronic address in a predetermined association with the selected metaphor;   receiving updated user content, from an account associated with the electronic address;   associating the updated user content with the first user content; and   providing for display, using the first display interface via the electronic message board, the updated user content with a display of the first user content.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 automatically searching, by the computing device, for second user content, related to the first user content, based on the selected metaphor, the second user content in a predetermined association with the selected metaphor; and   updating the first user content to include the second user content before the updated user content is provided for display with a display of the first user content.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the second user content comprises an audio attachment, and wherein the updated user content is provided for display with a graphic selection control for a user to select to play the audio attachment. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying, on a display device, a map;   displaying, on the display device, one or more markers indicating a location of one or more communities;   receiving an indication that an activated marker of the one or more markers was activated, wherein the updated user content is provided with a display of the first user content in response to receiving the indication that the activated marker of the one or more markers was activated.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, when the first user content is received, audio content to be associated with the first user content;   identifying a user or a user community associated with the first user content based on an analysis of the audio content;   storing an association between the first user content and the identified user or user community so that the first user content may be identified via an online search based on the identified user or user community.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 generating an advertisement based on the first user content and the identified user or user community; and   providing the advertisement for display at the first display interface based on other content being provided to the identified user or user community at the first display interface.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first user content comprises audio content, the method further comprising:
 recognizing speech in the audio content and identifying the list of usage metaphors based on extracted information from the recognized speech.   
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein for displaying content in an electronic message board, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable code that, when executed by a computing device, causes the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, by the computing device using a first display interface, first user content for an electronic message board using a network;   automatically comparing at least a portion of the first user content to a predetermined set of usage metaphors, each of the set of usage metaphors associated with an icon, to identify a list of usage metaphors corresponding to the received first user content;   providing for selection, via the first display interface, a list of images corresponding to the list of usage metaphors;   receiving, via the electronic message board, a selected metaphor corresponding to an image selected from the provided list of images;   forwarding first user content to an electronic address in a predetermined association with the selected metaphor;   receiving updated user content, from an account associated with the electronic address;   associating the updated user content with the first user content; and   providing for display, using the first display interface via the electronic message board, the updated user content with a display of the first user content.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 automatically searching, by the computing device, for second user content, related to the first user content, based on the selected metaphor, the second user content in a predetermined association with the selected metaphor; and   updating the first user content to include the second user content before the updated user content is provided for display with a display of the first user content.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the second user content comprises an audio attachment, and wherein the updated user content is provided for display with a graphic selection control for a user to select to play the audio attachment. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 displaying, on a display device, a map;   displaying, on the display device, one or more markers indicating a location of one or more communities;   receiving an indication that an activated marker of the one or more markers was activated, wherein the updated user content is provided with a display of the first user content in response to receiving the indication that the activated marker of the one or more markers was activated.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving, when the first user content is received, audio content to be associated with the first user content;   identifying a user or a user community associated with the first user content based on an analysis of the audio content;   storing an association between the first user content and the identified user or user community so that the first user content may be identified via an online search based on the identified user or user community.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 generating an advertisement based on the first user content and the identified user or user community; and   providing the advertisement for display at the first display interface based on other content being provided to the user or user community at the first display interface.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the first user content comprises audio content, wherein the operations further comprise:
 recognizing speech in the audio content and identifying the list of usage metaphors based on extracted information from the recognized speech.   
     
     
         15 . A system, comprising:
 a display device;   a non-transitory data storage unit storing data associated with an electronic message board; and   a computing device in communication with the display device and the data storage unit, the computing device being configured to:
 receive, by a computing device using a first display interface, first user content for an electronic message board using a network; 
 automatically compare, by the computing device, at least a portion of the first user content to a predetermined set of usage metaphors, each of the set of usage metaphors associated with an icon, to identify a list of usage metaphors corresponding to the received first user content; 
 provide for selection, via the first display interface, a list of images corresponding to the list of usage metaphors; 
 receive, via the electronic message board, a selected metaphor corresponding to an image selected from the provided list of images; 
 facilitate forwarding first user content to an electronic address in a predetermined association with the selected metaphor; 
 receive updated user content, from an account associated with the electronic address; 
 associate the updated user content with the first user content; and 
 provide for display, using the first display interface via the electronic message board, the updated user content with a display of the first user content. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
 automatically search, by the computing device, for second user content, related to the first user content, based on the selected metaphor, the second user content in a predetermined association with the selected metaphor; and   update the first user content to include the second user content before the updated user content is provided for display with a display of the first user content.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the second user content comprises an audio attachment, and wherein the updated user content is provided for display with a graphic selection control for a user to select to play the audio attachment. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
 receive, when the first user content is received, audio content to be associated with the first user content;   identify a user or a user community associated with the first user content based on an analysis of the audio content;   store an association between the first user content and the identified user or user community so that the first user content may be identified via an online search based on the identified user or user community.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
 generate an advertisement based on the first user content and the identified user or user community; and   provide the advertisement for display at the first display interface based on other content being provided to the user or user community at the first display interface.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the first user content comprises audio content, wherein the computing device is further configured to:
 recognize speech in the audio content and identifying the list of usage metaphors based on extracted information from the recognized speech.