Negative signals in automated social message stream population

Abstract

A messaging system automatically populates a stream of messages using only a seed selected by the requesting account holder. In one embodiment, the seed includes the streams of one or more of the “top” accounts of the messaging system. Here, “top” is according to any one of a number of different metrics stored in the messaging system. With knowledge of the seed, the messaging system automatically populates a stream for the requesting account holder, without requiring any other input. As a result, an account holder is provided with a fully functioning stream with very little effort or knowledge required on their part.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A computer-executed method comprising:
 providing, by a computer server, a list of a set of accounts of a messaging system to a client device, the set of accounts determined according to a metric;   receiving, from a user operating the client device, a request for a stream of messages, the request comprising a seed specifying at least one of the set of accounts;   computing a vector matrix representing a measure of relevance between each account of the set of accounts, wherein the vector matrix has a feature vector for each account of the set of accounts, each feature vector being a normalized feature vector for a particular one of the accounts of the set of accounts;   storing the vector matrix in a first database;   determining a seed vector, the seed vector being a normalized feature vector that is a normalized sum of the feature vectors for the at least one of the set of accounts selected by the user as the seed;   determining a relevance score of the seed to each account of the set of accounts using the feature vectors stored in the vector matrix and the seed vector;   selecting a subset of accounts of the set of accounts based on the determined relevance scores;   storing the subset of accounts in a second database distinct from the first database;   accessing a plurality of messages authored by the stored subset of accounts;   determining, for each account, a respective measure of relevance of account of the set of accounts to the user based on a measure of similarity between a respective feature vector for said each account and the seed vector;   ranking the plurality of messages to determine messages to include in the stream of messages based on a respective relevance of each of the messages to the user;   providing the stream of messages to the client device;   receiving from the user an indication of disinterest indicating that the user wants to see less from a first account of the set of accounts, the first account being an account providing one of the messages in the stream of messages; and   in response to the indication of disinterest, either (i) removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector or (ii) updating the ranking to negatively weight messages from the first account.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , comprising:
 in response to the indication of disinterest, removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector comprises recomputing the seed vector with the feature vectors of the accounts selected by the user excluding the first account. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector comprises subtracting the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , comprising:
 in response to the indication of disinterest, updating the ranking to negatively weight messages from the first account.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , comprising:
 providing to the user in connection with the stream of messages an opportunity to see less from accounts like this, with reference to an account providing a message in the stream of messages.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , comprising:
 providing to the user in connection with the stream of messages an opportunity to see more accounts like this, with reference to an account providing a message in the stream of messages.   
     
     
         28 . A system comprising:
 one or more computers and one or more storage devices on which are stored instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:   providing a list of a set of accounts of a messaging system to a client device, the set of accounts determined according to a metric;   receiving, from a user operating the client device, a request for a stream of messages, the request comprising a seed specifying at least one of the set of accounts;   computing a vector matrix representing a measure of relevance between each account of the set of accounts, wherein the vector matrix has a feature vector for each account of the set of accounts, each feature vector being a normalized feature vector for a particular one of the accounts of the set of accounts;   storing the vector matrix in a first database;   determining a seed vector, the seed vector being a normalized feature vector that is a normalized sum of the feature vectors for the at least one of the set of accounts selected by the user as the seed;   determining a relevance score of the seed to each account of the set of accounts using the feature vectors stored in the vector matrix and the seed vector;   selecting a subset of accounts of the set of accounts based on the determined relevance scores;   storing the subset of accounts in a second database distinct from the first database;   accessing a plurality of messages authored by the stored subset of accounts;   determining, for each account, a respective measure of relevance of account of the set of accounts to the user based on a measure of similarity between a respective feature vector for said each account and the seed vector;   ranking the plurality of messages to determine messages to include in the stream of messages based on a respective relevance of each of the messages to the user;   providing the stream of messages to the client device;   receiving from the user an indication of disinterest indicating that the user wants to see less from a first account of the set of accounts, the first account being an account providing one of the messages in the stream of messages; and   in response to the indication of disinterest, either (i) removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector or (ii) updating the ranking to negatively weight messages from the first account.   
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the operations comprise:
 in response to the indication of disinterest, removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector.   
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector comprises recomputing the seed vector with the feature vectors of the accounts selected by the user excluding the first account. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector comprises subtracting the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the operations comprise:
 in response to the indication of disinterest, updating the ranking to negatively weight messages from the first account.   
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the operations comprise:
 providing to the user in connection with the stream of messages an opportunity to see less from accounts like this, with reference to an account providing a message in the stream of messages.   
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the operations comprise:
 providing to the user in connection with the stream of messages an opportunity to see more accounts like this, with reference to an account providing a message in the stream of messages.   
     
     
         35 . One or more non-transitory computer storage media encoded with computer program instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
 providing a list of a set of accounts of a messaging system to a client device, the set of accounts determined according to a metric;   receiving, from a user operating the client device, a request for a stream of messages, the request comprising a seed specifying at least one of the set of accounts;   computing a vector matrix representing a measure of relevance between each account of the set of accounts, wherein the vector matrix has a feature vector for each account of the set of accounts, each feature vector being a normalized feature vector for a particular one of the accounts of the set of accounts;   storing the vector matrix in a first database;   determining a seed vector, the seed vector being a normalized feature vector that is a normalized sum of the feature vectors for the at least one of the set of accounts selected by the user as the seed;   determining a relevance score of the seed to each account of the set of accounts using the feature vectors stored in the vector matrix and the seed vector;   selecting a subset of accounts of the set of accounts based on the determined relevance scores;   storing the subset of accounts in a second database distinct from the first database;   accessing a plurality of messages authored by the stored subset of accounts;   determining, for each account, a respective measure of relevance of account of the set of accounts to the user based on a measure of similarity between a respective feature vector for said each account and the seed vector;   ranking the plurality of messages to determine messages to include in the stream of messages based on a respective relevance of each of the messages to the user;   providing the stream of messages to the client device;   receiving from the user an indication of disinterest indicating that the user wants to see less from a first account of the set of accounts, the first account being an account providing one of the messages in the stream of messages; and   in response to the indication of disinterest, either (i) removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector or (ii) updating the ranking to negatively weight messages from the first account.   
     
     
         36 . The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of  claim 35 , wherein the operations comprise:
 in response to the indication of disinterest, removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector.   
     
     
         37 . The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of  claim 36 , wherein removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector comprises recomputing the seed vector with the feature vectors of the accounts selected by the user excluding the first account. 
     
     
         38 . The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of  claim 36 , wherein removing the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector comprises subtracting the feature vector of the first account from the seed vector. 
     
     
         39 . The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of  claim 35 , wherein the operations comprise:
 in response to the indication of disinterest, updating the ranking to negatively weight messages from the first account.   
     
     
         40 . The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of  claim 35 , wherein the operations comprise:
 providing to the user in connection with the stream of messages an opportunity to see less from accounts like this, with reference to an account providing a message in the stream of messages.   
     
     
         41 . The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of  claim 35 , wherein the operations comprise:
 providing to the user in connection with the stream of messages an opportunity to see more accounts like this, with reference to an account providing a message in the stream of messages.