Social media profiling for one or more authors using one or more social media platforms

Abstract

A system is presented that profiles authors and social media data across different media platforms and is capable of determining the author's overall social impact. In one aspect, this is accomplished by using a data retrieval service to trawl various web-sites and social media platforms for information about authors which can then be associated with those authors in a profile database. In one example, an author may post an entry on his/her blog and the data retrieval service can access the profile information of the author, on the blog, where various aspects of the profile information (e.g., real name, employee information, home address) can be matched with candidates in a profile database. From the information gathered, authors can be linked across multiple, different platforms, and an overall social impact of each of the authors can be determined.

1 . A system configured to determine a social impact of author comments on one or more topics, the system comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory configured to store computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to:
 obtain profile information and posts made by a first author and a second author on at least a first platform; 
 store the obtained profile information and posts in the memory of the system; 
 determine a first sentiment on a first topic from a first post by the first author using the first platform; 
 determine a second sentiment on the first topic from a second post by the second author using the first platform; 
 determine whether the first author is the same author as the second author by comparing the obtained profile information of the first author and the second author; 
 link the first author to the second author when the first and second authors are determined to be the same author; 
 upon linking the first author to the second author, assign a weighted value to the first post by the first author; and 
 determine an overall social impact of the first author. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the overall social impact is determined based on the first sentiment and the second sentiment. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the system is further caused to:
 aggregate the first sentiment and the second sentiment; and   determine the overall social impact of the first author based on the aggregated first and second sentiment.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the weighted value is assigned to the first author based on topics the first author posts about, likely influence of the first author over followers, or a volume of audience for the first author. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the weighted value is more weighted toward the first sentiment when the first author normally provides a first type of review on the first topic, and the weighted value is more weighted toward the second sentiment when the first author normally provides a second type of review, different from the first type of review, on the first topic. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the overall social impact of the first author is further determined using, at least, a number of posts of the first author and an amount of friends of the first author. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein
 the first sentiment produces a first value when the first author of the first post is the same as the second author of the second post, and   the first sentiment produces a second value different from the first value when the first author is different from the second author.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein determining if the first author is the same as the second author includes weighing factors that are alike between the first and second authors against factors that are dissimilar between the first and second authors. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is further caused to deploy one or more software web crawlers customized to at least a first web-site to search content of profile pages on the first web-site and obtain the profile information and posts made by the first author and the second author on the first web-site. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first platform includes a press relations platform associated with one or more journalists. 
     
     
         11 . A method for determining a social impact of an author, the method comprising:
 at an information processing apparatus having a memory and a processor:
 obtaining profile information and posts made by a first author and a second author on at least a first platform; 
 determining a first sentiment on a first topic from a first post by the first author using the first platform; 
 determining a second sentiment on the first topic from a second post by the second author using the first platform; 
 determining whether the first author is the same author as the second author by comparing the obtained profile information of the first author and the second author; 
 linking the first author to the second author when the first and second authors are determined to be the same author; 
 upon linking the first author to the second author, assigning a weighted value to the first post by the first author; and 
 determining an overall social impact of the first author. 
   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 aggregating the first sentiment and the second sentiment; and   determining the overall social impact of the first author based on the aggregated first and second sentiment.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the weighted value is assigned to the first author based on topics the first author posts about, likely influence of the first author over followers, or a volume of audience for the first author. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the weighted value is more weighted toward the first sentiment when the first author normally provides a first type of review on the first topic, and the weighted value is more weighted toward the second sentiment when the first author normally provides a second type of review, different from the first type of review, on the first topic. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the overall social impact of the first author is further determined using, at least, a number of posts of the first author and an amount of friends of the first author. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to provide execution comprising:
 obtaining profile information and posts made by a first author and a second author on at least a first platform;   determining a first sentiment on a first topic from a first post by the first author using the first platform;   determining a second sentiment on the first topic from a second post by the second author using the first platform;   determining whether the first author is the same author as the second author by comparing the obtained profile information of the first author and the second author;   linking the first author to the second author when the first and second authors are determined to be the same author; and   determining an overall social impact of the first author.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further caused to provide execution comprising:
 upon linking the first author to the second author, assigning a weighted value to the first post by the first author.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further caused to provide execution comprising:
 aggregating the first sentiment and the second sentiment; and   determining the overall social impact of the first author based on the aggregated first and second sentiment.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the weighted value is assigned to the first author based on topics the first author posts about, likely influence of the first author over followers, or a volume of audience for the first author. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the weighted value is more weighted toward the first sentiment when the first author normally provides a first type of review on the first topic, and the weighted value is more weighted toward the second sentiment when the first author normally provides a second type of review, different from the first type of review, on the first topic.