Abstract:
Technologies are described for methods and systems effective for sending a communication from a first device to a second and a third device. The methods may comprise receiving a request to send the communication from the first device to a group that includes the second and the third device. The methods may include determining the group includes the second device and the third device. The methods may comprise identifying an email address associated with the second device. The methods may comprise identifying a text address associated with the third device. The methods may comprise sending the communication to the second device with use of the email address. The methods may comprise sending the communication to the third device with use of the text address.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to provisional application No. 61/836,871 filed Jun. 19, 2013, entitled “HIERARCHICAL GROUPING IN SOCIAL NETWORKS”, the entirety of the application is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Social networks include interaction through computer networks. Information may be exchanged between users within a computerized social network. A computerized social network may provide computer mediated communication for the exchange of information between users of the computerized social network. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    In some examples, methods for sending a communication from a first device to a second and a third device are generally described. The methods may comprise receiving a request to send the communication from the first device to a group that includes the second and the third device. The methods may include determining the group includes the second device and the third device. The methods may comprise identifying an email address associated with the second device. The methods may comprise identifying a text address associated with the third device. The methods may comprise sending the communication to the second device with use of the email address. The methods may comprise sending the communication to the third device with use of the text address. 
         [0004]    In one example, apparatus effective to send a communication from a first device to a second device and a third device are generally described. The apparatus may comprise a memory with instructions. The apparatus may comprise a processor in communication with the memory. The processor may be effective to receive a request from the first device to send the communication to a group. The group may include the second and the third device. The processor may be effective to determine that the group includes the second device and the third device. The processor may be effective to identify an email address associated with the second device. The processor may be effective to identify a text address associated with the third device. The processor may be effective to send the communication to the second device with use of the email address. The processor may be effective to send the communication to the third device with use of the text address. 
         [0005]    In one example, methods for providing communication with a group on a social network are generally described. The methods may comprise a processor receiving a first request to join the social network. The methods may comprise the processor processing the first request to generate a first member of the social network. The methods may comprise the processor receiving a second request from the first member of the social network. The second request may be to generate a first contact with a second member of the social network. The methods may comprise the processor processing the second request to generate the first contact. The methods may comprise the processor receiving a third request from the first member of the social network. The third request may be to make a second contact with a third member of the social network. The methods may comprise the processor processing the third request to generate the second contact. The methods may comprise the processor receiving a fourth request from the first member of the social network. The fourth request may be to group the first and second contacts into a group. The methods may comprise the processor processing the fourth request to group the first and second contacts into the group. The methods may comprise the processor receiving a fifth request. The fifth request may be to send a communication to the group. The methods may comprise the processor identifying an email address associated with the first contact. The methods may comprise the processor identifying a text address associated with the second contact. The methods may comprise the processor sending the communication to the first contact with use of the email address. The methods may comprise the processor sending the communication to the second contact with use of the text address. 
         [0006]    The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0007]    The foregoing and other features of this disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only some embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail by reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  illustrates an example system  100  that can be utilized to implement social network channel communication; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  illustrates an example system  100  that can be utilized to implement social network channel communication; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates a flow diagram of an example process for implementing social network channel communication;
       all in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.       
 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]    In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components unless context indicates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized and other changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure as generally described herein and as illustrated in the accompanying figures can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated and/or designed in a wide variety of different configurations all of which are explicitly contemplated herein. 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  illustrates an example system  100  that can be utilized to implement social network channel communication, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments presented herein. System  100  may include a social network processor  116  and a memory  118 . Processor  116  may be in communication with a text/short message service (SMS) server  144 , an email (SMTP—simple mail transfer protocol) server  146 , and memory  118 . Memory  118  may include social network communication channel selection instructions  142 . System  100  may be accessed by a user  102  using device  120 , a user  104  using device  122 , a user  106  using device  124 , a user  108  using device  126 , a user  110  using device  128  and/or a user  112  using device  130 . Devices  120 ,  122 ,  124 ,  126 ,  128 , and  130  may all be configured to communicate over network  114 . Devices  120 ,  122 ,  124 ,  126 ,  128 , and  130  may be a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet device, a wearable device such as GOOGLE GLASS, a laptop computer, a desktop computer any other communication device. Communication may be by text message such as short message service (SMS), instant message (IM), email such as SMTP communication, or any other digital communication method. Network  114  may be a cellular network, a WIFI network, the Internet or any other network. 
         [0014]    A user  102 , using a device  120 , may want to join a social network  140 . User  102  may use device  120  to communicate with processor  116 . User  102  may use device  120  to provide information to processor  116  to join social network  140 . User  102  may provide an identification of user  102 , and channels of communication, such as email or a mobile phone number, to processor  116  to join social network  140 . User  102  may be required to provide processor  116  with at least one channel of communication. Data related to user  102 , such as identification information, and channels of communication to be used to contact user  102 , may be stored in memory  118 . Memory  118  may include databases of data related to members of social network  140 . Data in memory  118  may be encrypted to protect member information. 
         [0015]    After user  102  joins social network  140 , a membership status of user  102  may be stored in memory  118 . User  102  may create contacts or groups in social network  140 . User  102  may use device  120  to send a request. The request may be to generate a contact with another member of social network  140 . Device  120  may send the request over network  114  to processor  116 . User  102  may provide an email address or a phone number of the requested contact in the request. The request sent to processor  116  by user  102  may include an email address or a phone number of user  104  as well as information about user  102 . For example, user  102  may send a request to make a contact with user  104 . Processor  116  may send the request from user  102  over network  114  to device  122  and user  104 . User  104  may accept or reject the request and may use device  122  to send the acceptance or rejection over network  114  to processor  116 . Upon accepting the request, user  104  may determine one or more channels upon which communications with user  104  may be received from user  102 . User  102 , upon having the request accepted, may also determine one or more channels upon which communications with user  102  may be received from user  104 . Processor  116  may process the request and generate the contact. Processor  116  may store information related to user  102  and user  104  in memory  118 . Information stored in memory  118  may include member data related to communication methods for user  102  such as email or short message service (SMS), and may include an email address and/or phone number for user  102 . Processor  116  may execute social network communication channel instructions  142  to determine communication channels between user  102  and user  104 . As discussed in more detail below, processor  116  may utilize text/SMS server  144  and/or email server  146  to send messages to and/or between user  102  and  104 . 
         [0016]    Members of social network  140 , such as user  102 , may have contacts associated with social network  140  included in a contact list. A contact list for each user may be stored by processor  116  as data in memory  118 . Data in memory  118  may be encrypted to protect member information. User  102  may, through device  120  communicating with processor  116 , remove a contact from a contact list of user  102 . When user  102  removes a contact from his/her contact list, no further communication may take place between the contact and user  102  unless a new contact request is initiated by user  102 , or from the removed contact. For example, if user  102  removes user  104  from a contact list, user  104  may not communicate with user  102 . Either user  102  or user  104  may initiate a contact request to the other user in order to re-establish a contact status and communicate with the other user. 
         [0017]    User  102  may create groups of contacts. Groups of contacts created by user  102  may be grouped based on a membership status of the contacts. Groups of contacts created by user  102  may be processed by processor  116  and stored in memory  118 . Data stored in memory  118  may be encrypted to protect group member information. Groups created by user  102  may include features of the group such as communication rules regarding messaging and notification of contacts within the group. For example, communication within a group may be performed by email, SMS or both. All contacts connected to user  102  may be included in a default contact group with a default set of communication rules. User  102  may be an owner of a group created by user  102 . User  102  may have one or more administrators for a group owned by user  102 . An administrator may be associated with user  102  and may be authorized by user  102  to approve and/or reject contacts within a group. An administrator may be restricted within a group and may not be authorized to create or delete a group. Data stored in memory  118  may also include contacts who are members of social medial network  140 , and groups related to user  102 . Groups related to user  102  may include groups owned by user  102  and groups of which user  102  is a member. 
         [0018]      FIG. 2  illustrates an example system  100  that can be utilized to implement social network channel communication, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments presented herein. System  200  depicted in  FIG. 2  is substantially similar to system  100  of  FIG. 1 , with additional details. Those components in  FIG. 2  that are labeled identically to components of  FIG. 1  will not be described again for the purposes of clarity. 
         [0019]    A user may create a group and communicate with members of the group using both SMS and email channels. In an example, user  102  may create a group A. User  102  may use device  120  to communicate with processor  116  to create a group A. Social network members  104  and  106  may be contacts with user  102 . User  102  may send a group request  160  from device  120  to processor  116  requesting that contacts  104  and  106  join group A. Social network member  104  using device  122 , and social network member  106  using device  124 , may reply to processor  116  to accept the group request. Processor  116  may require each social network member ( 104  and  106 ) to provide a channel of communication, such as email or text, to be used for communications from group A to the social network member when joining group A. Processor  116  may store data related to groups as a table  148  in memory  118 . 
         [0020]    For example, social network member  106  may use device  124  to communicate with processor  116  and social network  140 . Device  124  may be a cell phone and may not have email capabilities. Social network member  106  may provide processor  116  with a cell phone number and designate text as a channel of communication to be used for communications from group A to social network member  106 . Processor  116  may not require each social network member ( 104  and  106 ) to provide a channel of communication to be used for communications from group A when a channel of communication is already provided, such as by data stored in a table  150  in memory  118  related to as information provided by each social network member upon joining social network  140 . Upon acceptance of the requests to join group A by social network members  104  and  106 , group A may include social network members  104  and  106 . Data related to group A may be stored by processor  116  in memory  118  and may include group members ( 104  and  106 ) and channels of communication (email, text) associated with each member of group A. Social network members within group A may each have all the same channel of communication or different channels of communication. A channel of communication may be associated with a group when the group is created to only communicate through one channel of communication, or a channel of communication may be associated with each social network member in a group. 
         [0021]    User  102  may use the above method to create a group B. Group B may include social network members  110  and  112 . Data related to group B may be stored by processor  116  in memory  118  and may include social network members ( 110  and  112 ) and channels of communication (email) associated with each social network member of group B. Group B may only have email as a channel of communication when group B is created to only have email as a channel of communication or when all social network members in group B have only email as a channel of communication. User  102  may create a group C. Group C may include social network members  106  and  108 . Data related to group C may be stored by processor  116  in memory  118  and may include group members ( 106  and  108 ) and channels of communication (text) associated with each social network member of group C. Group C may only have text as a channel of communication when group C is created to only have text as a channel of communication or when social network members  106  and  108  only have text as a channel of communication. User  102  may create a group D of groups B and C. Data related to group D may be stored by processor  116  in memory  118  and may include data from group B and data from group C. 
         [0022]    User  102  may want to send a message  202  to members of group A. User  102  may send message  202  to processor  116  to send message  202  to members of group A. User  102  may send message  202  to processor  116  in a number of ways. For example, user  102  may send message  202  to processor  116  by email, text message, or may enter message  202  in a user interface on a browser generated by processor  116 . Processor  116  may analyze memory  118 , determine group A social network members data from memory  118 , identify respective email and/or text addresses, and execute social network communication channel instructions  142  to select a communication channel to utilize to send message  202  to members of group A. Processor  116  may utilize text/SMS server  144  and/or email server  146  to send message  202  to members of group A. Processor  116  may utilize text/SMS server  144  to send message  202  as a text message to social network member  106  and processor  116  may utilized email server  146  to send message  202  as an email message to social network member  104 . 
         [0023]    User  102  may want to send a message  202  to members of group D. User  102  may send message  202  to processor  116  to send message  202  to members of group D. Processor  116  may access group D social network members data from memory  118 . Group D data may include social network members data from group B and social network members data from group C. Processor  116  may execute social network communication channel instructions  142  to select communication channel to utilize to send message  202  to social network members of group B. Processor  116  may execute social network communication channel instructions  142  to select communication channel to utilize to send message  202  to social network members of group C. Processor  116  may utilize email server  146  to send message  202  as an email message to social network members of group B. Processor  116  may utilize text/SMS server  144  to send message  202  as text messages to social network members of group C. 
         [0024]    User  102  may communicate with contacts of user  102  through an event. User  102  may create an event on social network  140  and may send communications about the event to user  102  contacts by both text and email. 
         [0025]    Members of a group on social network  140  may communicate within the group by sending a message to processor  116 . Processor  116  may display the message at a location which members of the group may have access to view such as a social network page. A group from one member of social network  140  may join a group from a second member of social network  140 . A joined group may be a “parent group” and a group joining a group may be a “child group”. A token may be required by processor  116  by a first member as part of joining a first group (child group) owned by the first member of social network  140  with a second group (parent group) owned by a second member of social network  140 . The token may be acquired out of band, or outside of the social network from the parent group administrator or owner. 
         [0026]    When a child group joins a parent group the child group, the parent group may control the messaging and notifications of the contacts within the child group. A parent group may temporarily suspend and/or activate a child group. A parent group may have control over the child group such as to limit settings for messaging and/or modifying any notification of contacts within a child group. 
         [0027]    When a child group joins a parent group, billing for communications may be retained by either the child group or the parent group. For example, a child group may join a parent group to obtain information from the parent group. The child group may be billed for all communications from the parent group in such a scenario. In another example, a parent group may want its communications to reach as many contacts as possible and may be billed for all communication to child groups in order to incentivize more child groups to join. 
         [0028]    User  102 , as a member of social network  140 , may buy channel credits. Channel credits may be used by a member of social network  140  to communicate with a group of contacts, or an individual contact. Channel credits may be expressed as a number of SMS texts or emails and may be purchased by a member of social network  140 . 
         [0029]    A parent group may communicate, such as send notifications, to all groups that join the parent group. Parent groups that join other parent groups and may form an association hierarchy. For example, a national group may be a parent group to a regional group. The regional group may be a parent group to a city group. The city group may be a parent to a community group. In such a scenario, the national group may communicate with regional group contacts, city group contacts and community group contacts. The regional group may communicate with city group contacts and community group contacts. The city group may communicate with the community group contacts. The community group may communicate within the community group. 
         [0030]    A user  102  that is a member of a parent group may send a notification to an administrator of a specific child group associated with the parent group. The number of child groups that may join a parent group may be limited by the subscription level of the parent group within social network  140 . The subscription level of a parent or child group may also control the levels of a group within a group hierarchy. 
         [0031]    A child group may initiate a withdrawal request to processor  116  to withdraw from a parent group. The withdrawal request may be part of the work flow through processor  116  and may be sent to the parent group by processor  116  for acceptance or rejection. A parent group may initiate a disassociation from a child group through processor  116 . A parent group that initiated disassociation through processor  116  may not require the child group consent. 
         [0032]    A user  108  may be a basic member of social network  140 . User  108  as a basic member of social network  140  may initiate a group membership request from device  126  to processor  116  to join a group. If the group membership request is accepted, user  108  may be a member of the group. Once a member of the group, user  108  may receive notifications and messages. When a user of a device, such as user  108  and device  126  join a group, an agreed upon token may be required as part of the joining of the group. The token may be acquired by user  108  out of band from the group administrators or the group&#39;s owner. User  108 , as a requirement to join a group, may be required to provide the email address of the owner or any one of the administrators. A membership request from a user may be sent to processor  116  and may be sent from processor  116  to the group owner and/or one or more administrators of the group for approval. An owner of a group may invite members to become administrators of the group by providing the members email identification. 
         [0033]    Among other possible benefits, a system in accordance with the present disclosure may enable social network communication capabilities to users without smart phone or internet access. Communications from and to the social network may be both email and SMS and may connect and include cell phone users to a social network. The social network may reach more users and enhance communication by reaching users of both cell phones and the SMTP enabled devices. 
         [0034]      FIG. 3  illustrates a flow diagram of an example process for implementing social network channel communication, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments presented herein. The process in  FIG. 3  could be implemented using, for example, system  100  discussed above and may be used for social network channel communication. An example process may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of blocks S 2 , S 4 , S 6 , S 8 , S 10  and/or S 12 . Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. 
         [0035]    Processing may begin at block S 2 , “Receive a request to send the communication from the first device to a group that includes the second device and the third device.” At block S 2 , a processor may receive a request from a first device to send a communication to a group that includes the second and the third device. The first, second and third devices may be configured to communicate over network. The first second and third devices may be a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet device, a wearable device such as GOOGLE GLASS, a laptop computer, a desktop computer any other communication device. The communication may be by text message such as short message service (SMS), instant message (IM), email such as SMTP communication, or any other digital communication method. The network may be a cellular network, a WIFI network, the Internet or any other network. 
         [0036]    Processing may continue from block S 2  to block S 4 , “Determine that the group includes the second device and the third device.” At block S 4 , the processor may determine that the group includes the second device and the third device. The processor may be in communication with a memory. The memory may include a database associated with the group. The processor may analyze the database to determine that the group includes the second device and the third device. 
         [0037]    Processing may continue from block S 4  to block S 6 , “Identify an email address associated with the second device.” At block S 6 , the processor may identify an email address associated with the second device. The processor may identify the email address associated with the second device by accessing data in a memory in communication with the processor. 
         [0038]    Processing may continue from block S 6  to block S 8 , “Identify a text address associated with the third device.” At block S 8 , the processor may identify a text address associated with the third device. The processor may identify the text address associated with the third device by accessing data in a memory in communication with the processor. 
         [0039]    Processing may continue from block S 8  to block S 10 , “Send the communication to the second device with use of the email address.” At block S 10 , the processor may send the communication to the second device with use of the email address. The processor may utilize an email server to send the communication as an email communication. 
         [0040]    Processing may continue from block S 10  to block S 12 , “Send the communication to the third device with use of the text address.” At block S 12 , the processor may send the communication to the third device with use of the text address. The processor may utilize a text/SMS server to send the communication as a text message. 
         [0041]    While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.