Associating an indication of user emotional reaction with content items presented by a social networking system

A social networking system user may associate an emoji representing the user's emotional reaction with a content item presented by the social networking system. The user is presented with one or more emoji maintained by the social networking system and selects an emoji for associating with the content item. If certain emoji are selected, the social networking system prompts the user for compensation or requests compensation from an entity associated with the selected emoji. The selected emoji is associated with the content item and a connection, or other information, between the user and the object identifying the selected emoji is stored by the social networking system. The selected emoji may be displayed with the content item to the user and to other users connected to the user.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to social networking systems and in particular to providing an indication of a user's opinion regarding content presented by a social networking system.

Social networks, or social utilities that track and enable connections between users (including people, businesses, and other entities), have become prevalent in recent years. In particular, a social network system allows users to more efficiently communicate information to other users of the social networking system. Typically, social networking systems maintain connections among their users and identify content likely to be relevant to their users. Social networking systems also collect and maintain information about their users. Examples of information about users maintained by a social networking system include static information such as geographic location, employer, job type, age, music preferences, and interests or dynamic information describing user interactions. Additionally, many social networking systems notify a user of actions performed by other users connected to the user.

Performing actions communicated to the social networking system allows social networking system users to interact with each other or with objects maintained by the social networking system. For example, users may post comments to pages associated with other users, view images, view video data, listen to audio data or perform other actions on various objects maintained by the social networking system. Actions performed by a user are frequently distributed to additional users connected to the user who performed the action. When interacting with other users or objects, users may seek to indicate their opinion or emotions toward the objects or users. For example, users may seek to indicate they dislike a post, that a post made them laugh, or that a post made them cry. While users may post written comments expressing opinions towards an object, an action performed by another user, or another user, it is difficult for a user to clearly convey emotion through written comments.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention enable users to convey emotions towards various objects maintained by a social networking system by associating one or more emotion icons (“emoticons” or “emojis”) with objects maintained by the social networking system. For example, if a user likes an object in the social networking system, the user associates an emoji representing a thumbs up with the post or if the user dislikes the object, the user associates an emoji representing a thumbs down. The emoji associated with a post are displayed along with the content of the post to other users.

In one embodiment, a user requests to associate an emoji with an object presented to the user by the social networking system. For example, the user requests to associate an emoji with a story included in a newsfeed presented to the user. Based on the request, the social networking system may present the user with one or more emoji to associate with the object, and the user selects an emoji from the presented emoji. In one embodiment, the social networking system prompts the user for payment information to associate a selected emoji with the object. The selected emoji is associated with the object and a connection, or other information, between the user and the object identifying the selected emoji is stored by the social networking system.

Emoji associated with an object may be displayed to other users along with the object. For example, if users have associated multiple emoji with content included in a post, such as a story, one or more of the emoji are displayed along with the content. Additionally, each emoji may be displayed along with an identifier of the user associating the emoji with the post. Further, emoji associated with an object may be used when selecting objects for presentation to a user or for ordering objects presented to a user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

System Architecture

FIG. 1is a block diagram of one embodiment of a system environment100including a social networking system101. The system environment100shown byFIG. 1includes one or more client devices120a,120b,120c(also referred to individually and collectively using reference number “120”), one or more users125a,125b,125c(also referred to individually and collectively using reference number “125”), a social networking system101, and a network110. In alternative configurations, different and/or additional components may be included in the system environment200.

A client device120is a device capable of receiving user input as well as transmitting and/or receiving data via the network110. In one embodiment, a client device120is a conventional computer system, such as a desktop or laptop computer. In another embodiment, a client device120may be a device having computer functionality, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smart-phone or a similar device. In one embodiment, a client device120executes an application allowing a user125using the client device120to interact with the social networking system101. For example, a client device120executes a browser application to allow interaction between the client device120and the social networking system101via the network110. In another embodiment, a client device120interacts with the social networking system101through an application programming interface (API) that runs on the native operating system of the client device120, such as IOS® or ANDROID™.

The social networking system101comprises one or more computing devices storing information about users and objects, as well as information describing connections between various users and objects. Additionally, the social networking system101may provide content to one or more users based on information about the users maintained by the social networking system101. In various embodiments, the social networking system101is one or more servers accessible by client devices120via the network110. The social networking system101is further described below in conjunction withFIG. 2.

FIG. 2is a diagram of one embodiment of the social networking system101. In the embodiment shown byFIG. 2, the social networking system101includes a user profile store205, an object store210, an action logger215, an action log220, an edge store225, a newsfeed generator230, an emoji store235, an emoji association module240, and a web server245. In other embodiments, the social networking system101may include additional, fewer, or different modules for various applications. Conventional components such as network interfaces, security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management and network operations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure the details of the system.

Each user of the social networking system101is associated with a user profile, which is stored in the user profile store205. A user profile includes declarative information about the user that was explicitly shared by the user, and may also include profile information inferred by the social networking system101. In one embodiment, a user profile includes multiple data fields, each data field describing one or more attributes of the corresponding user of the social networking system101. Examples of information stored in a user profile include biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptive information, such as work experience, educational history, gender, hobbies or preferences, location and the like. A user profile may also store other information provided by the user, for example, images or videos. Further examples of information provided by the user include posts communicated to the social networking system101from a client device120. Posts may include data such as status updates or other textual data, location information, photos, videos, links, music or other similar data and/or media and are associated with the user profile of the posting user. In certain embodiments, images of users may be tagged with identification information of users of the social networking system101displayed in an image. A user profile in the user profile store205may also maintain references to actions by the corresponding user performed on content items in the object store210and stored in the action log220.

The object store210stores objects each representing various types of content. For example, the object store235stores a data structure including data for each object having information fields describing characteristics of the objects. Different data structures may be stored for different types of objects. For example, for event type objects, the object store235includes data structures specifying the time and location for an event. When a new object of a particular type is created, the social networking system101initializes a new data structure of the appropriate type, assigns a unique object identifier to the data structure, and adds data to the data structure as needed. Examples of content represented by an object include a page post, a status update, a photograph, a video, a link, a shared content item, a gaming application achievement, a check-in event at a local business, a brand page, or any other type of content. Social networking system users may create objects stored by the content store210, such as status updates, photos tagged by users to be associated with other objects in the social networking system, events, groups or applications. In some embodiments, objects are received from third-party applications or third-party applications separate from the social networking system101. In one embodiment, objects in the content store210represent single pieces of content, or content “items.”

The action log220may be used by the social networking system101to track user actions on the social networking system101, as well as actions on third party systems that communicate information to the social networking system101. Users may interact with various objects on the social networking system101, and information describing these interactions is stored in the action log220. Examples of interactions with objects include: commenting on posts, sharing links, and checking-in to physical locations via a mobile device, accessing content items, and any other interactions. Additional examples of interactions with objects on the social networking system101that are included in the action log220include: commenting on a photo album, communicating with a user, establishing a connection with an object, joining an event to a calendar, joining a group, creating an event, authorizing an application, using an application, expressing a preference for an object (“liking” the object) and engaging in a transaction. Additionally, the action log220may record a user's interactions with advertisements on the social networking system101as well as with other applications operating on the social networking system101. In some embodiments, data from the action log220is used to infer interests or preferences of a user, augmenting the interests included in the user's user profile and allowing a more complete understanding of user preferences.

The action log220may also store user actions taken on a third party system, such as an external website, and communicated to the social networking system101. For example, an e-commerce website that primarily sells sporting equipment at bargain prices may recognize a user of a social networking system101through a social plug-in enabling the e-commerce website to identify the user of the social networking system101. Because users of the social networking system101are uniquely identifiable, e-commerce websites, such as this sporting equipment retailer, may communicate information about a user's actions outside of the social networking system101to the social networking system101for association with the user. Hence, the action log220may record information about actions users perform on a third party system, including webpage viewing histories, advertisements that were engaged, purchases made, and other patterns from shopping and buying.

In one embodiment, the edge store225stores information describing connections between users and other objects on the social networking system101as edges. Some edges may be defined by users, allowing users to specify their relationships with other users. For example, users may generate edges with other users that parallel the users' real-life relationships, such as friends, co-workers, partners, and so forth. Other edges are generated when users interact with objects in the social networking system101, such as expressing interest in a page on the social networking system, sharing a link with other users of the social networking system, and commenting on posts made by other users of the social networking system.

Data stored in the user profile store205, the object store210, action log220, and the edge store225allows the social networking system101to generate a social graph where nodes represent objects or users and edges represent connections between nodes identifying relationships between users and/or objects. An edge between two nodes in the social graph represents a particular kind of connection between the users or objects corresponding to each of the nodes, which may result from an action that was performed by one of the nodes on the other node. Maintaining a social graph allows the social networking system101to readily identify relationships between various objects and/or users.

In one embodiment, the social networking system101identifies stories likely to be of interest to a user through a “newsfeed” presented to the user. A story presented to a user describes an action taken by an additional user connected to the user and identifies the additional user. In some embodiments, a story describing an action performed by a user may be accessible to users not connected to the user that performed the action. The newsfeed manager230may generate stories for presentation to a user based on information in the action log220and in the edge store225or may select candidate stories included in the object store210. One or more of the candidate stories are selected and presented to a user by the newsfeed manager230.

For example, the newsfeed manager230receives a request to present one or more stories to a social networking system user. The newsfeed manager230accesses one or more of the user profile store205, the object store210, the action log220, and the edge store225to retrieve information about the identified user. For example, stories or other data associated with users connected to the identified user are retrieved. The retrieved stories or other data are analyzed by the newsfeed manager230to identify content likely to be relevant to the identified user. For example, stories associated with users not connected to the identified user or stories associated with users for which the identified user has less than a threshold affinity are discarded as candidate stories. Based on various criteria, the newsfeed manager230selects one or more of the candidate stories for presentation to the identified user.

In various embodiments, the newsfeed manager230presents stories to a user through a newsfeed including a plurality of stories selected for presentation to the user. The newsfeed may include a limited number of stories or may include a complete set of candidate stories. The number of stories included in a newsfeed may be determined in part by a user preference included in user profile store205. The newsfeed manager230may also determine the order in which selected stories are presented via the newsfeed. For example, the newsfeed manager230determines that a user has a highest affinity for a specific user and increases the number of stories in the newsfeed associated with the specific user or modifies the positions in the newsfeed where stories associated with the specific user are presented.

The newsfeed manager230may also account for actions by a user indicating a preference for types of stories and selects stories having the same, or similar, types for inclusion in the newsfeed. Additionally, newsfeed manager230may analyze stories received by social networking system101from various users to obtain information about user preferences or actions from the analyzed stories. This information may be used to refine subsequent selection of stories for newsfeeds presented to various users.

In one embodiment, the social networking system101includes an emoji store235including information describing icons or images representing various emotional states or other information. These icons or images are referred to herein as “emoji.” Emoji may be static images or may be animated images. For example, an emoji may include a cartoon character crying including a pair of animated tears coming out of the character's eyes. The emoji store235includes data describing various emoji and may include additional information such as pricing or availability of some emoji. In one embodiment, information describing the emoji is included in the object store210.

In one embodiment, a group of emoji are available to users for free, while additional emoji may be obtained by the user by providing compensation to the social networking system101. For example, a basic set of emoji are available for free, while more complex or detailed emoji may be acquired in exchange for compensation to the social networking system101. For example a basic set of emoji are static images while premium emojis are animated images. In other embodiments a user provides compensation to the social networking system101before having access to any emoji; alternatively, all emoji in the emoji store235are accessible without providing compensation to the social networking system101.

In one embodiment, compensating the social networking system101allows a user to associate an emoji with objects a limited number of times or for a limited period of time. In other embodiments, compensating the social networking system101allows the user to associate the emoji with objects for an unlimited length of time or an unlimited number of times. For example, compensating the social networking system101allows the user to associate an emoji with a limited number of objects. A user may compensate the social networking system101to associate a set, or bundle, of emoji with objects. For example, a user may purchase association of 5 emojis with objects for 5 dollars. In other embodiments, the social networking system101provides users with access to emoji through a subscription, where the user compensate the social networking system101at specified intervals to associate various emoji with objects. For example, a user provides the social networking system101with a monthly fee of 5 dollars to associate up to 10 emoji with objects per month. In both embodiments, the emojis made available to the user may be single use emojis, limited time use emojis, limited time period emojis, or unlimited usage emojis.

In some embodiments, an emoji subscription allows a user to associate any emoji covered by the subscription with one or more objects an unlimited number of times while the subscription is valid. This allows a user to associate emojis from a specific category or group with objects. For example, the social networking system101offers a subscription providing users with access to emoji related to a specific cartoon character and allowing users purchasing the subscription to associate any emoji related to the cartoon character with objects for the duration of the subscription. In one embodiment, the subscription allows the user to access newly added emoji related to the category or group encompassed by the subscription.

One or more emojis included in the emoji store235may be are sponsored or subsidized by advertisers or other entities. In one embodiment, access to sponsored emoji is limited to users having a connection with the advertiser or entity via the social networking system101. For example, a movie production studio may sponsor emojis featuring characters from a movie that is about to be released or that has been recently released. Users connected to a page in the social networking system associated with the movie or with the movie production studio may have access to associate the sponsored emoji with objects. The entity sponsoring emojis may compensate the social networking system101when a user connected to the sponsoring entity associates a sponsored emoji with an object. In other embodiments, an entity may provide a portion of the compensation to the social networking system101when a user associates an emoji sponsored by the entity with an object while the user provides another portion of the compensation to the social networking system101.

External systems, such as external websites, may provide emoji to the social networking system101for storage in the emoji store235. An external system may specify the amount of compensation to be received by the social networking system101to allow a user to associate emoji from the external system with posts. The social networking system101may receive the compensation and communicate the received compensation to the external system. In some embodiments, the social networking system101charges an additional fee to the user for associating emoji with objects or charges the external system a fee for providing emoji to users. Hence, the social networking system101may retain a portion of the compensation provided by a user for associating emoji provided by an external publisher with objects.

The emoji association module240receives requests from users to associate emoji with objects maintained by the social networking system101and associates emoji selected by a user with an object. When the emoji association module240receives a request to associate emoji with an object, the emoji association module240presents one or more emoji from the emoji store235to the user. When a user selects an emoji, the emoji association module determines if compensation is to be received to associate the selected emoji with an object and obtains payment information from the user if compensation is to be received. The emoji association module240also stores a connection between the selected emoji, the object, and the user in the edge store225. Association of emoji with an object maintained by the social networking system101is further described below in conjunction withFIGS. 3 and 4.

The web server245links the social networking system101via the network110to the one or more client devices120. The web server245serves web pages, as well as other content, such as JAVA®, FLASH®, XML and so forth. The web server245may receive and route messages between the social networking system101and one or more client devices120, for example, instant messages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and short message service (SMS) messages, or messages sent using any other suitable messaging technique. A user may send a request to the web server245to upload information, for example, images or videos that are stored in the object store210. Additionally, the web server245may provide API functionality to send data directly to native client device operating systems, such as IOS®, ANDROID™, or RIM®.

Associating Emoji with Social Networking System Content

FIG. 3illustrates an interaction diagram of one embodiment of a method for associating emoji with objects maintained by a social networking system101. For purposes of illustration,FIG. 3describes associating emoji with a story provided to a user125by the social networking system101. However, emoji may be associated with any object maintained by the social networking system101and provided to users125.

InFIG. 3, a user125requests301one or more newsfeed stories from the social networking system101using a client device120. When the social networking system101receives303the request, the newsfeed generator225selects one or more newsfeed stories, such as the stories determined to be most relevant to the user125, and sends305the selected stories to the client device120. Upon receiving307the selected stories, the client device120displays309the selected stories to the user125.

The user125may elect to associate an emoji with one of the displayed stories to indicate the user's opinion or emotion toward the story. To associate an emoji with the story, the user125requests311emoji accessible to the user. The social networking system101receives313the request and retrieves emoji available to the user, which are sent315to the client device. For example, the social networking system101identifies groups of emoji the user has provided compensation to the social networking system101for accessing and/or identifies emoji that the user is otherwise enabled to associate with objects. For example, the user accesses an interface element in a story to request emoji from the social networking system101, and the emoji eligible for use by the user are received317from the social networking system101and displayed319along with the story.

From the displayed emoji, the user selects321an emoji to associate with the story, and the social networking system101receives323an identification of the selected emoji. The social networking system101determines if compensation is needed for the user to associate the selected emoji with the story. If the social networking system101receives compensation to associate the selected emoji with the story, the social networking system requests325payment information from the user125. The client device120receives317the request for compensation and prompts the user to provide payment information. Payment information provided by the user125to the client device120is sent329to the social networking system101. When the social networking system101receives331the payment information, the social networking system associates333the selected emoji with the story. In one embodiment, the emoji is displayed along with the story to the user125and additional users connected to the user125may be notified that the user125associated the selected emoji with the story.

FIG. 4illustrates one embodiment of a user interface flow presented to a viewing user of a social networking system associating an emoji with an object. The viewing user is presented401with one or more content items, such as newsfeed stories411.FIG. 5Ashows one example of a newsfeed story411presented to the viewing user. One or more of the presented content items includes an interface element413for associating an emoji with the content item.

When the viewing user interacts with the interface element413to associate one or more emoji with a content item, one or more emoji eligible to be selected by the viewing user are displayed403. In the example shown byFIG. 4, the emoji eligible for selection by the viewing user are displayed403in an emoji selector421, an additional example of which is shown inFIG. 5B. In one embodiment, emoji eligible for selection by the viewing user are displayed in the emoji selector421as an array or grid. Alternatively, the emoji selector421displays one or more categories or themes, and displays emoji eligible for selection by the viewing user and associated with a selected category or theme. For example, the emoji selector421displays a list including smiley face emojis, sad face emojis, and other categories of emoji. The viewing user selects a category of emoji from the list, and the emoji selector421displays an array or grid of emoji included in the selected category. In another embodiment, the emoji selector421directs the viewing users to a webpage or another source for selecting emoji.

In some embodiments, the emoji selector421may present emojis to the viewing user based on the contents of the content item to be associated with an emoji. For example, if a content item includes a positive review of a superhero movie, the emoji selector421may display403emojis including characters from the superhero movie. Additionally the social networking system101may access stored information associated with the viewing user, such as emoji previously associated with content items by the viewing user, and select emoji displayed403to the viewing user based on the information associated with the viewing user. The emoji selector421may alternatively display403a specified number of most frequently selected emoji (e.g., the 10 most popular emojis during the last 7 days).

If the viewing user selects an emoji for which compensation is needed to associate the emoji with the content item, the social networking system prompts405the viewing user for payment information (e.g., credit card number, bank account number, etc).FIG. 5Cshows an example user interface for the viewing user providing payment information to the social networking system101. In one embodiment, the social networking system101stores previously-received payment information for another emoji and allows the viewing user to select the stored payment information433. As shown inFIGS. 4 and 5C, the user interface includes an interface element435for confirming purchase of the emoji and/or an interface element437for cancelling purchase of the emoji.

After receiving payment information from the viewing user, the social networking system displays407the selected emoji along with the content item to additional users of the social networking system101connected to the viewing user. Information identifying the user associating the emoji with the content item may be displayed along with the emoji in some embodiments. For example, as shown inFIG. 5D, a profile picture of the viewing user associating an emoji with a content item is displayed to users connected to the viewing user along with the content item and emojiFIG. 5Eshows an example of a user interface where profile pictures of multiple users associating emoji with a content item are displayed along with the content item and emoji when the content item is viewed by users connected to one or more of the users that associated emoji with the content item.

Summary