System and method for content management in an ecosystem

Embodiments are described for a system and method for content management in an online ecosystem. The system includes at least one network and a computer system having at least one processor, at least one memory, and at least one I/O device. A client system includes a database. A user performs the steps of searching content stored within a database followed by rating the content. Ratings are compiled and displayed to the ecosystem. Users may vote to accept or deny content for a predetermined time period. If accepted, content is then displayed to the ecosystem of users while the content is associated with a user or group thereof.

FIELD

The present invention generally relates to communications over an electronic network, and more specifically to the community moderation of content over an electronic network.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, the utilization of the internet has grown exponentially while replacing more antiquated means for communication between individuals around the world. As is often found, the greatest advantage in a system can also become a source for a correlated disadvantage. The internet allows people to openly express opinions, form discussions, and consume content that is often free and readily available at any time. While this has led to a massive increase in the information available to the average person, the information which they consume is not necessarily curated for accuracy or objectiveness and organized thereby.

A common example includes discussion forums such as Reddit where users engage in a community discussion related to a variety of topics. In practice, almost anyone can submit a statement to the discussion without any bearing on accuracy of their statements. In much the same manner, someone who is accurate or truthful can submit their thoughts on the discussion but may be lost in the vast collection of submissions that accrue on the discussion forum over time.

Some have found means for organizing information in a discussion forum by providing incentives for user engagement, popularity, or consensus and assigning a personal score thereto. Some examples of prior art are discussed below.

U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US2008/0222279 A1 to Lucas Cioffi discloses a system that assembles diverse individual thoughts into collective intelligence, making possible a structured conversation by a networked community. Participants contribute ideas to a robust conversational framework in modular form. Each idea module competes with its peers through an interactive rating process controlled by the community.

U.S. Pat. Pub. No US2009/240516A1 to Sermo, Inc. discloses an approach which presents correct information within an ecosystem. In this approach, information sources are associated with a feedback mechanism.

U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US2014/0108422A1 to Alex Taylor and Brent McNish discloses a method of online collaboration between multiple users. A subject for debate is posted on a website. A number of keywords are assigned to the subject to categorize it. Proposals for the subject are submitted by the users and posted on the site. Other users give their opinion of these proposals through a rating system that allocates points to the proposal. These can include the opinion of the user rating the proposal as well as points attained by that user's own proposals in related subjects.

While the above references, relate to community discussions having curations methods, shortcomings are still present in the arts. An advance is needed wherein individuals or groups of users can be debited points for effectively communicating within a discussion forum. Incentives are provided for the effective communications between users such that valuable content is then curated within the forum. One such improvement in the arts is provided in the various embodiments described herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments described herein provide for a system and method wherein users share content via a network connected online ecosystem. The invention described throughout the disclosure is intended to promote meaningful and valuable communications throughout the ecosystem. This intention is accomplished by providing a means for a user to rate content within the ecosystem before and during the time it is published to the ecosystem.

In one embodiment, a method for content management within the ecosystem includes the steps of a user searching content stored within a database that is presented in the online ecosystem. If the user locates content they are looking for, they are presented with the opportunity to rate the content. Ratings are compiled and displayed to the ecosystem to indicate a general level of acceptance or disapproval. The rating is then associated with a user or group of users. The content can be sent to a voting implement wherein users can vote to accept or disapprove the content. If approved, the content is indicated as such and displayed to the users.

In a further embodiment, if the user is unable to locate content they are searching or browsing for, further implementations of the method include the user creating content. The content can then be rated by the ecosystem of users as well as voted upon and accepted or disapproved as described above.

In another embodiment, the interface includes a plurality of rating indicators which, in a preferred embodiment, include a plurality of positive and negative integers. In one example, the presented integers are +5, +3, +1, 0, −1, −3, and −5. Each rating submitted by the community of users is totaled into a single integer. It is the rating total that determines the general acceptance of content by the community.

A system for content management within an online ecosystem is also disclosed. The system includes at least one network placing components in communication with one another. A computer system has at least one processor, at least one memory, and at least one I/O device. At least one client system also includes an associated database. A user then performs the steps of searching content stored within a database that is presented in the online ecosystem. If the user locates content they are looking for, they are presented with the opportunity to rate the content. Votes are compiled and if the general consensus is favorable, the content is then displayed to the ecosystem. The rating and vote outcome is then associated with a user or group of users.

In one embodiment, the client system further comprises at least one of the following; at least at least one browser program, at least one software program, and at least one application program.

Other embodiments and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the various embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The specific details of the single embodiment or variety of embodiments described herein are set forth in this application. Any specific details of the embodiments are used for demonstration purposes only and no unnecessary limitation or inferences are to be understood therefrom.

Any reference to “invention” within this document is a reference to an embodiment of a family of inventions, with no single embodiment including features that are necessarily included in all embodiments, unless otherwise stated. Furthermore, although there may be references to “advantage's” provided by some embodiments, other embodiments may not include those same advantages, or may include different advantages. Any advantages described herein are not to be construed as limiting to any of the claims.

In general, the invention relates to a system and method for scoring user-generated content in an ecosystem of users as well as a method for providing a consensus of user-generated content. In the following description, the ecosystem relates to any community of users aggregated into a group, whether by subject matter of the content, self-identification by a group of users, a general consensus of opinion, or other means of organizing users in an online community. This organization may be self-organized, or automatically generated by the system. The rating system described herein provides a means for associating the information provided by a user or group of users with a rating mechanism that is indicative of the acceptance of the information. The rating mechanism promotes the distribution of relevant and/or useful information within the ecosystem. The rating mechanism also provides a means for filtering irrelevant and/or useless information. The rating provides additional insurance that the information cultivated by the ecosystem is useful and valuable. The ecosystem may also provide incentives for providing valuable information to the community.

The online ecosystem includes a community of users that together, function to exchange information to one another. The ecosystem may be created such that one or more rules influence the behavior of the users therein. Rules may be designed that provide incentives and disincentives for certain types of behavior and interactions. Preferentially, the rules provide the incentive for valuable information to be shared throughout the ecosystem.

In reference toFIG.1, the graphical user interface (“GUI”) is illustrated in one embodiment of the present invention wherein the user is engaging with the interface100and personal profile page. As in a typical online service, community, or webpage, the user may first login with user-specified credentials as known in the arts. This includes an email and password associated with the user. The user may be prompted to create a screen name, gender, keywords, and a description as part of the creation of a profile. The keywords may include personal interests, descriptive words, or other forms of personal identifiers specific to the user. The keywords may aid in the searching of users throughout the community, resulting in a means for finding likeminded or similar users within the ecosystem. The description offers the user an opportunity to input further information about themselves. Further, the user may elect to input a profile picture of their choice.

Private information may be required by the system administrator upon the creation of a profile. This includes an email, names, password, password hint, date of birth, among other credentials specific to the user. A location of each user may be required. Privacy setting permit the user to select what information is made available to other users within the ecosystem.

A plurality of notification settings may be modified by the user. These include, but are not limited to, notifications when posts are made to the profile or to a group wall, when a message is received, when a predetermined rating is achieved, and when an invite is received. Notifications may be sent via email or to the inbox within the interface100.

A plurality of navigation links are presented on the interface including, but not limited to, a profile terminal103, wall terminal105, my groups terminal107, messages terminal109, and notifications terminal111. Each navigation link permits an easy means for accessing information contained on the interface100. Additional navigation links include a home link113, act link115, chat link117, group link119, and help link121. A sidebar123is presented to the user having a plurality of links thereon. The sidebar123links may change depending on the particular page the user is engaging with on the interface100.

The profile terminal103displays profile information to the user who manages the profile. This includes personal information, statistics and metrics, group information, and otherwise useful information to the user. The wall terminal105directs the user to their personal wall. At the wall, the user is able to post personal thoughts and ideas. Dependent on privacy settings, these posts may be visible to other users in the community. Further, other users may post on another user's wall or respond to posts that are present. In an embodiment, each post made is subject to a rating. Once a rating has been made, the post cannot be deleted or altered.

My groups terminal107directs the user to a listing of groups which they have subscribed to. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated inFIG.1, the “Toys” group is shown along with a group statistics portion. Selecting the specific group directs the user to the group page wherein interactions are made.

A messages terminal109permits the user to send and receive messages to users within the community. Inactive messages will be organized under an inactive tab if no correspondence is sent for a predetermined period of time. If a response is sent, the message will return to the active tab. The notifications terminal111organizes and records notifications sent to the user.

The chat terminal117directs the user to an interface for communicating with other users in the community. Communications are sent and received in real-time and are not rated by other users. It is the goal of the chat terminal117interface to provide an informal means for communication rather than the scrutinized and regulated communications posted on the wall or group forums.

In thither reference toFIG.1, index125presents, via the GUI100, a plurality of metrics to the user. In particular, the total number of the user's content currently being voted on as well as the content currently in discussion is presented.

The groups terminal119directs the user to the primary interface for managing groups.FIG.2illustrates the interface100, and specifically shows a page wherein users may find users (people) and groups within the online ecosystem. Each group created in the ecosystem will have a group summary section201having a group name, image, statistics, total comments, comment statistics, and group status. Selecting a particular group will display further group details to the user which may include as illustrated inFIG.3wherein a post on the “Toy” group is shown. As a member of the group, additional information may be shown such as a consensus rule, a listing of members within the group, messages posted to the group wall, and other statistics relevant to the group and user.

A user is permitted to post to the group wall as illustrated inFIG.4. A title and content are required by the system. Once posted, the post can be seen as a single post (seeFIG.3) or within a listing (seeFIG.6). Here, other users will be able to rate each post. Rating indicators601are displayed in coordination with the specific message the user intends to rate. These indicators may include a +5, +3, 0, −1, −3, and −5 ratings with the positive indicators used to indicate a valuable, useful, accurate, or otherwise favorable message and negative integers reporting a useless, inaccurate, or otherwise invaluable message. It is appreciated that any set or range of integers can be utilized to constitute the indicators. As ratings are accrued, a rating total603is then shown. The rating total603is the sum of all ratings given to the comment. Alternate embodiments may include an average of all ratings, or otherwise meaningful formula. In use, a first message is posted to the wall of the group. Over a week-long period, ten users read the first message and rate it a +5 using the rating indicators601. Meanwhile, five user rate the first message a −1. This results in a rating total603of +45. A second message is posted at the same time and receives ten −3 ratings over the week-long period, totaling to −30. The system can organize the first message to be shown before the second message, as it was rated to be more valuable, accurate, or useful than the second message. In this manner, the user is incentivized to share valuable information because this is the information made more readily available to the community. In an embodiment, once the user has provided a rating, the user may select the rating total603to view submitted ratings by each individual user among other statistics.

Each user maintains a rating total as a metric on their profile which are stored as a rating credit. Once a user reviews content published and made available to the ecosystem, the user can rate content using the integers as described herein. However, integers having a high value require the user to submit their own rating credits in order to rate the content. In one example, a user strongly disagrees with the content they are reviewing and wished to submit a rating of a −5. In the present example, a high value integer includes −5, −3, +3, and +5. In order to do this, the user must utilize 5 of their own rating credits in order for the rating to be submitted to the content. If the user does not have at least 5 credits to expend, the user will only be able to submit the ratings of −1, 0, or +1. While this example utilizes specific integers, it can be appreciated that the accepted integers may vary without departing from the spirit of the invention.

FIG.5illustrates an exemplary screenshot wherein the user can make an amendment to the group wall. The user must explain the reasoning for their amendment in addition to the specific amendment to be made.

FIG.7illustrates a system wherein content is voted upon and displayed to a community of users within an online ecosystem. To ensure a fair display of ratings and their associated content, a system is provided for the display of the content and ratings. In step710, a user selects the purpose tab on interface100and inputs content into the appropriate fields. As described above, content may include a title, or description of the topic within the group. In step720, users view the content and provide a rating utilizing the rating indicators601provided on the interface100as illustrated inFIG.6. If a rating of at least +1 is achieved for the content, the content is moved to a “next up” interface in step730. Only a single content submission is presented in the “next up” query, as this submission is waiting for voting to conclude on a previously submitted content item. Content is moved to the next up query by date if two content submissions have the same rating. In step740, users are able to discuss, the content for a 72 hour time period. Of course, this time period may be modified without departing from the scope of the invention. Further, users are able to rate comments made for the content submission in optional step750(see rating indicators inFIG.6). In step760, after the 72 hour time period has elapsed, the content is moved to the “vote” query where an additional 72 hour time period is given for users to vote on the content submission. Voting is only a YES or NO submission from the users with no rating or discussion enabled at the vote query interface, this vote is taken in step770. Once the content has been accepted as a consensus statement by the ecosystem of users, the accepted content is added to the total of accepted content on the user's profile as shown in index125inFIG.1.

The method as illustrated inFIG.7relates to a means for the ecosystem of users to accept content. The acceptance of the content highlights content that the ecosystem agrees upon which can be added to a collection of accepted content within the ecosystem. The content can be associated with a single user, a group of users, or the entire community.

FIG.8illustrates a system wherein content is displayed to a community of users in accordance with its rating total703. The flowchart illustrates a logic flow utilized by the system to permit the engagement of users within the online community. The user utilizes their personal electronic device to search/browse801through content stored within the database and displayed to users within the community. If the desired content is found the user may submit a rating805dependent upon the consensus of the content. The ratings are compiled807and, displayed809to the ecosystem of users to give an indication of the acceptance of the content among those who have submitted a rating. Content is then associated813with a user and/or group of users. Statistics including user statistics, rating statistics, vote and feedback statistics among other useful metrics are associated with the user and group thereof. In an event wherein content is not accepted815, the content is removed817.

In an example wherein content is not found following a search of the content database, the user may choose to create/author new content831. To ensure content remains relevant, the system may moderate which users or groups of users are able to submit content for rating and voting. Once new content has been authored, the content is submitted to the database833and displayed via the GUI100to the ecosystem of users. The content can then be rated855by any number of users and the rating total is aggregated and displayed. If desired, the new content can be submitted to a voting system857as shown and described inFIG.7, wherein the voting859will determine if the content is accepted by the ecosystem of users. If voting does not occur, the content remains published for the ecosystem of users to engage therewith861.

Optionally, users can amend content871by submitting an amendment petition873as illustrated inFIG.5. If the amendment is accepted, the amended content is stored in the database875.

Ratings may be given to content users and groups based on a multitude of criteria including, but not limited to, relevance, novelty of the subject matter of the content, accuracy, consensus, and/or fidelity. It is realized that the rating total703may be presented in a plurality of regions of the interface100. For example, they may seamlessly appear in conjunction with a user's identifying means on the interface. Identifying means may include the profile page, tide, or on the authored content for each user. Similarly, a rating may be displayed in relation to a group, a content item, or likewise component that may be rated by the community.

Amendments are permitted as a means for updated information in a rapidly changing subject area. This may include groups related to health or similar fields which have inherent uncertainty.

Feedback from the community can cultivate a sense of user ownership as content must be valuable in order for it to remain present on the forum. Accountability is as much important as participation. The user experience within the community can be defined as their interaction, browsing, with other users within the community. In one embodiment, content is selected from a group of relevant content. The group of relevant content is culled dependent on a rating threshold. One example of a threshold is a positive rating total703may be required for a 72 hour period for the content to continue to be published on the forum.

In one embodiment, each user accrues a reliability score from the ecosystem of users. This score can be an aggregate of a multitude of metrics and functions to indicate the quality and trustworthiness of each user.

FIG.9shows an architecture diagram of an example system according to one embodiment of the invention. It should be appreciated thatFIG.9is used for illustration purposes only, and that other architectures may be used to facilitate one or more aspects of the present invention.

As shown inFIG.9a distributed system900may be used to conduct functions of the ecosystem, including, but limited to, the creation of content, storing content information, determining and storing indicator information associated with the content, performing rating actions, and storing user information. The system900may include one or more computer systems901coupled by a communication network911. Such computer systems may be, for example, general-purpose computer systems as discussed herein.

In one embodiment of the present invention, system901stores content information in the form of a discussion forum. Further, the system901performs associated functions with the content and its associated rating.

System901may include a server process that responds to requests from one or more client programs. The process may include, for example, an HTTP server or other server-based process (e.g., a database server process, XML server, peer-to-peer process) that interfaces to one or more client programs distributed among one or more client systems.

According to one embodiment, client programs and systems thereof may be capable of permitting a user902to create, submit, view, search, and rate content within an online ecosystem. Such client programs may include, for example, any type of operating system and/or application program capable of communicating with system901through network911. In one particular instance, a system may include a browser program913that communicates with the server using one or more communication protocols (e.g., HTTP over a TCP/IP-based network, XML requests using HTTP through an Ajax client process, distributed objects, etc). The system may further include a database917, application program915, and software program919.

Although it is shown by way of example that a browser program913may be used to access the ecosystem by users902to perform ecosystem functions, it should be appreciated that other program types may be used to interface a user902to the server. For instance, an application program915that is specially-developed to manage content data may be provided to permit a user to perform ecosystem functions according to various embodiments of the present invention. The client program may be, for example, a thin client including an interface for managing content data. Alternatively, the client may be a scripted program, or any other type of program having the capability of transferring content data. According to one embodiment, such client programs may, for example, be downloaded and installed over the network911. Further, these client programs may be stored and distributed by system in the form of one or more software programs919.

An application program915may include one or more controls that, when selected by the user, perform functions for manipulating content information. These controls may be written in a variety of programming languages, and the invention is not limited to any particular language. In one specific example, the control may be a link that, when selected, performs one or more programmed functions. Such functions may permit the user to create, submit, view, search, and rate on content within an online ecosystem.

Information stored in the database917may include, for example, content information including, but not limited to, a unique content identifier, a description of the identifier associated with the content, user information such as personal information, usernames, ranking, rating history, classification information associated with the content (e.g., identifier information) and other information that can be used to facilitate the online ecosystem.

This information may be collected from the user902in an interface) and stored in the database917. Additionally, client systems may store a local copy of a user's identifier information within a local database associated with the client system. A client system may include one or more interfaces through which ticket information may be presented to the user. In one example, ticket information and status may be presented in an interface of the browser program913executed on a client computer system901.

In one embodiment, identifiers and ratings received therefrom may initially be provided by the author of the identifier. Further, in another example system, the system may generate and/or suggest other tags that could be associated with the identifier. Such tags may be generated, for example, based on groups of related tags defined for similar identifiers.

In one example, the content created by the user may be compared to one or more databases to determine whether the content is original.

For example, a user may search for and/or set notifications for particular content based on their tag information.

In further reference toFIG.9, a general purpose computer and network system1000are illustrated in an exemplary embodiment. Aspects of the invention may include and be implemented by specialized software executing in one or more computer system including general-purpose computer system901, which may include a processor903, in operable communication with at least one memory device905. The memory device may include a disk drive, solid-state memory, or similar device for the storage of data. Memory905is typically utilized for storing data during operation of the computer system901.

Components of computer system901may be coupled by an interconnection mechanism such as network911, which may include one or more busses (e.g., between components that are integrated within a same machine) and/or a network (e.g., between components that reside on separate discrete machines). The interconnections mechanism enables communications to be exchanged between system components of system901.

The computer system901also includes a plurality of input/output (“I/O”) devices907such as a keyboard, mouse, trackball, microphone, touch screen, printing device, display screen, speaker, among other I/O devices commonly associated with the arts. In addition, the system901includes one or more network connection devices that connect the computer system901to a communication network in addition to, or as an alternative of, the network911.

A storage system includes a computer-readable and writeable nonvolatile recording medium in which signals are stored that define a program to be executed by the processor903as well as information to be processed by the program installed thereon. Typically, in operation, the processor903causes data to be read from the nonvolatile recording medium into another memory that allows for faster access to the information by the processor than does the medium. This memory is typically a volatile, random access memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or static memory (SRAM). The memory may be located in the storage system, as shown, or in memory system905. The processor903generally manipulates the data within the memory, and then copies the data to the medium associated with storage after processing is completed. A variety of mechanisms are known for managing data movement between the medium and integrated circuit memory element and the invention is not limited thereto. The invention is not limited to a particular memory system or storage system. In one example, content may be stored on computer readable medium, as well as graphical indicators for content, targeting criteria may be stored as well, among other options. The processor903and operating system together define a computer platform for which application programs915in high-level programming languages are written. It should be understood that the invention is not limited to a particular computer system platform, processor, operating system, or network. Also, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to a specific programming language or computer system. Further, it should be appreciated that other appropriate programming languages and other appropriate computer systems could also be used.

One or more portions of the computer system may be distributed across one or more computer systems coupled to a communications network. These computer systems also may be general-purpose computer systems. For example, various aspects of the invention may be distributed among one or more computer systems (e.g., servers) configured to provide a service to one or more client computers, or to perform an overall task as part of a distributed system. For example, various aspects of the invention may be performed on a client-server or multi-tier system that includes components distributed among one or more server systems that perform various functions according to various embodiments of the invention. These components may be executable, intermediate (e.g., IL) or interpreted (e.g., Java) code which communicate over a communication network (e.g., the Internet) using a communication protocol (e.g., TCP/IP).