Abstract:
Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to instant messaging and persistent chats and provide a method, system and computer program product for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation in an instant messaging session or persistent chat. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation can be provided. The method can include creating a thread of conversation in a messaging system, adding participants to the thread, classifying the participants as one of either active or passive, and permitting only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of collaborative computing and more particularly to instant messaging and chat systems. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Real time communications systems provide a substantial enhancement over more traditional, asynchronous communications systems. Electronic mail delivery systems, the prototypical asynchronous communications systems, in its time represented a giant leap forward in respect to global interpersonal communications. Prior to electronic mail, individuals primarily communicated via telephone, facsimile and post. With electronic mail, however, individuals expect near instant delivery of text, and even imagery, audio and video, without incurring the delay typical of the postal system, or the expense associated with telephony and fax technologies. 
     Despite the ubiquity of electronic mail, asynchronous communications systems lack several elements common in the realm of real time communications systems. In particular, the seemingly instant delivery of a message cannot be experienced in the world of electronic mail. In an real-time society, the minor latencies associated with electronic mail often cannot be suitable for the task at hand where a real-time conversation will be required in addressing a problem or performing a collaborative task. More importantly, often the feel and nature of a “conversation” as it is known to human beings only can be approximated through real time communications where the participants to a conversation feel the spontaneity of an exchange of ideas, much as is the case in a live, face-to-face conversation. 
     The recent rapid development of the Internet has led to advanced modes of synchronous, real-time collaboration able to fulfill the real-time communicative requirements of the modern computing participant. Using the Internet as a backbone, individuals worldwide can converge in real-time in cyberspace to share ideas, documents and images in a manner not previously possible through conventional telephony and video conferencing. To facilitate collaboration over the Internet, a substantial collection of technologies and protocols have been assembled to effectively deliver audio, video and data over the single data communications medium of the Internet. These technologies include several human-to-human collaborative environments such as instant messaging, application sharing, shared document libraries and persistent chat rooms. 
     While instant messaging systems ordinarily are viewed to include on two conversants, advanced uses of instant messaging systems support a multiplicity of collaborators in a single thread of conversation. In either circumstance, current instant messaging and chat systems provide for an initiator of a thread of conversation, and one or more invited participants. Advanced messaging configurations permit the initiator of the thread of conversation to fulfill the role of moderator in setting the time of the session, the participants of the session and the duration of the session in advance of initiating the thread of conversation. 
     Frequent users of instant messaging systems and persistent chats will attest to the confusion and disorganization that can arise when many participants engage in a thread of conversation in an instant messaging system or persistent chat. While the moderator for the thread of conversation initially can establish a topic of conversation, participants easily and often digress into one or more side conversations. Given the limited screen real estate dedicated to a chat session, following a multi-topic discussion in a single thread of conversation can be quite challenging and oftentimes, important contributions can become overlooked in consequence. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to instant messaging and persistent chats and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation in an instant messaging session or persistent chat. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation can be provided. The method can include creating a thread of conversation in a messaging system, adding participants to the thread, classifying the participants as one of either active or passive, and permitting only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants. Optionally, participants added to a thread can be pre-classified by default as one of an active participant or a passive participant, for example as specified by a classification policy. 
     In one aspect of the embodiment, the method further can include selectively muting at least one of the active participants. Additionally, in a second aspect of the embodiment, the method further can include reclassifying a participant from one of either active to passive and passive to active. In another aspect of the embodiment, the method can include receiving a request from a participant to become reclassified from one of either active to passive and passive to active, and, in response to the request, reclassifying the participant from one of either active to passive and passive to active according to the request. In yet another aspect of the embodiment, the method further can include receiving a request from a participant to change a topic of conversation for the thread. In even yet another aspect of the embodiment, the method further can include queuing posts from the active participants, and applying the posts to the thread in a sequence specified by the queuing. Finally, the method further can include delegating the classifying of the participants as one of either active or passive to another of the participants. 
     In another embodiment of the invention, a messaging data processing system can be provided. The system can include a chat thread processing module, a messaging user interface, and moderator control logic. The moderator control logic can include program code enabled to classify participants in a thread of conversation as one of either active or passive, and to permit only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants. In one aspect of the embodiment, the moderator control logic also can include program code enabled to additionally mute selected ones of the active participants. 
     Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The aspects of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. The embodiments illustrated herein are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a screen shot of illustrating an exemplary user interface for an instant messaging client configured for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for a messaging data processing system configured for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic illustration of a messaging data processing system configured for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation; and, 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating a process for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, participants to a thread of conversation in an instant messaging session or chat session can be classified as active or passive participants. Active participants can freely post messages to the thread, whereas passive participants only can view postings. Active participants and passive participants can be reclassified throughout the duration of the thread from active to passive, or passive to active. Additionally, active participants can be muted and re-activated sua sponte throughout the duration of the thread. 
     In illustration,  FIG. 1  is a screen shot of illustrating an exemplary user interface for an instant messaging client configured for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a user interface  100  for an instant messaging or chat session can include a thread display  110  and a text entry field  120 . Participants to the thread of conversation can be grouped into active and passive groups. Participants to the thread of conversation having been classified as active can be displayed in the active view  130 . Conversely, participants to the thread of conversation having been classified as passive can be displayed in the passive view  140 . 
     Notably, participants to the thread of conversation, whether classified as active or passive, can be re-classified at any time during the thread of conversation. To that end, a pop-up menu  150  can be rendered in association with a selected participant to the thread of conversation in either the active view  130  or passive view  140 . The pop-up menu  150  can provide an interface element for re-classifying the selected participant from active to passive, or from passive to active as the case may be. Additionally, the pop-up menu  150  can provide an interface element for muting the selected participant such that attempted postings by the selected participant will be suppressed from view in the thread display  110  until such time as the muting is deactivated. 
     In further illustration,  FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for a messaging data processing system configured for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation. The messaging system architecture can include a messaging system  210  such as an instant messaging system or a persistent chat system, to name only two. The messaging system  210  can include a messaging user interface  220  and chat thread processing  240 . The chat thread processing  240  can provide logic configured to manage the conduct of a thread of conversation in the messaging system  210 . The messaging user interface  220  in turn can provide a display to the thread of conversation. 
     Notably, moderator control logic  230  can be provided in association with the messaging system  210 . The moderator control logic  230  can include moderation tools for moderating the conduct of a thread of conversation and can be provided to a selected group of participants to a thread of conversation, for example the thread moderator. The moderator control logic  230  can provide both participant management  250  and muting  260 . Muting  260  can selectively suppress postings from selected participants on an ad hoc basis. Participant management  250 , by comparison, can accept and process participant requests to influence the moderation of the thread of conversation. 
     In this regard, participant management  250  can include topic proposals  270 , queuing  280  and speak requests  290 . Topic proposals  270  provide functionality for participants to privately message the moderator requesting a change in the topic of discussion in the thread of conversation. Queuing  280  can include the ordered sequencing of permission for different participants to post to the thread of conversation in order to avoid out-of-sync postings. Finally, speak requests  290  provides functionality for participants to privately request permission to be reclassified from passive to active. 
     In yet further illustration,  FIG. 3  is a schematic illustration of a messaging data processing system configured for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation. The system can include a messaging server  310  coupled to one or more messaging clients  340  over computer communications network  350 . The messaging server  310  can support the operation of a messaging platform  320  for one or more participants  330  registered to participate in a thread of conversation hosted by the messaging platform  320 . 
     Notably, moderator control logic  400  can be coupled to the messaging server  310 . The moderator control logic  400  can include program code enabled to classify different ones of the participants  330  to a thread of conversation as either active participants  370  or passive participants  360 . Active participants  370  can post freely to the thread of conversation whereas passive participants  360  can merely observe the postings of other participants to the thread of conversation. The program code of the moderator control logic  400  further can be enabled to selectively mute individual ones of the active participants  370 . Finally, the program code of the moderator control logic  400  can permit the delegation of the power to classify, re-classify and mute to others of the participants  330 . 
     In even yet further illustration,  FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating a process for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation. Beginning in block  410 , a thread can be initiated and one or more participants can be added to the thread in block  420 . In block  430 , the participants can be classified as either active or passive. In block  440 , the thread can proceed and a post can be accepted from one of the participants. In decision block  450 , it can be determined whether the classification of the participant is permitted given the classification of the participant and the mute status of the participant. If not, in block  460  the post can be suppressed. Otherwise, in block  470  the post can be added to the thread. Thereafter, in decision block  480 , if the thread is not yet complete the process can repeat through block  440 . When the thread has completed, in block  490  the thread can be closed. 
     Embodiments of the invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, and the like. Furthermore, the invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. 
     For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk—read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk—read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD. 
     A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution. Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters.