Patent Publication Number: US-11023522-B2

Title: Creating a single playlist with multiple authors

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/160,679, filed Jan. 22, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This disclosure relates to the field of content sharing platforms and, in particular, to creating a single playlist with multiple authors. 
     BACKGROUND 
     On the Internet, social networks allow users to connect to and share information with each other. Many social networks include a content sharing aspect that allows users to upload, view, and share content, such as video content, image content, audio content, and so on. Other users of the social network may comment on the shared content, discover new content, locate updates, share content, and otherwise interact with the provided content. The shared content may include content from professional content creators, e.g., movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as content from amateur content creators, e.g., video blogging and short original videos. 
     Content sharing platforms allow users to create playlists of the content maintained by the content sharing platform. A playlist of is a list of content items that may be played sequentially or in shuffled order. The playlist feature of the content sharing platform allows users to group their favorite content items together in a single location for playback. Currently, only one user is able to author a playlist (e.g., adding or removing content items from the playlist), which means playlist authoring is a solitary and unsocial task, and can, in some cases, discourage product usage of the content sharing platforms. 
     SUMMARY 
     The following is a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the disclosure, nor delineate any scope of the particular implementations of the disclosure or any scope of the claims. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
     In one implementation, a method for creating a single playlist with multiple authors is disclosed. The method includes receiving, by a content sharing platform from a first user that is an author of a playlist of the content sharing platform, an indication of a second user to invite as another author of the playlist, the indication comprising an identifier of the second user and permissions corresponding to the second user. The method further includes sending an invitation to the second user requesting the second user to be an author of the playlist. The method further includes, when the second user accepts the invitation, storing the identifier of the second user and the permissions as metadata of the playlist, the second user to be allowed to interact with the playlist in accordance with the permissions corresponding to the second user. 
     In one implementation, the method also includes the playlist including one or more content items of the content sharing platform grouped together for continuous playback. In some implementations, the first user is an owner of the playlist. The owner may be the only author of the playlist with revocation privileges with respect to the playlist. In addition, the permissions may be selected by the first user and defining editing rights of the playlist assigned to the second user. Furthermore, the permissions may include at least one of adding content items to the playlist, deleting content items from the playlist, editing a title of the playlist, editing a description of the playlist, editing an order of the playlist, inviting user to view the playlist, or inviting users as authors of the playlist. 
     In some implementations, the first user and the second user may be authors of the playlist simultaneously. Furthermore, the permissions may include a type of content item that the second user may add to the playlist. In one implementation, the second user includes a plurality of users of the content sharing platform. 
     In additional implementations, computing devices for performing the operations of the above described implementations are also disclosed. Additionally, in implementations of the disclosure, a computer readable storage media stores methods for performing the operations of the above described implementations. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an example system architecture, in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a playlist component in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for creating a single playlist with multiple authors, according to some implementations of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating another method for interacting with a single playlist by multiple authors, according to an implementation of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is an example screenshot illustrating a playlist settings UI provided to a user via a media player at a client device, according to an implementation of the disclosure. 
         FIGS. 6A through 6D  illustrate example screenshot of a playlist sharing settings UI provided to a user editing a playlist of a content sharing platform via a media player at a client device, according to an implementation of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  is an example screenshot illustrating another screenshot of a playlist settings UI provided to a user via a media player at a client device, according to an implementation of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system, according to some implementations. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Implementations are described for creating a single playlist with multiple authors. In implementations of the disclosure, a content sharing platform shares editing rights to a playlist with multiple users of the content sharing platform. A playlist may include a list of content items of the content sharing platform that are grouped for sequential or shuffled playback. The multiple users may be referred to as “authors” of the playlist. The content sharing platform allows the multiple authors to edit the playlist at the same time. Each of the authors may be assigned various permission levels with respect to the playlist. For example, the permission levels may include, but are not limited to, ownership (full editing rights plus moderation rights), full editing rights (add content, remove content, invite users, etc.), edit playlist content and order, edit playlist order, watch and request, watch/view, and make requests. 
     Implementations of the disclosure have a different layer of granularity than previous solutions for creating a single playlist with multiple authors. Previously, only one user was able to author a playlist at a time. This resulted in playlist authoring being a solitary and unsocial task, and, in some cases, discouraged product usage of the content sharing platform. Implementations of the disclosure improve the playlist authoring experience. A playlist with multiple authors as provided by implementations of the disclosure creates a social way to create a playlist with connections of a user. Thus, it can increase the number of content items added to the playlist, and thus increase user time on the content sharing platform. In addition, by making playlists a more social experience on the content sharing platform, the playlist feature may be more desirable to users, thus driving an increase in usage of the content sharing platform. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an example system architecture  100 , in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure, for creating a single playlist with multiple authors for the content sharing platform. The system architecture  100  includes client devices  110 A through  110 Z, a network  105 , a data store  106 , a content sharing platform  120 , and a server  130 . In one implementation, network  105  may include a public network (e.g., the Internet), a private network (e.g., a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN)), a wired network (e.g., Ethernet network), a wireless network (e.g., an 802.11 network or a Wi-Fi network), a cellular network (e.g., a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), routers, hubs, switches, server computers, and/or a combination thereof. In one implementation, the data store  106  may be a memory (e.g., random access memory), a cache, a drive (e.g., a hard drive), a flash drive, a database system, or another type of component or device capable of storing data. The data store  106  may also include multiple storage components (e.g., multiple drives or multiple databases) that may also span multiple computing devices (e.g., multiple server computers). 
     The client devices  110 A through  110 Z may each include computing devices such as personal computers (PCs), laptops, mobile phones, smart phones, tablet computers, netbook computers etc. In some implementations, client device  110 A through  110 Z may also be referred to as “user devices.” Each client device includes a media viewer  111 . In one implementation, the media viewers  111  may be applications that allow users to view content, such as images, videos, web pages, documents, etc. For example, the media viewer  111  may be a web browser that can access, retrieve, present, and/or navigate content (e.g., web pages such as Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) pages, digital media items, etc.) served by a web server. The media viewer  111  may render, display, and/or present the content (e.g., a web page, a media viewer) to a user. The media viewer  111  may also display an embedded media player (e.g., a Flash® player or an HTML5 player) that is embedded in a web page (e.g., a web page that may provide information about a product sold by an online merchant). In another example, the media viewer  111  may be a standalone application that allows users to view digital media items (e.g., digital videos, digital images, electronic books, etc.). 
     The media viewers  111  may be provided to the client devices  110 A through  110 Z by the server  130  and/or content sharing platform  120 . For example, the media viewers  111  may be embedded media players that are embedded in web pages provided by the content sharing platform  120 . In another example, the media viewers  111  may be applications that are downloaded from the server  130 . 
     In general, functions described in one implementation as being performed by the content sharing platform  120  can also be performed on the client devices  110 A through  110 Z in other implementations if appropriate. In addition, the functionality attributed to a particular component can be performed by different or multiple components operating together. The content sharing platform  120  can also be accessed as a service provided to other systems or devices through appropriate application programming interfaces, and thus is not limited to use in websites. 
     In one implementation, the content sharing platform  120  may be one or more computing devices (such as a rackmount server, a router computer, a server computer, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, etc.), data stores (e.g., hard disks, memories, databases), networks, software components, and/or hardware components that may be used to provide a user with access to media items and/or provide the media items to the user. For example, the content sharing platform  120  may allow a user to consume, upload, search for, approve of (“like”), dislike, and/or comment on media items. The content sharing platform  120  may also include a website (e.g., a webpage) that may be used to provide a user with access to the media items. 
     The content sharing platform  120  may include multiple channels (e.g., channels A through Z). A channel can be data content available from a common source or data content having a common topic or theme. The data content can be digital content chosen by a user, digital content made available by a user, digital content uploaded by a user, digital content chosen by a content provider, digital content chosen by a broadcaster, etc. For example, a channel X can include videos Y and Z. A channel can be associated with an owner, who is a user that can perform actions on the channel. Different activities can be associated with the channel based on the owner&#39;s actions, such as the owner making digital content available on the channel, the owner selecting (e.g., liking) digital content associated with another channel, the owner commenting on digital content associated with another channel, etc. The activities associated with the channel can be collected into an activity feed for the channel. Users, other than the owner of the channel, can subscribe to one or more channels in which they are interested. Once a user subscribes to a channel, the user can be presented with information from the channel&#39;s activity feed. If a user subscribes to multiple channels, the activity feed for each channel to which the user is subscribed can be combined into a syndicated activity feed. Information from the syndicated activity feed can be presented to the user. 
     Each channel may include one or more media items  121 . Examples of a media item  121  can include, and are not limited to, digital video, digital movies, digital photos, digital music, website content, social media updates, electronic books (ebooks), electronic magazines, digital newspapers, digital audio books, electronic journals, web blogs, real simple syndication (RSS) feeds, electronic comic books, software applications, etc. In some implementations, media item  121  is also referred to as a media item. 
     A media item  121  may be consumed via the Internet and/or via a mobile device application. For brevity and simplicity, an online video (also hereinafter referred to as a video) is used as an example of a media item  121  throughout this document. As used herein, “media,” media item,” “online media item,” “digital media,” “digital media item,” “content,” and “content item” can include an electronic file that can be executed or loaded using software, firmware or hardware configured to present the digital media item to an entity. In one implementation, the content sharing platform  120  may store the media items  121  using the data store  106 . 
     In one implementation, the server  130  may be one or more computing devices (e.g., a rackmount server, a server computer, etc.). In one implementation, the server  130  may be included in the content sharing platform  120 . The server  130  may include a playlist component  140 . The playlist component  140  enables sharing editing rights to a playlist with multiple users of the content sharing platform  120 . A playlist may include a list of content items  121  of the content sharing platform  120  that are grouped for sequential or shuffled playback. These multiple users may be referred to as “authors”. The playlist component  140  allows the multiple authors to edit the playlist at the same time. The playlist component  140  also allows for a playlist to be stored by the content sharing platform  120  so that it can be used for playback at a later time by any of the authors or other users of the content sharing platform  120 . 
     More specifically, in implementations of the disclosure, the playlist component  140  may enable multiple users of the content sharing platform to be authors of a playlist. An owner (original creator) of the playlist may invite one or more other users to participate as authors of the playlist. Each of the one or more other users may be assigned various permission levels with respect to the playlist. For example, the permission levels may include, but are not limited to, ownership (full editing rights plus moderation rights), full editing rights (add content, remove content, invite users, etc.), edit playlist content and order, edit playlist order, request content items for the playlist, view content items of the playlist, and make requests to add content items to the playlist. In some implementations, playlist component  140  of server  130  may interact with content sharing platform and/or with other third party social network servers  150  to provide implementations of the disclosure. Further description of the playlist component  140  and its specific functions is described in more detail below with respect to  FIG. 2 . 
     Although implementations of the disclosure are discussed in terms of content sharing platforms and promoting social network sharing of a content item on the content sharing platform, implementations may also be generally applied to any type of social network providing connections between users. Implementations of the disclosure are not limited to content sharing platforms that provide channel subscriptions to users. 
     In situations in which the systems discussed here collect personal information about users, or may make use of personal information, the users may be provided with an opportunity to control whether the content sharing platform  120  collects user information (e.g., information about a user&#39;s social network, social actions or activities, profession, a user&#39;s preferences, or a user&#39;s current location), or to control whether and/or how to receive content from the content server that may be more relevant to the user. In addition, certain data may be treated in one or more ways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiable information is removed. For example, a user&#39;s identity may be treated so that no personally identifiable information can be determined for the user, or a user&#39;s geographic location may be generalized where location information is obtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level), so that a particular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, the user may have control over how information is collected about the user and used by the content sharing platform  120 . 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a playlist component  140  in accordance with one implementation of the disclosure. In one implementation, the playlist component  140  includes a playlist authors permissions module  210 , a playlist viewers permissions module  220 , and a playlist UI generation module  230 . More or less components may be included in the playlist component  140  without loss of generality. For example, two of the modules may be combined into a single module, or one of the modules may be divided into two or more modules. In one implementation, one or more of the modules may reside on different computing devices (e.g., different server computers). 
     The playlist component  140  is communicatively coupled to the data store  106 . For example, the playlist component  140  may be coupled to the data store  106  via a network (e.g., via network  105  as illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). In another example, the playlist component  140  may be coupled directly to a server where the playlist component  140  resides (e.g., may be directly coupled to server  130 ). The data store  106  may be a memory (e.g., random access memory), a cache, a drive (e.g., a hard drive), a flash drive, a database system, or another type of component or device capable of storing data. The data store  106  may also include multiple storage components (e.g., multiple drives or multiple databases) that may also span multiple computing devices (e.g., multiple server computers). The data store  106  includes content item data  290 , user data  291 , and playlist data  292 . 
     As discussed above, the playlist component  140  enables sharing editing rights to a playlist with multiple users of the content sharing platform  120 . These multiple users may be referred to as “authors”. The playlist component  140  allows multiple authors to edit a single playlist simultaneously. The playlist component  140  also allows for a playlist to be stored by the content sharing platform  120  so that it can be used for playback at a later time by any of the authors or by other content sharing platform users  120 . In some implementations, an author of a playlist may invite multiple users associated with, for example, an email alias or a group of connections from a social network, to be authors or viewers of a playlist. 
     An owner (original creator) of the playlist may invite one or more other users to participate as authors of the playlist. The playlist author permissions module  210  may facilitate assigning playlist permissions levels to each of the invited authors of the playlist. For example, the permission levels may include, but are not limited to, ownership (full editing rights plus moderation rights), full editing rights (add content, remove content, reorder content, change playlist name, invite authors, invite viewers, etc.), edit playlist content and order, edit playlist order, watch and request, watch/view, and make requests. Moderation rights of the playlist owner may include an ability to revoke editing rights of other authors and/or an ability to classify the playlist as private (e.g., viewable by a predetermined set of users). 
     In implementations of the disclosure, the playlists author permissions module  210  tracks, stores, and implements the individualized permissions that are configured for each author of a playlist. For example, the playlist author permissions module  210  may store permission options selected to associate with an author to the playlist data  293 . For example, a content sharing platform user ID of the author may be stored in the playlist data along with corresponding data indicating the permissions applicable to the author associated with the user ID. When the author interacts with the playlist, the playlist author permissions module  210  may reference the user data  291  and playlist data  293  to correlate permissions settings configured for the interacting user, and apply and/or enforce these permissions for purposes of the user&#39;s (i.e., author&#39;s) interactions with the playlist. 
     As such, each author of a playlist may have a different set of permissions associated with the playlist. In some implementations, the permissions for an author may also specify type of content that can be added to a playlist (e.g., no NC-17 content can be added or viewed by a user that is under 17). As a result, an owner, and in some cases depending on permission levels, authors of a playlist can control who views a playlist as well as who can add content and the type of content that can be added. For example, if an owner of a playlist is a teacher, the owner may add users that are students of the teacher as authors and limit the permissions of the student users to adding content that is from pre-approved channels of the content sharing platform or that is associated with a certain content rating. In some implementations, permissions may be automatically assigned to an added user and/or author based on relationship to and/or age of, for example, the inviting author and/or of the invited user. 
     In some implementations, the playlist author permissions module  210  may utilize information associated with the user data  291  in order to apply content type permissions to a user/author. For example, if the permissions indicate the individual author (or any author of the playlist according to a general playlist permissions setting) can only add content that is appropriate for his or her age, then the playlist author permissions module  210  can utilize user data  291  associated with the individual user to determine an age of the user for purpose of determining whether or not to allow the user to add particular content items to the playlist. Furthermore, the playlist author permissions module  210  may refer to the content item data  290  to determine the content type data for purposes of enforcing the author content type permissions. 
     In implementations of the disclosure, a user of the content sharing platform may be either or both of an author or a viewer of the playlist. Different permissions and privileges may be applied to viewers of the playlist as compared to authors of the playlist. Accordingly, the playlist viewer permission module  220  is responsible for maintaining, applying, and/or enforcing the permissions associated with each viewing user. As a result, the same playlist may include a different set of content items based on the viewing user (and his or her associated permissions). 
     As each of the multiple authors adds content items to a playlist, the playlist is dynamically updated so that each time a user requests to view or listen to the playlist, the playlist reflects the most recently-added content items. In one implementation, the playlist UI generation module  230  is responsible for generating the UI for the playlist and providing UI data to a client device for display of the playlist. 
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  300  for creating a single playlist with multiple authors, according to some implementations of the disclosure. The method  300  may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions run on a processing device to perform hardware simulation), or a combination thereof. 
     For simplicity of explanation, the methods of this disclosure are depicted and described as a series of acts. However, acts in accordance with this disclosure can occur in various orders and/or concurrently, and with other acts not presented and described herein. Furthermore, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement the methods in accordance with the disclosed subject matter. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that the methods could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states via a state diagram or events. Additionally, it should be appreciated that the methods disclosed in this specification are capable of being stored on an article of manufacture to facilitate transporting and transferring such methods to computing devices. The term “article of manufacture,” as used herein, is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device or storage media. In one implementation, method  300  may be performed by playlist component  140  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , method  300  begins at block  310  when a request is received to invite a user of a content sharing platform to be an author of a playlist. In one implementation, the request is received from a user that is an author of the playlist. The requesting author may also be the owner of the playlist. The invited user may be a single user or may be multiple users associated with, for example, an email alias or a group of connections from a social network. In some implementations, the requesting user selects an icon to invite users to be authors of the playlist. The icon may be provided on a GUI associated with the playlist 
     At block  320 , the playlist component  140  requests identifying information of the invited user(s) as well as playlist permission options to associated with the invited user(s). The playlist permission options may include, but are not limited to, full editing rights (add content, remove content, reorder content, change playlist name, invite authors, invite viewers, etc.), edit playlist content and order, edit playlist order, watch and request, watch/view, and make requests. Permission options may also include content-type restrictions to associate with the user (e.g., types of the content that the user may add to the playlist and/or view from the playlist). Then, at block  330 , the identifying information of the invited user(s) and associated playlist permission options are received from the requesting user. 
     At block  340 , the received identifying information and associated playlist permission options are stored at the content sharing platform as playlist metadata associated with the playlist. Then, at block  350 , the invited user(s) is notified and/or invited to be an author of the playlist with the indicated permission options. Subsequently, it is determined whether the invited user accepted the playlist author invite at decision block  360 . If not, method  300  ends. On the other hand, if the invited user(s) does accept the playlist author invite, then method  300  continues to block  370  where the invited user(s) is indicated to be an author of the playlist in the playlist metadata. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating another method  400  for interacting with a single playlist by multiple authors, according to an implementation of the disclosure. The method  400  may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions run on a processing device to perform hardware simulation), or a combination thereof. In one implementation, method  400  may be performed by playlist component  140  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , method  400  begins at block  410  when a request to interact with a playlist as an author of the playlist is received from a user. In one implementation, the playlist hosted by a content sharing platform and is assigned multiple authors that are users of the content sharing platform. The request to interact with the playlist as an author may include a request to edit content of the playlist, add content to the playlist, remove content from the playlist, change an order of content of the playlist, change a name of the playlist, invite a user to view the playlist, invite a user to be an author of the playlist, and so on. 
     At block  420 , a user ID of the requesting user is determined. Then, at block  430 , playlist metadata corresponding to the playlist is referenced with the determined user ID. At decision block  440 , it is determined whether the user identified by the user ID is indicated as a playlist author in the playlist metadata. If not, the method  400  proceeds to block  450  to deny the user request to interact with the playlist as an author. 
     On the other hand, if the user is confirmed to be an author of the playlist (e.g., playlist metadata indicates that user ID has authorship privilege with respect to the playlist), then method  400  proceeds to block  460  where permissions configured for the requesting user with respect to the playlist are determined. For example, the permissions may include, but are not limited to, full editing rights (add content, remove content, reorder content, change playlist name, invite authors, invite viewers, etc.), edit playlist content and order, edit playlist order, watch and request, watch/view, and make requests. Permission options may also include content-type restrictions to associate with the user (e.g., types of the content that the user may add to the playlist and/or view from the playlist). 
     At block  470 , the determined permissions corresponding to the requesting user are correlated to data associated with the user (user data) and maintained by the content sharing platform separate from the playlist metadata. For example, the user data may indicate an age of the user. This age data is correlated with the content-type restrictions permissions associated with the user, in order to determine if a user is allowed to add and/or view certain types of content (e.g., NC-17 content, etc.) with respect to the playlist. 
     Lastly, at block  480 , the permissions corresponding to the user are enforced with respect to the playlist for purposes of the user&#39;s request. The enforcement of the permissions is performed in view of the correlation at block  470 . As such, it is determined whether the user&#39;s request corresponds to a permission level of the user. For example, if the user requests to invite a user as an author or as a viewer of the playlist, it is confirmed that the permission level of the user allows this action. In another example, as mentioned above, if the user requests to add NC-17 content to the playlist, it is determined whether the user has “add content” privileges with respect to the playlist and whether content-type restrictions apply to this user before the user is allowed to proceed with this action. In implementations of the disclosure, each author of the playlist may have different permissions levels, so that some authors may be able to perform different actions with respect to the playlist than other authors, or may be able to add and/or view different content with respect to the playlist than other authors. 
       FIGS. 5 through 7  are example screenshots illustrating UIs for sharing comments in time with content item playback.  FIG. 5  illustrates an example screenshot of a playlist settings UI  500  provided to a user via a media player at a client device. The playlist settings UI  500  is one example of a UI that may be provided to user of a content sharing platform that is creating a new playlist or editing an already-existing playlist. The playlist settings UI  500  includes a playlist title  510 , playlist information tab  520 , a playlist settings tab  530 , and other control icons  550  (“cancel”, “done”, etc.). 
     When the basic information table  520  is selected as the active tab (as illustrated in  FIG. 5  when bolded), information elements are presented regarding the basic identifying information of the playlist. For example, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the basic information elements may include an editable title  522 , editable description  524 , playlist privacy selector  526 , and other playlist action controls  528 . The basic information elements  522 - 528  may be edited by an author of the playlist having the appropriate permissions to edit. For example, the user may change the title or description text associated with the playlist utilizing elements  522 ,  524 . The user may also change the privacy level associated with overall playlist by selecting element  526  to view a drop-down list of privacy options (e.g., public, private, unlisted, etc.) to select from for applying to the playlist. 
     In addition, a list of authors  560  of the playlist may also be shown as part of the basic information tab  520 . As discussed above, implementations of the disclosure allow multiple users of a content sharing platform to be authors of a single playlist. As illustrated, the authors  560  may be shown with an identifying icon, such as an avatar of the user. The avatar of the user may be stored with user data of the user in the content sharing platform, or may be obtained from a social network of the user connected to the content sharing platform. An invite users icon  540  is also provided in playlist settings UI  500  to allow users to invite other users to be authors of the playlist according to implementations of the disclosure. When selected, a sharing settings UI may be presented to the user to invite other users, as discussed below with respect to  FIGS. 6A through 6D . 
     Other locations and configurations of the graphical elements of playlist settings UI  500 , other than those illustrated and described above, may also be utilized in implementations of the disclosure. 
       FIGS. 6A through 6D  illustrate example screenshot of a playlist sharing settings UI  600  provided to a user editing a playlist of a content sharing platform via a media player at a client device. With respect to  FIG. 6A , the playlist sharing settings UI  600  includes a link sharing section  610 , an access section  620 , and an invitation section  630 . The link sharing section may include a text input box to input a uniform resource locator (URL) of the playlist. This link may be shared with other users by selecting icons associated with different sharing option, such as via email, social networks, blogs, and so on. 
     The access section  620  may include a privacy setting  622  to apply to the overall playlist. For example, as illustrated in UI  600 , the current privacy setting is shown as private, where just those users that are specifically identified are able to view the playlist. The access section  620  also provides a list of users  624  that are either authors and/or viewers of the playlist. A permissions selector  626  is provided for each listed user  624 . If a user has the appropriate author permissions, they may adjust the permissions selector  626  for the users  624  of the playlist. 
     The permissions selector  626  provides permissions options to apply to the user with respect to the user&#39;s interactions with the playlist. For example, the permissions may include, but are not limited to, full editing rights (add content, remove content, reorder content, change playlist name, invite authors, invite viewers, etc.), edit playlist content and order, edit playlist order, watch and request, watch/view, and make requests. Permission options may also include content-type restrictions to associate with the user (e.g., types of the content that the user may add to the playlist and/or view from the playlist). 
     The invitation section  630  allows users to add users to the playlist, either as authors and/or viewers of the playlist. The invitation section  630  includes an add user text box  635  to enter a name, email, alias, or other identifier of a user for purposes of adding the user to the playlist access section  620 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 6B , when a user inputs an identifier of a user into the add user text box  635  of playlist sharing settings UI  600 , a drop down box  640  may be displayed showing users matching the inputted text. As the inputted text changes, the list of matching users in drop-down box  640  may also change. 
     Once a user is selected, either from drop-down box  640  or directly inputted into add user text box  635 ,  FIG. 6C  depicts a permissions settings  645  selector to apply to the inputted user. As discussed above, various different permission settings may apply to a user, such as, but not limited to, full editing rights (add content, remove content, reorder content, change playlist name, invite authors, invite viewers, etc.), edit playlist content and order, edit playlist order, watch and request, watch/view, and make requests. Permission options may also include content-type restrictions to associate with the user (e.g., types of the content that the user may add to the playlist and/or view from the playlist). These options may be displayed in a drop-down box when the triangle icon corresponding to the permissions selector  645  is selected (e.g., clicked, etc.). Share and save control options  650  are also provided to allow the invited user settings to be saved as playlist metadata and for the invited user to be notified of their addition to the playlist. 
     Once the information of the invited user has been saved and the invited user notified (and, in some implementations, the invited user accepts the invitation), the playlist sharing settings UI  600  is modified to display the information of the invited user.  FIG. 6D  is an example screenshot of playlist sharing settings UI  600  after a user has been invited and added to the playlist. Invited user  660  is now shown with corresponding permission settings indicator  665  in the access settings section  620 . 
     Other locations and configurations of the playlist sharing settings UI  600  other than those described with respect to  FIGS. 6A through 6D  may also be utilized in implementations of the disclosure. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates another example screenshot of a playlist settings UI  700  provided to a user via a media player at a client device. The playlist settings UI  700  is one example of a UI that may be provided to user of a content sharing platform that is creating a new playlist or editing an already-existing playlist. Similar to playlist setting UI  500  of  FIG. 5 , the playlist settings UI  700  includes a playlist title  710 , playlist information tab  720 , a playlist settings tab  730 , and other control icons  750  (“cancel”, “done”, etc.). 
     When the basic information table  720  is selected as the active tab (as illustrated in  FIG. 7  when bolded), information elements are presented regarding the basic identifying information of the playlist. For example, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the basic information elements may include an editable title  722 , editable description  724 , playlist privacy selector  726 , and other playlist action controls  728 . The basic information elements  722 - 728  may be the same as their identical counterparts described with respect to  FIG. 5 . 
     In addition, a list of authors  760  of the playlist may also be shown as part of the basic information tab  720 . As discussed above, implementations of the disclosure allow multiple users of a content sharing platform to be authors of a single playlist. As illustrated, the authors  760  may be shown with an identifying icon, such as an avatar of the user. The avatar of the user may be stored with user data of the user in the content sharing platform, or may be obtained from a social network of the user connected to the content sharing platform. Playlist settings UI  700  includes the new author  765  added per the playlist sharing settings UI  600  described with respect to  FIGS. 6A through 6D . 
     Playlist settings UI  700  may also include content item add section  770 , which includes a video URL entry box  772  and an add button  774  that allow an author with appropriate content editing privileges to add a content item to the playlist. Once a content item is successfully added (as indicated in content item add section  770 ), a content item list section  780  of playlist setting UI  700  may be updated to show the added content item. Each content item listed in the content item list section  780  may have a corresponding author attribution  785  to indicate the author (user) that added the content item to the playlist. In some implementations, if one author adds a content item, but it was requested by another user, the author attribution  785  may identify the requesting user as well as the adding user, or may identify just the requesting user. 
     Other locations and configurations of the graphical elements of playlist settings UI  700 , other than those illustrated and described above, may also be utilized in implementations of the disclosure. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exemplary form of a computer system  800  within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternative implementations, the machine may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. The machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in client-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a server, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
     The exemplary computer system  800  includes a processing device (processor)  802 , a main memory  804  (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), etc.), a static memory  806  (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a data storage device  818 , which communicate with each other via a bus  808 . 
     Processor  802  represents one or more general-purpose processing devices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. More particularly, the processor  802  may be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, or a processor implementing other instruction sets or processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. The processor  802  may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or the like. The processor  802  is configured to execute instructions  826  for performing the operations and steps discussed herein. 
     The computer system  800  may further include a network interface device  822 . The computer system  800  also may include a video display unit  810  (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), or a touch screen), an alphanumeric input device  812  (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device  814  (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generation device  820  (e.g., a speaker). 
     The data storage device  818  may include a computer-readable storage medium  824  on which is stored one or more sets of instructions  826  (e.g., software) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions  826  may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory  804  and/or within the processor  802  during execution thereof by the computer system  800 , the main memory  804  and the processor  802  also constituting computer-readable storage media. The instructions  826  may further be transmitted or received over a network  874  via the network interface device  822 . 
     In one implementation, the instructions  826  include instructions for a playlist component  140 , which may correspond, respectively, to their identically-named counterparts described with respect to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , and/or a software library containing methods that create a single playlist with multiple authors on a content sharing platform. While the computer-readable storage medium  824  is shown in an exemplary implementation to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “computer-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present disclosure. The term “computer-readable storage medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical media, and magnetic media. 
     In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth. It will be apparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure, that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure. 
     Some portions of the detailed description have been presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. 
     It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “segmenting”, “analyzing”, “determining”, “enabling”, “identifying,” “modifying” or the like, refer to the actions and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer system&#39;s registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. 
     The disclosure also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may include a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions. 
     The words “example” or “exemplary” are used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “example’ or “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the words “example” or “exemplary” is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “X includes A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X includes A; X includes B; or X includes both A and B, then “X includes A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Moreover, use of the term “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an implementation” or “one implementation” throughout is not intended to mean the same embodiment or implementation unless described as such. 
     Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive or. 
     It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding the above description. The scope of the disclosure should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.