Patent Publication Number: US-10783276-B2

Title: Systems and methods for multiple photo feed stories

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/167,180 filed May 27, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,181,053, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/591,512 filed Aug. 22, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,378,393, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 9,246,958, filed Aug. 2, 2012, the disclosures of each are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of social networking. More particularly, the present invention provides a technique for selecting multiple images within a user interface of a social networking system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Internet social networks have become a significant phenomenon. Social networks allow an internet user to create an account and a user profile, often for free, and interact with other users of the social network. A social network user can gain access to the profile of another user by requesting to add him or her as a friend. Once approved, the “friendship” typically gives both users access to each other&#39;s profiles and the content posted on them. Friends&#39; posts may appear as news stories in each other&#39;s news feeds, and friends can usually comment on each other&#39;s news stories. Social network users typically seek to assemble a group of friends or followers with whom they interact. Often, most information on a user&#39;s profile is only accessible to the user&#39;s friends. 
     Social networks are providing users with increasingly sophisticated functionality. Early social networks offered little more than a simple interface for users to communicate and post messages. Now, on many social networks, users may share numerous different types of content and interact with each other&#39;s content in a variety of ways. Content shared on a social network may include digital media such as images. Users may assemble albums that include photographs and other content and share their albums with their friends. Because of their collaborative nature, social networks have now become a popular means by which many people share photos and other media content. 
     In addition, as technology has evolved, social networks have introduced tools for accessing social networking systems from a growing variety of technology platforms. Initially, because most users accessed the Internet exclusively from desktop computers, user interfaces of social networking systems were designed with desktop web browsers in mind. However, the exponential growth of mobile computing has facilitated Internet access from a variety of different devices and platforms. Because each technology platform has different technical capabilities and limitations, interfaces of social networks customized for a particular platform are needed. 
     SUMMARY 
     To allow for ease of navigation within a photo browsing interface of a social networking system, embodiments of the invention include systems, methods, and computer readable media to facilitate selection of multiple photos within an interface of a social networking system. A designation of a first image is received from within at least one of a single-image view and a camera view. Based on the designation, the first image is added to a communication. 
     In an embodiment, the first image may be received from a camera. The first image may be received from within a social networking application or from within a dedicated camera application. The single image view may be a gallery view. 
     In an embodiment, the communication may be provided to the social networking system. The communication may comprise text associated with the first image. In another embodiment, a de-designation of the first image for sharing may be received. The first image may be removed from the communication. A designation of a second image for sharing may be received. The second image may be added to the communication. 
     In an embodiment, receiving the designation of the first image for sharing may be based on a user selection of a check mark option. Receiving the designation of the first image for sharing may be based on a user selection of a share shutter option. Receiving the designation of the first image for sharing may be based on a voice command. Receiving the designation of the first image for sharing may be based on an interaction with an input mechanism. The input mechanism may be a touchscreen or a pointing device. 
     In an embodiment, a reference indicative of a number of images designated for sharing may be displayed. A number for display may be incremented when an additional image is designated for sharing. 
     In another embodiment, the privacy level of the communication and the designated images is based on the privacy setting selected by a user. The privacy level of the communication and the designated images will be the same within the social networking system. The user may select a privacy setting to allow only himself to have access to the communication and the designated images. Or the user may select a privacy setting to allow his friends on the social networking system to have access to the communication and the designated images. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the communication and the designated images may contain tag data identifying one or more people on a social networking system. The privacy level of the communication and the designated images is adjusted according to the one or more people identified in the tag data. Based on the privacy settings selected by the user, the tagged people may have access to the communication and designated images. Or alternatively, the friends of the tagged people may have access to the communication and designated images as well. 
     Many other features and embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the following detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a network diagram of a system for selecting multiple images within a user interface of a social networking system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2A  illustrates a user of a social networking system copying to his computer a photograph taken with his digital camera in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2B  illustrates the user accessing a user interface to upload the photograph to the social networking system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2C  illustrates the photograph uploaded to the social networking system and displayed within a user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2D  illustrates the user applying a number of edits to the photograph, resulting in an altered photograph in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3A  illustrates a camera view within an interface of a camera application on a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3B  illustrates a gallery view within the interface of the camera application on the mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3C  illustrates a message compose view within the interface of a social networking application on the mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4A  illustrates a home screen view within an interface of the social networking application on a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4B  illustrates a camera view within the interface of the social networking application on the mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4C  illustrates a message compose view within the interface of the social networking application on the mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5A  illustrates a gallery view within an interface of the social networking application on a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5B  illustrates a thumbnail view within the interface of the social networking application on the mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5C  illustrates a message compose view within the interface of the social networking application on the mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a process for selecting multiple images in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7A  illustrates a camera view within an interface of the social networking application on a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7B  illustrates a gallery view within the interface of the social networking application on a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7C  illustrates a thumbnail view within the interface of the social networking application on a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7D  illustrates a miniaturization effect in a gallery view within an interface of the social networking application on a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a process for displaying an animation to indicate a user designation of an image for sharing. 
         FIG. 9  illustrates an example of a computer system that may be used to implement one or more of the embodiments described herein. 
         FIG. 10A  illustrates a gallery view in which a person on the social networking system is tagged in an image in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed subject matter. 
         FIG. 10B  illustrates a thumbnail view in which multiple images are designated in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed subject matter. 
         FIG. 10C  illustrates a message compose view in which a communication is associated with multiple images in which multiple people on the social networking system are tagged in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed subject matter. 
         FIG. 10D  illustrates a privacy setting view in which the privacy level of the communication and associated images are selected by the user in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed subject matter. 
     
    
    
     The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only, wherein the figures use like reference numerals to identify like elements. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated in the figures may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Social Networking System—General Introduction 
       FIG. 1  is a network diagram of a system  100  for selecting multiple images within a mobile user interface of a social networking system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The system  100  includes one or more user devices  110 , one or more external systems  120 , the social networking system  130 , and a network  150 . For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the system  100 , shown by  FIG. 1 , includes a single external system  120  and a single user device  110 . However, in other embodiments, the system  100  may include more user devices  110  and/or more external systems  120 . In certain embodiments, the social networking system  130  is operated by a social network provider, whereas the external systems  120  are separate from the social networking system  130  in that they may be operated by different entities. In various embodiments, however, the social networking system  130  and the external systems  120  operate in conjunction to provide social networking services to users (or members) of the social networking system  130 . In this sense, the social networking system  130  provides a platform or backbone, which other systems, such as external systems  120 , may use to provide social networking services and functionalities to users across the Internet. 
     The user device  110  comprises one or more computing devices that can receive input from a user and transmit and receive data via the network  150 . In one embodiment, the user device  110  is a conventional computer system executing, for example, a compatible operating system (OS). In another embodiment, the user device  110  can be a device having computer functionality, such as a smart-phone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, etc. The user device  110  is configured to communicate via the network  150 . The user device  110  can execute an application, for example, a browser application that allows a user of the user device  110  to interact with the social networking system  130 . In another embodiment, the user device  110  interacts with the social networking system  130  through an application programming interface (API) provided by the native operating system of the user device  110 . The user device  110  is configured to communicate with the external system  120  and the social networking system  130  via the network  150 , which may comprise any combination of local area and/or wide area networks, using wired and/or wireless communication systems. 
     In one embodiment, the network  150  uses standard communications technologies and protocols. Thus, the network  150  can include links using technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, CDMA, GSM, LTE, digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Similarly, the networking protocols used on the network  150  can include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), and the like. The data exchanged over the network  150  can be represented using technologies and/or formats including hypertext markup language (HTML) and extensible markup language (XML). In addition, all or some links can be encrypted using conventional encryption technologies such as secure sockets layer (SSL), transport layer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security (IPsec). 
     In one embodiment, the user device  110  may display content from the external system  120  and/or from the social networking system  130  by processing a markup language document  114  received from the external system  120  and from the social networking system  130  using a browser application  112 . The markup language document  114  identifies content and one or more instructions describing formatting or presentation of the content. By executing the instructions included in the markup language document  114 , the browser application  112  displays the identified content using the format or presentation described by the markup language document  114 . For example, the markup language document  114  includes instructions for generating and displaying a web page having multiple frames that include text and/or image data retrieved from the external system  120  and the social networking system  130 . In various embodiments, the markup language document  114  comprises a data file including extensible markup language (XML) data, extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) data, or other markup language data. Additionally, the markup language document  114  may include JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data, JSON with padding (JSONP), and JavaScript data to facilitate data-interchange between the external system  120  and the user device  110 . The browser application  112  on the user device  110  may use a JavaScript compiler to decode the markup language document  114 . 
     The markup language document  114  may also include, or link to, applications or application frameworks. 
     In one embodiment, the user device  110  also includes one or more cookies  116  including data indicating whether a user of the user device  110  is logged into the social networking system  130 , which may enable customization of the data communicated from the social networking system  130  to the user device  110 . In one embodiment, the user device  110  also includes an image processing module  118 , a camera  124 , and a storage module  126 . 
     The external system  120  includes one or more web servers that include one or more web pages  122   a ,  122   b , which are communicated to the user device  110  using the network  150 . The external system  120  is separate from the social networking system  130 . For example, the external system  120  is associated with a first domain, while the social networking system  130  is associated with a separate social networking domain. Web pages  122   a ,  122   b , included in the external system  120 , comprise markup language documents  114  identifying content and including instructions specifying formatting or presentation of the identified content. 
     The social networking system  130  includes one or more computing devices for a social network, including a plurality of users, and providing users of the social network with the ability to communicate and interact with other users of the social network. In some instances, the social network can be represented by a graph, i.e., a data structure including edges and nodes. Other data structures can also be used to represent the social network, including but not limited to databases, objects, classes, meta elements, files, or any other data structure. 
     Users may join the social networking system  130  and then add connections to any number of other users of the social networking system  130  to whom they desire to be connected. As used herein, the term “friend” refers to any other user of the social networking system  130  to whom a user has formed a connection, association, or relationship via the social networking system  130 . For example, in an embodiment, if users in the social networking system  130  are represented as nodes in the social graph, the term “friend” can refer to an edge formed between and directly connecting two user nodes. 
     Connections may be added explicitly by a user or may be automatically created by the social networking system  130  based on common characteristics of the users (e.g., users who are alumni of the same educational institution). For example, a first user specifically selects a particular other user to be a friend. Connections in the social networking system  130  are usually in both directions, but need not be, so the terms “user” and “friend” depend on the frame of reference. Connections between users of the social networking system  130  are usually bilateral (“two-way”), or “mutual,” but connections may also be unilateral, or “one-way.” For example, if Bob and Joe are both users of the social networking system  130  and connected to each other, Bob and Joe are each other&#39;s connections. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes to connect to Joe to view data communicated to the social networking system  130  by Joe, but Joe does not wish to form a mutual connection, a unilateral connection may be established. The connection between users may be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of the social networking system  130  allow the connection to be indirect via one or more levels of connections or degrees of separation. 
     In addition to establishing and maintaining connections between users and allowing interactions between users, the social networking system  130  provides users with the ability to take actions on various types of items supported by the social networking system  130 . These items may include groups or networks (i.e., social networks of people, entities, and concepts) to which users of the social networking system  130  may belong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested, computer-based applications that a user may use via the social networking system  130 , transactions that allow users to buy or sell items via services provided by or through the social networking system  130 , and interactions with advertisements that a user may perform on or off the social networking system  130 . These are just a few examples of the items upon which a user may act on the social networking system  130 , and many others are possible. A user may interact with anything that is capable of being represented in the social networking system  130  or in the external system  120 , separate from the social networking system  130 , or coupled to the social networking system  130  via the network  150 . 
     The social networking system  130  is also capable of linking a variety of entities. For example, the social networking system  130  enables users to interact with each other as well as external systems  120  or other entities through an API, a web service, or other communication channels. The social networking system  130  generates and maintains the “social graph” comprising a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality of edges. Each node in the social graph may represent an entity that can act on another node and/or that can be acted on by another node. The social graph may include various types of nodes. Examples of types of nodes include users, non-person entities, content items, web pages, groups, activities, messages, concepts, and any other things that can be represented by an object in the social networking system  130 . An edge between two nodes in the social graph may represent a particular kind of connection, or association, between the two nodes, which may result from node relationships or from an action that was performed by one of the nodes on the other node. In some cases, the edges between nodes can be weighted. The weight of an edge can represent an attribute associated with the edge, such as a strength of the connection or association between nodes. Different types of edges can be provided with different weights. For example, an edge created when one user “likes” another user may be given one weight, while an edge created when a user befriends another user may be given a different weight. 
     As an example, when a first user identifies a second user as a friend, an edge in the social graph is generated connecting a node representing the first user and a second node representing the second user. As various nodes relate or interact with each other, the social networking system  130  modifies edges connecting the various nodes to reflect the relationships and interactions. 
     The social networking system  130  also includes user-generated content, which enhances a user&#39;s interactions with the social networking system  130 . User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload, send, or “post” to the social networking system  130 . For example, a user communicates posts to the social networking system  130  from a user device  110 . Posts may include data such as status updates or other textual data, location information, images such as photos, videos, links, music or other similar data and/or media. Content may also be added to the social networking system  130  by a third-party. Content “items” are represented as objects in the social networking system  130 . In this way, users of the social networking system  130  are encouraged to communicate with each other by posting text and content items of various types of media through various communication channels. Such communication increases the interaction of users with each other and increases the frequency with which users interact with the social networking system  130 . 
     The social networking system  130  includes a web server  132 , an API request server  134 , a user profile store  136 , a connection store  138 , an action logger  140 , an activity log  142 , an authorization server  144 , and an image processing module  146 . In an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system  130  may include additional, fewer, or different components for various applications. Other components, such as network interfaces, security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management and network operations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure the details of the system. 
     The user account store  136  maintains information about user accounts, including biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptive information, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies or preferences, location, and the like that has been declared by users or inferred by the social networking system  130 . This information is stored in the user account store  136  such that each user is uniquely identified. The social networking system  130  also stores data describing one or more connections between different users in the connection store  138 . The connection information may indicate users who have similar or common work experience, group memberships, hobbies, or educational history. Additionally, the social networking system  130  includes user-defined connections between different users, allowing users to specify their relationships with other users. For example, user-defined connections allow users to generate relationships with other users that parallel the users&#39; real-life relationships, such as friends, co-workers, partners, and so forth. Users may select from predefined types of connections, or define their own connection types as needed. Connections with other nodes in the social networking system  130 , such as non-person entities, buckets, cluster centers, images, interests, pages, external systems, concepts, and the like are also stored in the connection store  138 . 
     The social networking system  130  maintains data about objects with which a user may interact. To maintain this data, the user account store  136  and the connection store  138  store instances of the corresponding type of objects maintained by the social networking system  130 . Each object type has information fields that are suitable for storing information appropriate to the type of object. For example, the user account store  136  contains data structures with fields suitable for describing a user&#39;s account and information related to a user&#39;s account. When a new object of a particular type is created, the social networking system  130  initializes a new data structure of the corresponding type, assigns a unique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the object as needed. This might occur, for example, when a user becomes a user of the social networking system  130 , the social networking system  130  generates a new instance of a user profile in the user account store  136 , assigns a unique identifier to the user account, and begins to populate the fields of the user account with information provided by the user. 
     The connection store  138  includes data structures suitable for describing a user&#39;s connections to other users, connections to external systems  120  or connections to other entities. The connection store  138  may also associate a connection type with a user&#39;s connections, which may be used in conjunction with the user&#39;s privacy setting to regulate access to information about the user. In an embodiment of the invention, the user account store  136  and the connection store  138  may be implemented as a federated database. 
     Data stored in the connection store  138 , the user account store  136 , and the activity log  142  enables the social networking system  130  to generate the social graph that uses nodes to identify various objects and edges connecting nodes to identify relationships between different objects. For example, if a first user establishes a connection with a second user in the social networking system  130 , user accounts of the first user and the second user from the user account store  136  may act as nodes in the social graph. The connection between the first user and the second user stored by the connection store  138  is an edge between the nodes associated with the first user and the second user. Continuing this example, the second user may then send the first user a message within the social networking system  130 . The action of sending the message, which may be stored, is another edge between the two nodes in the social graph representing the first user and the second user. Additionally, the message itself may be identified and included in the social graph as another node connected to the nodes representing the first user and the second user. 
     In another example, a first user may tag a second user in an image that is maintained by the social networking system  130  (or, alternatively, in an image maintained by another system outside of the social networking system  130 ). The image may itself be represented as a node in the social networking system  130 . This tagging action may create edges between the first user and the second user as well as create an edge between each of the users and the image, which is also a node in the social graph. In yet another example, if a user confirms attending an event, the user and the event are nodes obtained from the user account store  136 , where the attendance of the event is an edge between the nodes that may be retrieved from the activity log  142 . By generating and maintaining the social graph, the social networking system  130  includes data describing many different types of objects and the interactions and connections among those objects, providing a rich source of socially relevant information. 
     The web server  132  links the social networking system  130  to one or more user devices  110  and/or one or more external systems  120  via the network  150 . The web server  132  serves web pages, as well as other web-related content, such as Java, JavaScript, Flash, XML, and so forth. The web server  132  may include a mail server or other messaging functionality for receiving and routing messages between the social networking system  130  and one or more user devices  110 . The messages can be instant messages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or any other suitable messaging format. 
     The API request server  134  allows one or more external systems  120  and user devices  110  to call access information from the social networking system  130  by calling one or more API functions. The API request server  134  may also allow external systems  120  to send information to the social networking system  130  by calling APIs. The external system  120 , in one embodiment, sends an API request to the social networking system  130  via the network  150 , and the API request server  134  receives the API request. The API request server  134  processes the request by calling an API associated with the API request to generate an appropriate response, which the API request server  134  communicates to the external system  120  via the network  150 . For example, responsive to an API request, the API request server  134  collects data associated with a user, such as the user&#39;s connections that have logged into the external system  120 , and communicates the collected data to the external system  120 . In another embodiment, the user device  110  communicates with the social networking system  130  via APIs in the same manner as external systems  120 . 
     The action logger  140  is capable of receiving communications from the web server  132  about user actions on and/or off the social networking system  130 . The action logger  140  populates the activity log  142  with information about user actions, enabling the social networking system  130  to discover various actions taken by its users within the social networking system  130  and outside of the social networking system  130 . Any action that a particular user takes with respect to another node on the social networking system  130  may be associated with each user&#39;s account, through information maintained in the activity log  142  or in a similar database or other data repository. Examples of actions taken by a user within the social networking system  130  that are identified and stored may include, for example, adding a connection to another user, sending a message to another user, reading a message from another user, viewing content associated with another user, attending an event posted by another user, posting an image, attempting to post an image, or other actions interacting with another user or another object. When a user takes an action within the social networking system  130 , the action is recorded in the activity log  142 . In one embodiment, the social networking system  130  maintains the activity log  142  as a database of entries. When an action is taken within the social networking system  130 , an entry for the action is added to the activity log  142 . The activity log  142  may be referred to as an action log. 
     Additionally, user actions may be associated with concepts and actions that occur within an entity outside of the social networking system  130 , such as an external system  120  that is separate from the social networking system  130 . For example, the action logger  140  may receive data describing a user&#39;s interaction with an external system  120  from the web server  132 . In this example, the external system  120  reports a user&#39;s interaction according to structured actions and objects in the social graph. 
     Other examples of actions where a user interacts with an external system  120  include a user expressing an interest in an external system  120  or another entity, a user posting a comment to the social networking system  130  that discusses an external system  120  or a web page  122   a  within the external system  120 , a user posting to the social networking system  130  a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other identifier associated with an external system  120 , a user attending an event associated with an external system  120 , or any other action by a user that is related to an external system  120 . Thus, the activity log  142  may include actions describing interactions between a user of the social networking system  130  and an external system  120  that is separate from the social networking system  130 . 
     The authorization server  144  enforces one or more privacy settings of the users of the social networking system  130 . A privacy setting of a user determines how particular information associated with a user can be shared. The privacy setting comprises the specification of particular information associated with a user and the specification of the entity or entities with whom the information can be shared. Examples of entities with which information can be shared may include other users, applications, external systems  120 , or any entity that can potentially access the information. The information that can be shared by a user comprises user account information, such as profile photos, phone numbers associated with the user, user&#39;s connections, actions taken by the user such as adding a connection, changing user profile information, and the like. 
     The privacy setting specification may be provided at different levels of granularity. For example, the privacy setting may identify specific information to be shared with other users; the privacy setting identifies a work phone number or a specific set of related information, such as, personal information including profile photo, home phone number, and status. Alternatively, the privacy setting may apply to all the information associated with the user. The specification of the set of entities that can access particular information can also be specified at various levels of granularity. Various sets of entities with which information can be shared may include, for example, all friends of the user, all friends of friends, all applications, or all external systems  120 . One embodiment allows the specification of the set of entities to comprise an enumeration of entities. For example, the user may provide a list of external systems  120  that are allowed to access certain information. Another embodiment allows the specification to comprise a set of entities along with exceptions that are not allowed to access the information. For example, a user may allow all external systems  120  to access the user&#39;s work information, but specify a list of external systems  120  that are not allowed to access the work information. Certain embodiments call the list of exceptions that are not allowed to access certain information a “block list”. External systems  120  belonging to a block list specified by a user are blocked from accessing the information specified in the privacy setting. Various combinations of granularity of specification of information, and granularity of specification of entities, with which information is shared are possible. For example, all personal information may be shared with friends whereas all work information may be shared with friends of friends. 
     The authorization server  144  contains logic to determine if certain information associated with a user can be accessed by a user&#39;s friends, external systems  120 , and/or other applications and entities. The external system  120  may need authorization from the authorization server  144  to access the user&#39;s more private and sensitive information, such as the user&#39;s work phone number. Based on the user&#39;s privacy settings, the authorization server  144  determines if another user, the external system  120 , an application, or another entity is allowed to access information associated with the user, including information about actions taken by the user. 
     The image processing module  146  of the social networking system  130  and the image processing module  118  of the user device  110  provide image management capabilities. In an embodiment, the image processing module  118  receives images captured by a camera  124  within the user device  110  or provided to the user device  110  from another source. The images may be saved to a storage module  126  within the user device  110 . A user input applied to the user device  110  may cause an image saved in the storage module  126  to be designated for sharing, added to a message, and provided to the social networking system  130 . The functionality of designating images for sharing is described in further detail below. 
     Multiple Photo Selection 
     Users may take advantage of the collaborative features and functionality of the social networking system  130  to upload and share digital images. A user of the social networking system  130  may upload a profile picture that features prominently on her profile and identifies her to friends and other users. A user may also upload a cover image that may be displayed as a banner across the top of the user&#39;s profile. In addition to a profile picture and a cover image, a user may upload images to share with other users, such as photographs of an event, artwork, professional photography portfolios, photos from nature, or any other type of digital images. 
       FIGS. 2A-2D  illustrate online photo sharing functionality of the social networking system  130  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In  FIG. 2A , user Brady Carr has copied to his computer  201  a photograph  202  taken with his digital camera  203 . In  FIG. 2B , Brady Carr has accessed a user interface  204  to upload the photograph  202  to the social networking system  130 . Brady Carr selects an upload option  205  within the user interface  204  that prompts him to browse to the location of the photograph on the local storage of his computer  201 . He finds the photograph  202  and selects the ‘OK’ option  206 . In  FIG. 2C , the photograph  202  has been uploaded to the social networking system  130  and is displayed within the user interface  204 . The user interface  204  in  FIG. 2C  includes a photo editing panel  207  with an options toolbar  208 . In  FIG. 2D , Brady Carr has applied a number of edits to the photograph  202 , resulting in the altered photograph  209 . These edits include a 90 degree rotation, indicated by the ‘rotate’ button  210 , a crop, indicated by the ‘crop’ button  211 , and a blur, indicated by the ‘blur’ button  212 . Brady Carr may finalize and submit these edits by selecting the ‘Save’ option. 
     With the advent of mobile devices that include built-in cameras and connect to wireless data networks, photo sharing has become an increasingly prominent feature of social networking systems. In  FIGS. 2A-2D , Brady Carr has shared the photograph  202  by capturing the photograph  202  with the digital camera  203 , transferring the photograph  202  from the digital camera  203  to the computer  201  using a wired connection, and uploading the photograph  202  from the computer  201  to the social networking system  130 . However, camera-enabled mobile devices have made the process of sharing a photograph easier. An operator of the social networking system  130  may provide a social networking application for the mobile device that allows the user to easily upload photographs directly from his mobile device. Moreover, because people may carry mobile devices such as smartphones with them more often than they carry dedicated cameras, they may have more opportunities to capture photographs and share them. 
     The camera of the mobile device may be used to capture images from within a dedicated camera application or from within the social networking application on the mobile device. Images captured by the camera may be stored in a local storage module within the mobile device, such as the storage module  126 , for later use. Images captured by the camera, or other images stored in the local storage module within the mobile device, may be uploaded to the social networking system  130  using the social networking application. According to one embodiment of the invention, the camera application may be initialized separately from the social network application, and an option to upload images to the social networking system  130  using the social networking application may be selected from within the camera application. According to another embodiment, the camera may be accessed from within the social networking application. Images that are captured using the camera or otherwise stored on the mobile device may be viewed within a single-image view, wherein one image is displayed within the interface of the mobile device. A single-image view may refer to a gallery view. Alternatively, images that are captured using the camera or otherwise stored on the mobile device may be viewed within a multi-image view, wherein multiple images are simultaneously displayed in compact form within the interface of the mobile device. A multi-image view may refer to a thumbnail view. 
       FIG. 3A  illustrates a camera view  311  within an interface  300  of a camera application on a mobile device  301  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, a user is capturing an image  310  of a tree from within the camera view  311  using a camera of the mobile device  301 . Upon pressing a shutter button  302 , the image  310  is captured and saved to a local storage module within the mobile device  301 , such as the storage module  126 . The user may select a gallery option  303  within the interface  300  to view the image  310  or other images stored on the mobile device  301  within a single-image view. Alternatively, the single-image view may be automatically initialized upon capturing the image, with the image  310  displayed within the single-image view. According to one embodiment, the single-image view may be a gallery view. 
       FIG. 3B  illustrates a gallery view  312  within the interface  300  of the camera application on the mobile device  301  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, the user is viewing the image  310  within the gallery view  312 . The user selects an option  304  to share the image, which causes a menu  305  of sharing options to appear. Among the sharing options is an option  306  to share the image via a social network. The user may select this option and initialize a social networking application for providing the image  310  to the social networking system  130 . 
       FIG. 3C  illustrates a message compose view  314  within an interface  313  of the social networking application on the mobile device  301  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, the user is composing a message comprising the image  310  and text  307  within the message compose view  314 . The text  307 , “Check out this tree!,” may accompany the image  310  as a caption or commentary. The user may add more images to the message by selecting an add option  309 . The user may select a ‘Post’ option  308  and cause the image to be uploaded to the social networking system  130 . 
     According to another embodiment of the invention, the camera may be accessed from within the social networking application such that an image captured by the camera may be more easily selected for upload to the social networking system  130 .  FIG. 4A  illustrates a home screen view  402  within an interface  400  of the social networking application on a mobile device  401  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, the user has initialized the social networking application, which displays a news feed within the home screen view  402 . From within an options menu  403 , the user selects an option  404  to access functionality for capturing an image using a camera of the mobile device  401 . The option  404  may allow the user to use the camera from within the interface  400  of the social networking application. 
       FIG. 4B  illustrates a camera view  414  within the interface  400  of the social networking application on the mobile device  401  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, the user is capturing an image  405  of an airplane taking off within the camera view  414 . Upon pressing a standard shutter button  406  or a share shutter button  407 , the image  405  is captured and saved to a local storage module within the mobile device  401 , such as the storage module  126 . If the user selects the share shutter button  407 , the image  405  is automatically designated for sharing and automatically added to a message or communication without the need to receive any additional input commands or instructions from a user to prepare the image for sharing with the message. A single selection prepares the image to be shared in connection with the message. The camera view  414  remains within the interface  400  in order to allow the user to capture more images. The number of captured images that has been added to the message thus far is displayed within a badge  408  accompanying a message compose icon  409 . In the illustrated example, two images have thus far been added to the message. When the user has finished capturing images for sharing, the user may select the message compose icon  409  and access the message containing all of the images he has captured using the share shutter button  407 . 
       FIG. 4C  illustrates a message compose view  415  within the interface  400  of a social networking application on the mobile device  401  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, the user is composing a message including three images  418  and text  410  within the message compose view  415 . The text  410 , “Check out this plane!,” may accompany the three images  418  as a caption or commentary. The user may add more images to the message by selecting an add option  412 . The user may select a ‘Post’ option  411  and cause the three images  418  to be uploaded to the social networking system  130 . 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, the user may select a gallery option  413  within the interface  400  to view images stored on the mobile device  401  within a single-image view. The single-image view may be a gallery view.  FIG. 5A  illustrates a gallery view  502  within an interface  500  of the social networking application on a mobile device  501  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, the gallery view  502  displays an image  503  of a sunset. The image  503  may have been captured using a camera of the mobile device  501  or otherwise stored within the mobile device  501 . The user may select a check mark option  504  to designate the image  503  for sharing and add it to a message. The user may continue browsing images in the gallery view  503  by, for example, swiping across the screen of the mobile device  501  using his finger, and designate additional images for sharing by selecting the check mark option  504  and adding them to the message. According to one embodiment, the user may apply edits to the currently displayed image by selecting an edit option  507 , which may activate a photo editing interface similar to the photo editing panel  207  (as shown in  FIG. 2C ). 
     The number of captured images that has been added to the message thus far is displayed within a badge  505  accompanying a message compose icon  506 . In the illustrated example, four images have thus far been added to the message. To remove an image from the message—i.e., to “un-designate” an image for sharing—the user may browse to a designated image within the gallery view  502  and de-select the check mark option  504 . The user may delete the image by selecting the delete option  520 . 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, the user may select a thumbnail view option  508  within the interface  500  to view images stored on the device within a multi-image view. The multi-image view may be a thumbnail view.  FIG. 5B  illustrates a thumbnail view  509  within the interface  500  of the social networking application on the mobile device  501  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The gallery view  509  displays images  510 ,  511 ,  512 ,  513 ,  514 . Each of the images  510 ,  511 ,  512 ,  513  has a check mark option to designate the image for sharing and add it to a message. The check mark option appears checked for images that have been designated for sharing and unchecked for images that have not been designated for sharing. In the illustrated example, the images  510 ,  511 ,  512 , and  513  have been designated for sharing, and the image  514  has not been designated for sharing. According to an embodiment, if the number of images exceeds the available space within the thumbnail view  509 , the additional images may be seen on a next page (not pictured) that the user may access by, for example, swiping his finger across the screen of the mobile device  501 . The number of images that has been added to the message thus far is displayed within the badge  505  accompanying the message compose icon  506 . In the illustrated example, four images have thus far been added to the message. The user may return to the gallery view  502  by selecting a return option  515 . 
     When the user has finished designating images for sharing, the user may select the message compose icon  506  within the gallery view  502  or the thumbnail view  509  and access the message containing the images he has designated for sharing. If the user selects the message compose icon  506  from within the gallery view  502  without having designated any images for sharing, the image that is currently displayed may be implicitly designated for sharing and automatically added to the message. If the user selects the message compose icon  506  from within the thumbnail view  509  without having designated any images for sharing, the first image in the upper left of the thumbnail view  509  may be implicitly designated for sharing and automatically added to the message. 
       FIG. 5C  illustrates a message compose view  521  within the interface  500  of the social networking application on the mobile device  501  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, the user is composing a message including four images  518  and text  516  within the message compose view  521 . The text  516 , “Great pics!,” may accompany the four images  518  as a caption or commentary. The user may add more images to the message by selecting an add option  519 . The user may select a ‘Post’ option  517  and cause the three images  518  to be uploaded to the social networking system  130 . 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a process  600  for selecting multiple images in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. At block  601 , a user device  110  receives an image. The image may have been captured from within a dedicated camera application or a social networking application using a camera built in to the user device  110 . Alternatively, the image may have been received by the user device  110  from another source. The image may be stored in a storage module  126  within the user device  110 . At block  602 , the user device  110  receives a designation of the image for sharing. The designation may be received from within a camera view based on a user selection of, for example, a share shutter option. Alternatively, the designation may be received from within a single-image view such as a gallery view based on a user selection of, for example, a check mark option. At block  603 , the user device  110  automatically adds the image to a communication without the need to receive any additional input or instructions from a user of the user device  110 . A single selection allows the image to be associated with the communication. At block  604 , the user device  110  provides the communication to the social networking system  130 . The process  600  may be performed in whole or in part by the image processing module  118 , the storage module  126 , or other modules of the user device  110 . 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, the user may receive a visual indication when an image is designated for sharing. Although the number of images designated for sharing may be displayed within a badge icon accompanying a message compose option, the user may not notice an increment in the number within the badge upon designating the image for sharing. Because many mobile devices accept user input via touchscreens, it may sometimes be difficult to determine whether the touchscreen has detected a selection or not. This may be the case if the user&#39;s finger makes accidental contact with the touchscreen and the touchscreen detects a selection that the user did not intend, or if the user intends to make a selection but the touchscreen does not detect the selection because the user&#39;s finger did not make close enough contact with the touchscreen. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide the user with a confirmation of his selection of the image in the form of an animation. 
       FIG. 7A  illustrates a camera view  702  within an interface  700  of a social networking application on a mobile device  701  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. To facilitate illustration, an arrow  704  is shown proceeding from the center of the camera view  702 , indicated by the focus frame  703 , to a message compose option  705 . The arrow  704  indicates that a visual animation including a movement from the center of the camera view  702  to the message compose option  705  is displayed when a user captures the image  717  and designates the image  717  for sharing by selecting a share shutter button  716 . The number within a badge  706  accompanying the message compose option  705  increments to reflect the addition of the image  717  to a message. 
       FIG. 7B  illustrates a gallery view  714  within the interface  700  of a social networking application on the mobile device  701  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. To facilitate illustration, an arrow  708  is shown proceeding from the center of the gallery view  714  to a message compose option  709 . The arrow  708  indicates that a visual animation including a movement from the center of the gallery view  714  to the message compose option  709  is displayed when a user designates an image  718  for sharing by selecting a check mark option  707 . The number within a badge  710  accompanying the message compose option  709  increments to reflect the addition of the image  718  to a message. 
       FIG. 7C  illustrates a thumbnail view  715  within the interface  700  of a social networking application on the mobile device  701  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. To facilitate illustration, an arrow  711  is shown proceeding from the image  710  to a message compose option  712 . The arrow  711  indicates that a visual animation including a movement from the image  710  to the message compose option  712  is displayed when a user designates an image  710  for sharing by selecting the check mark option within the image  710 . The number within a badge  713  accompanying the message compose option  712  increments to reflect the addition of the image  710  to a message. 
     The animation indicated by the arrows in  FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C  may appear in many forms. According to an embodiment, the animation may include a miniaturization effect in which a copy of the image designated for sharing is displayed and appears to progressively shrink as it proceeds from a first location on the screen towards a second location on the screen.  FIG. 7D  illustrates a miniaturization effect in a gallery view  722  within an interface  720  of a social networking application on a mobile device  721  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, a user designates an image  723  for sharing by selecting a check mark option  724 . Upon the user selecting the check mark option  724 , a copy  725  of the image  723  is displayed. The copy  725  is initially centered over the gallery view  722 , but gradually shrinks, or miniaturizes, and proceeds towards a message compose icon  726 . As the animation completes, the copy  725  has shrunk to the point that it has disappeared, producing a visual effect indicating that the image  723  has been designated for sharing and added to a message. In addition, a number within a badge  727  accompanying the message compose icon  726  increments from zero to one. After the animation concludes, the image  723  may be displayed in its original form as shown. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a process  800  for displaying an animation to indicate a user designation of an image for sharing. At block  801 , a user device  110  receives an image. The image may have been captured from within a dedicated camera application or a social networking application using a camera built in to the user device  110 . Alternatively, the image may have been received by the user device  110  from another source. The image may be stored in a storage module  126  within the user device  110 . At block  802 , the user device  110  receives a designation of the image for sharing from within a view. The designation may be received from within a camera view via a user selection of, for example, a share shutter option. Alternatively, the designation may be received from within a single-image view such as a gallery view via a user selection of, for example, a check mark option. Alternatively, the designation may be received from within a multi-image view such as a thumbnail view via a user selection of, for example, an image to be shared. At block  803 , the user device displays an animation indicating that the image has been designated for sharing. The animation may comprise a miniaturization effect, or any other visual element. The miniaturization effect may include displaying a copy of the image and gradually shrinking, or miniaturizing, the copy as it proceeds from a first location within the view to a second location within the view. The first location may be an icon representing the option used to designate the image for sharing. The second location may be an icon representing a message compose option. At block  804 , the user device  110  provides the image to the social networking system  130 . The process  800  may be performed in whole or in part by the image processing module  118 , the storage module  126 , or any other module of the user device  110 . 
     Although the preceding examples have been described with reference to mobile devices, the embodiments described herein may be implemented on any type of user device  110 . On a device with a touchscreen, such as a mobile device or a tablet device, a user selection of an option may be received via the user touching a position on the touchscreen corresponding to an icon representing the option that the user intends to select. On a device with an input mechanism such as a pointing device, a user selection of an option may be received via the user manipulating the mechanism to move a pointer or other visual element into a position corresponding to an icon representing the option that the user intends to select, and pressing a button. A pointing device may refer to a mouse, a trackball device, or any mechanism for manipulating a pointer on a screen. In addition, selection of an option may be triggered by any other form of user input to the user device  110 , such as a voice command. 
       FIG. 10A  illustrates a gallery view  1002  within an interface  1000  of the social networking application on a mobile device  1001  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, the gallery view  1002  displays an image  1010  of a person surfing in the ocean. In another embodiment, the gallery view could display any form of digital media, including images, videos, illustrations, or documents. The user may select a check mark option  1004  to designate the image  1010  for sharing and add it to a message. The user may continue browsing images in the gallery view  1002  by, for example, swiping across the screen of the mobile device  1001  using his finger, and designate additional images for sharing by selecting the check mark option  1004  and adding them to the message. 
     The number of captured images that has been added to the message thus far is displayed within a badge  1005  accompanying a message compose icon  1006 . In the illustrated example, four images have thus far been added to the message. To remove an image from the message, the user may browse to a designated image within the gallery view  1002  and de-select the check mark option  1004 . The user may also tag images with people using the ‘Tag’ button  1020 . In image  1010 , the user has tagged the image with Friend A, another user on the social networking system. The user may tag additional users in image  1010  using the tagging button  1020 . The user may also continue browsing images in the gallery view  1002  and tag additional images with additional users using the tagging button  1020 . In addition, the user may use the tagging button to remove tag data that already exists in image  1010 . 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, the user may select a thumbnail view option  1008  within the interface  1000  to view images stored on the device within a multi-image view.  FIG. 10B  illustrates a thumbnail view  1009  within the interface  1000  of the social networking application on the mobile device  1001  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The thumbnail view  1009  displays images  1010 ,  1011 ,  1012 ,  1013 ,  1014 . Each of the images has a check mark option to designate the image for sharing and to add it to a message. The check mark option appears checked for images that have been designated for sharing and unchecked for images that have not been designated for sharing with a message. In the illustrated example, the images  1010 ,  1011 ,  1012 , and  1013  have been designated for sharing, and the image  1014  has not been designated for sharing. The number of images that has been added to the message thus far is displayed within the badge  1005  accompanying the message compose icon  1006 . In the illustrated example, four images have thus far been added to the message. The user may return to the gallery view  1002  by selecting a return option  1015 . 
     When the user has finished designating images for sharing, the user may select the message compose icon  1006  within the gallery view  1002  or the thumbnail view  1009  and edit the message containing the images he has designated for sharing.  FIG. 10C  illustrates a message compose view  1021  within the interface  1000  of the social networking application on the mobile device  1001  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, the user is composing a message including four images  1018  and text  1016  within the message compose view  1021 . The text  1016 , “Great Pics!,” is associated with the four images  1018 . The message includes a tagging display area  1023  listing all the people tagged in the message itself or in any of the associated images. In the exemplary embodiment, images  1010 ,  1011 ,  1012 , and  1013  each have one unique person tagged in the image. For example,  FIG. 10A  shows that Friend A is tagged in image  1010  (likewise, Friend B is tagged in image  1011 , Friend C is tagged in image  1012 , and Friend D is tagged in image  1013 ). Accordingly, the tagging display area  1023  shows that there are four people tagged: Friend A, Friend B, Friend C, and Friend D. In addition, the user may tag additional people in the message itself using the ‘Tag’ button  1020 . The user may add more images to the message by selecting an add button  1019 . The user may select a ‘Post’ button  1017  and cause the message  1016  and the four images  1018  to be uploaded for sharing on the social networking system. The user may also select the privacy settings icon  1022  to determine the privacy level of the message and the images associated with the message when shared on the social networking system. 
     In one embodiment, the privacy level of the message and the privacy level of all the media associated with the message will always be the same. Therefore, if a person on the social networking system has access to the message, then he will also have access to all the media associated with the message. Likewise, if a person on the social networking system has access to any of the associated media, then he will also have access to the message and the remainder of the associated media.  FIG. 10D  illustrates the privacy setting view  1026  when the user has selected the privacy setting icon  1022 . The privacy levels  1025  could include: Me, Friends, Public, and Custom. The privacy setting view  1025  shows that the privacy level is currently set to the “Me” setting. The privacy level selected by the user will determine who has access to the message and associated media. The privacy level will also be adjusted based on the people tagged in the message and associated media, as illustrated by the following two examples. 
     In one example, the user creates a message  1016  with four associated images  1018 . The user has not tagged any people in the message  1016  or the associated images  1018 . If the user selects the “Me” privacy setting, then the message  1016  and the associated images  1018  will only be shared with the user. If the user selects the “Friends” privacy setting, the message  1016  and the associated images  1018  will be shared with the friends of the user. If the user selects the “Public” privacy setting, then the message  1016  and the associated images  1018  will be shared with anyone on the social networking system. Lastly, the user can select a “Custom” privacy setting for the message  1016  and the associated images  1018 . 
     In a second example, the user creates a message  1016  with four associated images  1018 . The user tags one person in each image, so that four different people are tagged in the four images  1018 . The privacy level for the message and associated media will be adjusted according to the people tagged in the message and associated media. If the user sets the privacy level of the message to the “Me” setting, then he and the four tagged people will have access to the message  1016  and the associated images  1018 . If the user sets the privacy level of the message to the “Friends” setting, then the message  1016  and the associated images  1018  will be shared with the friends of the user and the friends of all four tagged people as well. In the “Friends” setting, the message and associated images will be accessible to both the friends of the user and the friends of all four tagged people on the social networking system. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 10C , a message  1016  has four associated images  1018  and four tagged users in the tagging display area  1023 . If the user selected the “Me” setting for the privacy level of the message  1016 , then message  1016  and images  1018  will be shared only with the user and the people tagged in the message  1016  and images  1018  (i.e. the user, Friend A, Friend B, Friend C, and Friend D). If the user selected the “Friends” setting for the privacy level of message  1016 , then message  1016  and images  1018  will be shared with the friends of both the user and the tagged people. Therefore, in the exemplary embodiment, if the user selected the “Friends” privacy setting, then the message  1016  and images  1018  will be shared with five networks of friends (i.e. the friend networks of the user, Friend A, Friend B, Friend C, and Friend D). 
     In another embodiment of the invention, the tags in the message  1016  and the associated images  1018  are completely dynamic with each other. So if the user deletes a tag to a person in the message  1016 , then the tag for that person is deleted in both the message  1016  itself and all the associated images  1018  as well. Likewise, if the user deletes a tag to a person in one of the associated images  1018 , then the tagged for that person is deleted in both the message  1016  and all the other associated images  1018  as well. For example, a user creates a message with tags of the same person in two associated images. If the user deletes one tag for the person, then the tags for same person in both images are automatically deleted. In other words, if one of the tags for a person is removed in the message  1016  or associated images  1018 , then all of the tags for the same person is removed from the message  1016  and associated images  1018 . 
     In an alternative embodiment, if the user changes the privacy level of the message, then the privacy level of the images associated with the message are dynamically changed as well. Likewise, if the user changes the privacy level of the any of the associated images, then the privacy level of the message and all the other associated images will be changed as well. In one example, the user has selected the “Me” privacy setting for message  1016  and associated images  1018 . If a tag to a person is removed from message  1016  or one of the images  1018 , then access to message  1016  and images  1018  will be automatically adjusted to restrict access to the person removed from the tag. In a second example, the user has selected the “Friends” privacy setting for message  1016  and associated images  1018 . If a tag to a person is removed from message  1016  or one of the images  1018 , then access to the message  1016  and images  1018  will be automatically adjusted to restrict access to the friends of the person removed from the tag. Therefore, the privacy level of the message and associated images will always remain the same, even when changes are made to the message or any of the associated images. 
     Hardware Implementation 
     The foregoing processes and features can be implemented by a wide variety of machine and computer system architectures and in a wide variety of network and computing environments.  FIG. 9  illustrates an example of a computer system  900  that may be used to implement one or more of the embodiments described herein. The computer system  900  includes sets of instructions for causing the computer system  900  to perform the processes and features discussed herein. The computer system  900  may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the computer system  900  may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. In an embodiment of the invention, the computer system  900  may be the social networking system  130 , the user device  110 , and the external system  120 , or a component thereof. In an embodiment of the invention, the computer system  900  may be one server among many that constitutes all or part of the social networking system  130 . 
     The computer system  900  includes a processor  902 , a cache  904 , and one or more executable modules and drivers, stored on a computer-readable medium, directed to the processes and features described herein. Additionally, the computer system  900  includes a high performance input/output (I/O) bus  906  and a standard I/O bus  908 . A host bridge  910  couples processor  902  to high performance I/O bus  906 , whereas I/O bus bridge  912  couples the two buses  906  and  908  to each other. A system memory  914  and one or more network interfaces  916  couple to high performance I/O bus  906 . The computer system  900  may further include video memory and a display device coupled to the video memory (not shown). Mass storage  918  and I/O ports  920  couple to the standard I/O bus  908 . The computer system  900  may optionally include a keyboard and pointing device, a display device, or other input/output devices (not shown) coupled to the standard I/O bus  908 . Collectively, these elements are intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems, including but not limited to computer systems based on the x86-compatible processors, as well as any other suitable processor. 
     An operating system manages and controls the operation of the computer system  900 , including the input and output of data to and from software applications (not shown). The operating system provides an interface between the software applications being executed on the system and the hardware components of the system. Any suitable operating system may be used. Other implementations are possible. 
     The elements of the computer system  900  are described in greater detail below. In particular, the network interface  916  provides communication between the computer system  900  and any of a wide range of networks, such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, a backplane, etc. The mass storage  918  provides permanent storage for the data and programming instructions to perform the above-described processes and features implemented by the respective computing systems identified above, whereas the system memory  914  (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storage for the data and programming instructions when executed by the processor  902 . The I/O ports  920  may be one or more serial and/or parallel communication ports that provide communication between additional peripheral devices, which may be coupled to the computer system  900 . 
     The computer system  900  may include a variety of system architectures, and various components of the computer system  900  may be rearranged. For example, the cache  904  may be on-chip with processor  902 . Alternatively, the cache  904  and the processor  902  may be packed together as a “processor module”, with processor  902  being referred to as the “processor core”. Furthermore, certain embodiments of the invention may neither require nor include all of the above components. For example, peripheral devices coupled to the standard I/O bus  908  may couple to the high performance I/O bus  906 . In addition, in some embodiments, only a single bus may exist, with the components of the computer system  900  being coupled to the single bus. Furthermore, the computer system  900  may include additional components, such as additional processors, storage devices, or memories. 
     In general, the processes and features described herein may be implemented as part of an operating system or a specific application, component, program, object, module, or series of instructions referred to as “programs”. For example, one or more programs may be used to execute specific processes described herein. The programs typically comprise one or more instructions in various memory and storage devices in the computer system  900  that, when read and executed by one or more processors, cause the computer system  900  to perform operations to execute the processes and features described herein. The processes and features described herein may be implemented in software, firmware, hardware (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit), or any combination thereof. 
     In one implementation, the processes and features described herein are implemented as a series of executable modules run by the computer system  900 , individually or collectively in a distributed computing environment. The foregoing modules may be realized by hardware, executable modules stored on a computer-readable medium (or machine-readable medium), or a combination of both. For example, the modules may comprise a plurality or series of instructions to be executed by a processor in a hardware system, such as the processor  902 . Initially, the series of instructions may be stored on a storage device, such as the mass storage  918 . However, the series of instructions can be stored on any suitable computer readable storage medium. Furthermore, the series of instructions need not be stored locally, and could be received from a remote storage device, such as a server on a network, via the network interface  916 . The instructions are copied from the storage device, such as the mass storage  918 , into the system memory  914  and then accessed and executed by the processor  902 . 
     Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memory devices; solid state memories; floppy and other removable disks; hard disk drives; magnetic media; optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs)); other similar non-transitory (or transitory), tangible (or non-tangible) storage medium; or any type of medium suitable for storing, encoding, or carrying a series of instructions for execution by the computer system  900  to perform any one or more of the processes and features described herein. 
     For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the description. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, modules, structures, processes, features, and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description. In other instances, functional block diagrams and flow diagrams are shown to represent data and logic flows. The components of block diagrams and flow diagrams (e.g., modules, blocks, structures, devices, features, etc.) may be variously combined, separated, removed, reordered, and replaced in a manner other than as expressly described and depicted herein. 
     Reference in this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “other embodiments”, “one series of embodiments”, or the like means that a particular feature, design, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of, for example, the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, whether or not there is express reference to an “embodiment” or the like, various features are described, which may be variously combined and included in some embodiments, but also variously omitted in other embodiments. Similarly, various features are described that may be preferences or requirements for some embodiments, but not other embodiments. 
     The language used herein has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.