Patent ID: 8719347

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for generating a stream of content for a first user, the method comprising: determining, with one or more processors, that the first user has a social connection with a second user; identifying, with the one or more processors, a first interest associated with the second user; receiving input from the first user to add the first interest to a model; generating, with the one or more processors, the model that includes the first interest associated with the second user and a second interest associated with the first user based on at least one prior action performed by the first user with reference to a group of heterogeneous data sources, wherein the at least one prior action is used to identify inferred interests, wherein the at least one prior action includes a search term used in a search engine and wherein the inferred interests include a subject corresponding to the search term; receiving candidate content items from a friend of the first user, the received candidate content items being from a content stream of the friend; generating, with the one or more processors, a set of candidate content items that are each associated with at least one of the first interest, the second interest and the candidate content items from the friend of the first user; computing, with the one or more processors, a score for each candidate content item in the set using the model and based upon interestingness of each candidate content item to the first user and a probability that the candidate content item will be present in the first user's stream, wherein the interestingness includes social relevance to the first user and an interest match of the candidate content item to the first user; generating the stream of content from selected content items using the score of each candidate content item; generating an explanation for at least one selected content item in the stream of content; and distributing the stream of content and the explanation for display alongside the at least one selected content item in a social network.