Patent ID: 8650255

Claim:
A computer implemented method, comprising: receiving, by a computing device, an information request, from a requester, for conversation information concerning an instant messaging conversation in which an online user of an instant messaging system is participating; obtaining, by the computing device, the conversation information concerning the instant messaging conversation, wherein the conversation information includes a topic of the instant messaging conversation, and wherein obtaining the conversation information includes determining the topic of the instant messaging conversation; providing, to the requestor, one or more keywords by, at least in part, filtering one or more generic words of the instant messaging conversation to determine the topic of the instant messaging conversation; providing, to the requestor, one or more words remaining after filtering the one or more generic words of the instant messaging conversation; providing, by the computing device, the conversation information to the requestor, wherein the conversation information includes the topic of the instant messaging conversation based on the one or more filtered generic words of the instant messaging conversation; receiving, by the computing device, a join request, from the requestor, to join the instant messaging conversation in which the online user of the instant messaging system is participating; and providing, by the computing device, a notification to the online user that the requestor would like to join the instant messaging conversation.