Patent ID: 8612475

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for generating conversations in a social network comprising: receiving, with one or more processors, a first electronic image from a first user device and metadata associated with the first electronic image; performing, with the one or more processors, a visual search using the first electronic image to identify a first electronic document from a database of electronic documents; determining, with the one or more processors, whether a discussion group exists that is related to the metadata associated with the first electronic image; receiving, with the one or more processors, a second electronic image from a second user device and metadata associated with the second electronic image; performing, with the one or more processors, a visual search using the second electronic image to identify a second electronic document from the database of electronic documents; responsive to the discussion group in the determining step being found to exist, determining, with the one or more processors, whether the discussion group is related to the metadata associated with the second electronic image, the metadata associated with the second electronic image being used to determine a proximity in time between a creation of the discussion group and a time of creation of the second electronic image; and responsive to the discussion group being related to the metadata associated with the first electronic image and the metadata associated with the second electronic image, providing, with the one or more processors, information about the discussion group to the first user device and the second user device.