Patent Document ID: 9189559
Application ID: 14455862

Base Claim:
1. A method comprising: obtaining a plurality of news stories that describe a plurality of activities performed by a plurality of other entities with whom a viewing user has established a connection in a social networking system; ranking the plurality of news stories based on a determined affinity of the viewing user for an aspect of each of the news stories; selecting a set of top news stories from the plurality of news stories based on the ranking; and determining a story layout for the selected top news stories, the story layout comprising a placement of each of the selected top news stories in one or more of a plurality of columns, the placements based at least in part on the viewing user's affinity for the top stories; providing a news feed for display to the viewing user, where the news feed comprises the selected top news stories displayed according to the determined story layout, by generating an aggregated story based on a plurality of news stories having a common topic, where the aggregated story comprises a selectable link for expanding the aggregated story for displaying the plurality of news stories having the common topic, determining the story layout for the selected top news stories and the aggregated story, the story layout comprising a placement of each of the selected top news stories and the aggregated story in the one or more of the plurality of columns, where the placement is based at least in part on the viewing user's affinity for the top stories and the common topic, and providing the aggregated story in the news feed for display to the viewing user, where the news feed comprises the selected top news stories and the aggregated story displayed according to the determined story layout.

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Claim 11:
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the news feed further comprises a plurality of the news stories not selected as top news stories displayed in reverse chronological order in the news feed below the top news stories.