Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MULTIPLE PHOTO FEED STORIES
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 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
[0002] 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's profiles and
the content posted
on them. Friends' posts may appear as news stories in each other's news feeds,
and friends
can usually comment on each other'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's profile is only accessible to the user's friends.
[0003] 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'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.
[0004] 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.
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SUMMARY
[0005] 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.
[0006] 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.
[0007] 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.
[0008] 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.
[0009] 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.
[0010] 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.
[0011] 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
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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.
[0012] 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
[0013] FIGURE 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.
[0014] FIGURE 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.
[0015] FIGURE 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.
[0016] FIGURE 2C illustrates the photograph uploaded to the social
networking
system and displayed within a user interface in accordance with an embodiment
of the
invention.
[0017] FIGURE 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.
[0018] FIGURE 3A illustrates a camera view within an interface of a camera
application on a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention.
[0019] FIGURE 3B illustrates a gallery view within the interface of the
camera
application on the mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention.
[0020] FIGURE 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.
[0021] FIGURE 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.
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[0022] FIGURE 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.
[0023] FIGURE 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.
[0024] FIGURE 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.
[0025] FIGURE 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.
[0026] FIGURE 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.
[0027] FIGURE 6 illustrates a process for selecting multiple images in
accordance
with an embodiment of the invention.
[0028] FIGURE 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.
[0029] FIGURE 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.
[0030] FIGURE 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.
[0031] FIGURE 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.
[0032] FIGURE 8 illustrates a process for displaying an animation to
indicate a user
designation of an image for sharing.
[0033] FIGURE 9 illustrates an example of a computer system that may be
used to
implement one or more of the embodiments described herein.
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[0034] FIGURE 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.
[0035] FIGURE 10B illustrates a thumbnail view in which multiple images are
designated in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed subject matter.
[0036] FIGURE 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.
[0037] FIGURE 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.
[0038] 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
[0039] FIGURE 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 FIGURE 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
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other systems, such as external systems 120, may use to provide social
networking services
and functionalities to users across the Internet.
[0040] 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 Microsoft Windows compatible operating system (OS), Apple OS X, and/or a
Linux
distribution. 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, such as iOS 4 and ANDROID. 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.
[0041] 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).
[0042] 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
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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.
[0043] The markup language document 114 may also include, or link to,
applications
or application frameworks such as FLASHTM or UnityTM applications, the
SilverLightTM
application framework, etc.
[0044] 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.
[0045] The external system 120 includes one or more web servers that
include one or
more web pages 122a, 122b, 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
122a, 122b, included in the external system 120, comprise markup language
documents 114
identifying content and including instructions specifying formatting or
presentation of the
identified content.
[0046] 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,
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including but not limited to databases, objects, classes, meta elements,
files, or any other
data structure.
[0047] 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.
[0048] 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'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.
[0049] 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
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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.
[0050] 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.
[0051] 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.
[0052] The social networking system 130 also includes user-generated
content, which
enhances a user'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
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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.
[0053] 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.
[0054] 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' 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.
[0055] 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
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appropriate to the type of object. For example, the user account store 136
contains data
structures with fields suitable for describing a user's account and
information related to a
user'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.
[0056] The connection store 138 includes data structures suitable for
describing a
user'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's
connections, which may be used in conjunction with the user'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.
[0057] 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.
[0058] 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
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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.
[0059] 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.
[0060] 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'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.
[0061] 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'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
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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.
[0062] 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's interaction with an external
system 120
from the web server 132. In this example, the external system 120 reports a
user's
interaction according to structured actions and objects in the social graph.
[0063] 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 122a 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.
[00641 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
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associated with the user, user's connections, actions taken by the user such
as adding a
connection, changing user profile information, and the like.
[0065] 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'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.
[0066] The authorization server 144 contains logic to determine if certain
information
associated with a user can be accessed by a user'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's more private and sensitive
information, such as
the user's work phone number. Based on the user'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.
[0067] 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
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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
[0068] 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'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.
[0069] FIGURES 2A-2D illustrate online photo sharing functionality of the
social
networking system 130 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In
FIGURE
2A, user Brady Carr has copied to his computer 201 a photograph 202 taken with
his digital
camera 203. In FIGURE 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 FIGURE 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 FIGURE 2C includes a photo editing panel 207 with an options
toolbar
208. In FIGURE 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.
[0070] 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 FIGURES 2A-2D, Brady Carr has shared the
photograph 202
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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.
[0071] 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.
[0072] FIGURE 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
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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.
[0073] FIGURE 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.
[0074] FIGURE 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.
[0075] 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.
FIGURE 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.
[0076] FIGURE 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
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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.
[0077] FIGURE 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.
[0078] 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. FIGURE 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 FIGURE
2C).
[0079] 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
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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.
[0080] 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.
FIGURE 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.
[0081] 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.
[0082] FIGURE 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
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select a 'Post' option 517 and cause the three images 518 to be uploaded to
the social
networking system 130.
[0083] FIGURE 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.
[0084] 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'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'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.
[0085] FIGURE 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
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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.
[0086] FIGURE 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.
[0087] FIGURE 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.
[0088] The animation indicated by the arrows in FIGURES 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. FIGURE 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
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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.
[0089] FIGURE 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.
[0090] 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
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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.
[0091] FIGURE 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.
[0092] 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.
[0093] 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. FIGURE 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
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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.
[0094] 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.
FIGURE 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.
[0095] 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. FIGURE 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.
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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.
[0096] 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.
[0097] 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.
[0098] 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).
[0099] 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
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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.
[00100] 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
[00101] 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. FIGURE 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
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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.
[00102] 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 (1/0) bus 906 and a standard I/0 bus 908. A
host bridge
910 couples processor 902 to high performance I/0 bus 906, whereas I/0 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/0 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/0 ports 920 couple to the standard I/0 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/0
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 manufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara,
California, and the
x86-compatible processors manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc.,
of
Sunnyvale, California, as well as any other suitable processor.
[00103] 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, such as the LINUX Operating System, the Apple Macintosh
Operating
System, available from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIX
operating systems,
Microsoft Windows operating systems, BSD operating systems, and the like.
Other
implementations are possible.
[00104] 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
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memory 914 (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storage for the data and
programming
instructions when executed by the processor 902. The 1/0 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.
[00105] 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 1/0 bus 908 may couple to the high performance I/0 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.
[00106] 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.
[00107] 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
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from the storage device, such as the mass storage 918, into the system memory
914 and then
accessed and executed by the processor 902.
[00108] 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.
[00109] 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.
[00110] 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.
[00111] 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
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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.
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