EWS-006285
`
`Early Warning Services 1054
`IPR of U.S. Pat. No. 8,887,308
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Sep. 11, 2008 Sheet 1 0f 6
`
`US 2008/0222199 A1
`
`FIG. 1
`
`
`
`ALL
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`Patent Application Publication
`
`Sep. 11, 2008 Sheet 2 0f 6
`
`US 2008/0222199 A1
`
`FIG. 2
`
`280
`
`/
`
`Third Party
`Server
`
`API 290
`
`250
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 11, 2008 Sheet 3 of 6
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`US 2008/0222199 A1
`
`FIG. 3
`
`William’s Landing Page (http://www.friendster.com/william)
`
`IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
`
`IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
`
`V
`
`Xanga.com
`
`361
`
`350
`
`YouTube
`
`363
`
`330
`
`
`
`Flickr
`
`362
`
`EWS—OO6288
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 11, 2008 Sheet 4 of 6
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`US 2008/0222199 A1
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`FIG. 4
`
`
`
`William’s Landing Page (http://www.friendster.com/william)
`315
`
`
`
`""""""""""""
`
`Video Site 2
`
`
`
`
`
`
`361
`
`
`
`Video Site 1
`
`452
`
`451
`
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 11, 2008 Sheet 5 of 6
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`US 2008/0222199 A1
`
`FIG. 5
`
`Start
`
`User selects video
`
`for viewing
`
`Stream video to
`
`user’s computer
`
`User selects hyperlink
`“Post to Friendster."
`
`User enters Friendster
`
`User ID and password
`
`Transmit User ID,
`
`data to Friendster
`
`password and video
`
`Authenticate
`
`Store video data in
`
`multimedia database
`
`Generate embed
`
`codes for user
`
`510
`
`512
`
`514
`
`516
`
`518
`
`520
`
`522
`
`524
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 11, 2008 Sheet 6 0f 6
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`US 2008/0222199 A1
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`FIG. 6
`
`
`
`William’s Landing Page (http://www.friendster.com/william)
`
`310
`
`315
`
`330
`
`____________ A __-__-----_/ /
`5 My Profile
`5
`5 My Friends
`3
`: My Pictures
`3
`
`/610
`(/440
`320
`______________________________ /4 -' """““""“"“ ""7"" ""1
`i MyBlogs
`5
`. MyVideos
`'1
`1
`
`E
`
`E
`
`441
`
`442
`
`443
`
`i
`
`611
`
`i
`
`i. _______________________________'
`
`L___,v ____________________I__________ I
`
`o .....-
`
`-----
`
`362
`
`Xanga.com
`
`\‘
`
`_
`.
`VIdeo Site1
`
`452
`
`350
`
`361
`
`451
`
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`US 2008/0222199 A1
`
`Sep. 11,2008
`
`MULTIMEDIA AGGREGATION IN AN
`ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`[0001]
`[0002] The present invention generally relates to process-
`ing of online social network data, and more particularly, to a
`method and system for managing multimedia content appear-
`ing on user pages of an online social network.
`[0003]
`2. Description of the Related Art
`[0004] Over the past several years, the amount of multime-
`dia content available online has increased dramatically. With
`access to cheap storage and higher bandwidths, photo sharing
`sites and video sharing sites have become widely used. Shar-
`ing personal photos with families and friends through one of
`these photo sharing sites is now commonplace. The explosion
`in video sharing is not so much attributable to the sharing of
`personal video created by the user but the sharing of video
`created by another person that the user finds particularly
`funny, interesting or informative.
`[0005] Video sharing is often done through e-mail. Typi-
`cally, after viewing a video, the user inputs e-mail addresses
`of those persons with whom the user would like to share the
`video. In response, the video sharing site sends an e-mail to
`such persons with a hyperlink to the video. The person receiv-
`ing the e-mail can access the hyperlink to view the video and
`share the video with other persons in the same manner. Video
`viewership can increase very rapidly in this manner.
`[0006] A less intrusive way of sharing video is through a
`profile or landing page a user maintains at an online social
`network. When a user finds a video that is particularly funny,
`interesting or informative, the user features that video on his
`or her landing page at the online social network. As people
`visit the user’s landing page at the online social network, they
`can watch the video from the user’s landing page although the
`actual video feed is from a third party source.
`[0007] As more and more users at online social networks
`feature videos and other multimedia content on their landing
`pages, the task of managing them has become a challenge to
`online social networks. One major reason for the difficulty in
`managing such multimedia content is that much of it are not
`stored locally by the online social networks but are streamed
`from servers that host the multimedia content when they are
`accessed for viewing.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0008] The present invention provides a method and system
`for managing multimedia content that appear on various user
`pages ofan online social network. According to embodiments
`of the present invention, when multimedia content from a
`third party source is selected by a user to be featured on his or
`her profile or landing page, source ID and content ID corre-
`sponding to the featured multimedia content are stored
`locally in a database managed by the online social network,
`and an embed code for accessing the featured multimedia
`content is generated using the source ID and the content ID.
`The source ID is an identifier of the third party source of the
`multimedia content and is associated with a configuration file
`that is used in generating the embed code. The content ID is an
`identifier for the multimedia content used by the third party
`source and is used as an input parameter when generating the
`embed code with the configuration file.
`
`[0009] By managing multimedia content in accordance
`with embodiments of the present invention, greater control
`can be exercised by the online social network over the mul-
`timedia content that are featured in the landing pages of its
`users. For example, inappropriate content can be filtered eas-
`ily by searching for the source ID and content ID correspond-
`ing to the inappropriate content and flagging them so that the
`embed code for such content will not be generated. Blocking
`an entire site is even easier. It just requires a change to the
`configuration file corresponding to that site so that a web page
`displaying a message such as “Access to the URL ****.com
`is not permitted.” can be generated in place of the embed
`code. As another example, invalid links that are caused by
`URL changes implemented by the source of the multimedia
`content can be fixed easily by making the appropriate correc-
`tion to such source’s configuration file. After the correction is
`made to the configuration file, all embed codes generated
`using this configuration file will have the correct URL.
`[0010] A first embodiment of the present
`invention is
`directed to a method for generating a web page, e. g., a landing
`page of a user of an online social network, that includes a
`multimedia section in which multimedia content from a third
`
`party source can be displayed. The method includes the steps
`of receiving a user selection of multimedia content of a third
`party source that is to be added to the multimedia section,
`storing a source ID associated with the third party source,
`storing a content ID associated with the multimedia content,
`generating an embed code for the multimedia content using
`the source ID and the content ID, and generating the web page
`including the multimedia section using the embed code. The
`embed code may be generated by executing a configuration
`file associated with the source ID, wherein the configuration
`file specifies the format ofthe embed code and the location of
`the third party source (e. g., its URL) associated with the
`source ID.
`
`[0011] A second embodiment of the present invention is
`directed to a method for generating a web page for a user of
`the online social network, e.g., the user’s landing page, based
`on third party multimedia content aggregated by other users
`ofthe online social network. The method includes the steps of
`retrieving source IDs and content IDs of multimedia content
`aggregated by other users ofthe online social network, select-
`ing at least one multimedia content aggregated by the other
`users of the online social network, generating an embed code
`for the selected multimedia content using its source ID and
`the content ID, and generating the web page using the embed
`code. The embed code may be generated by executing a
`configuration file associated with the source ID, wherein the
`configuration file specifies the format of the embed code and
`the location of the third party source associated with the
`source ID. The multimedia content may be selected based on
`its popularity with other users of the online social network
`who are related to the user of the online social network by N
`degrees of separation or less.
`[0012] A third embodiment of the present invention is
`directed to a web server computer for an online social net-
`work. The web server computer includes a local database that
`stores content for a plurality of users of the online social
`network, the content for each of the users including profile
`information and pointers to third party multimedia content,
`and a processing unit that is programmed to generate a land-
`ing page for each ofthe users with the profile information and
`at least one pointer to third party multimedia content. Each of
`the pointers to third party multimedia content includes a
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`Sep. 11,2008
`
`source ID associated with a source of the third party multi-
`media content and a content ID associated with the third party
`multimedia content, and the landing page includes an embed
`code for the third party multimedia content that is generated
`using the source ID and the content ID.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`So that the manner in which the above recited fea-
`[0013]
`tures of the present invention can be understood in detail, a
`more particular description of the invention, briefly summa-
`rized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some
`of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be
`noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only
`typical embodiments ofthis invention and are therefore not to
`be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may
`admit to other equally effective embodiments.
`[0014]
`FIG. 1 is a diagram that graphically represents the
`relationships between users of an online social network;
`[0015]
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of
`a system for managing an online social network and connec-
`tions to this system from a third party server and client com-
`puters;
`FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an example of a
`[0016]
`landing page for a particular user and external content sources
`for the landing page;
`[0017]
`FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a user landing
`page that has been generated in accordance with an embodi-
`ment of the present invention;
`[0018]
`FIG. 5 is a flow diagram that illustrates the steps
`carried out to generate a web page that includes embed codes
`for multimedia content; and
`[0019]
`FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a user landing
`page that has been generated in accordance with another
`embodiment of the present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`FIG. 1 is a graph representation of a social network
`[0020]
`centered on a given individual (ME). Other users ofthis social
`network include A-U whose position, relative to ME’s, is
`referred to by the degree of separation between ME and each
`other user. Friends of ME, which includes A, B, and C, are
`separated from ME by one degree of separation (l d/s). A
`friend of a friend of ME is separated from ME by 2 d/s. As
`shown, D, E, F, G, and H are each separated from ME by 2 d/s.
`A friend ofa friend ofa friend ofME is separated from ME by
`3 d/s. FIG. 1 depicts all nodes separated from ME by more
`than 3 degrees of separation as belonging to the category
`ALL.
`
`[0021] Degrees of separation in a social network are
`defined relative to an individual. For example, in ME’s social
`network, H and ME are separated by 2 d/s, whereas in G’s
`social network, H and G are separated by only 1 d/s. Accord-
`ingly, each individual will have their own set of first, second
`and third degree relationships.
`[0022] As those skilled in the art understand, an individu-
`al’s social network may be extended to include nodes to an
`Nth degree of separation. As the number of degrees increases
`beyond three, however, the number of nodes typically grows
`at an explosive rate and quickly begins to mirror the ALL set.
`[0023]
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system 250
`for creating and managing an online social network. The
`system 250 represents one example embodiment of a system
`for creating and managing an online social network, and
`
`includes an application server 251 and one or more graph
`servers 252. As known in the art, a server is a computer having
`a processing unit and system memory that is programmed to
`carry out certain functions. The system 250 is connected to a
`network 260, e.g., the Internet, and accessible over the net-
`work by a plurality of remote computers (only three of which
`are shown), collectively designated as 270, and a third party
`server 280 that manage its user database 285 and communi-
`cate with the system 250 through an application program-
`ming interface (API) 290 provided by the system 250. The
`system 250 is connected to other third party servers (some of
`which communicate with the system 250 through APIs pro-
`vided by the system 250) but, for simplicity, they are not
`shown in FIG. 2.
`
`[0024] The application server 251 manages a user database
`254, a relationship database 255, a search database 256, and
`other databases 257. The user database 254 contains profile
`information for each of the user in the online social network
`
`managed by the system 250. The profile information may
`include, among other things: a unique user identifier (user
`ID), name, age, gender, location, hometown, references to
`image files, listing of interests, attributes, and the like. The
`user database 254 also contains information about groups
`(e.g., organizations, school alumni associations, family, etc.)
`that users have defined. The group information may include,
`among other things: a unique group identifier (group ID),
`name, description of the group, and members of the group.
`The relationship database 255 stores for each user, the user
`IDs of all users with whom the user has a direct relationship,
`i.e., direct friends ofthe user who are users ofthe online social
`network. In addition, the contents ofthe user database 254 are
`indexed and optimized for search, and stored in the search
`database 256. The other databases 257 may include a multi-
`media content database and a database for storing testimoni-
`als and various other information commonly stored in online
`social networks and communities. The user database 254, the
`relationship database 255, the search database 256, and the
`other databases 257 are updated to reflect inputs of new user
`information and edits of existing user information that are
`made through the remote computers 270.
`[0025] The application server 251 also manages the infor-
`mation exchange requests that it receives from the remote
`computers 270 over the Internet. The graph servers 252
`receive a query from the application server 251, process the
`query and return the query results to the application server
`251. The graph servers 252 manage a representation of the
`social network for all users in the member database. The
`
`graph servers 252 have a dedicated memory device 253, such
`as a random access memory (RAM), in which an adjacency
`list that indicates all first degree relationships in the social
`network is stored. The graph servers 252 respond to requests
`from application server 251 to identify relationships and the
`degree of separation between users of the online social net-
`work. The application server 251 is further configured to
`receive data feeds, e.g., RSS feeds, from a third party server
`280 through an application programming interface (API) 290
`that third parties may use to send data to the application server
`251 for storage in one of the databases managed by the appli-
`cation server 251.
`
`invention
`In the embodiments of the present
`[0026]
`described below, users are respectively operating the remote
`computers 270 that are programmed to execute web browser
`programs, and access the web pages managed by the appli-
`cation server 251 using the web browser programs. The web
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`
`pages that are displayed to a user are transmitted from the
`application server 251 to that user’s remote computer and
`processed by the web browser program stored in that user’s
`remote computer for display through the monitor of that
`user’s remote computer.
`[0027]
`FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a web page that
`functions as a profile or landing page for a particularuser in an
`online social network and external content sources for the
`
`landing page. This landing page can be accessed several
`ways. First, it can be accessed from within the online social
`network by the user when the user logs into the online social
`network and navigates to this web page or by other users who
`clicks on a user ID or an image associated with this user.
`Second, it can be accessed directly by typing in the associated
`URL into a web browser. Third, this page may be opened up
`to web crawlers of search engines and accessed when a user
`clicks on a search result that is hyperlinked to this page.
`[0028] The web page shown in FIG. 3 includes multiple
`sections that contain different categories of content associ-
`ated with the user. The user’s profile information is provided
`in section 310. A list of the user’s friends in the online social
`
`network and hyperlinks to their landing pages are provided in
`section 315. Section 320 displays the user’s blog. In this
`example, the user is maintaining a blog at an external web site
`361, e.g., Xanga.com, and the content of his or her blog is
`supplied from the external web site using an RSS feed. In a
`similar manner, the content of the user’s pictures that is dis-
`played in section 330 is supplied from an external web site
`362 (e.g., Flickr) using an RSS feed, and the content of the
`user’s videos that is displayed in section 340 is supplied from
`an external web site 363 (e.g., YouTube) using an RSS feed.
`[0029] As a way to minimize the number of times an exter-
`nal web site is accessed for the necessary RSS feeds, all RSS
`feeds from external web sites are stored in a cache storage unit
`350. All RSS feeds are also assigned a minimum lifetime and
`a maximum lifetime. When a landing page of a user is
`accessed and the landing page contains sections that rely on
`RSS feeds, the lifetime of each such RSS feed is checked. If
`it is below its minimum lifetime, the last cached version ofthe
`RSS feed is accessed. If it has exceeded the minimum life-
`
`time, a query is issued to the external web site for the latest
`information. On a global basis, whenever an RSS feed
`reaches its maximum lifetime, a query is issued to the external
`web site for the latest information.
`
`[0030] The query that is issued to an external web site for
`content associated with a user includes the user ID and pass-
`word of that user as proof that access to the user’s account
`maintained by the external web site is authorized. The user ID
`and password are provided by the user when the user sets up
`his or her landing page to retrieve content from external web
`sites through RSS feeds. The issued query is kept hidden at
`the user level and preferably encoded or encrypted so that the
`user ID and password contained in the query can be kept
`confidential.
`
`FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a user landing page
`[0031]
`that has been generated in accordance with an embodiment of
`the present invention. The web page depicted in FIG. 4 is the
`same as the web page depicted in FIG. 3 except that the user
`video section is generated differently. In the embodiment of
`FIG. 4, the videos that are featured in section 440 are not
`stored in the cache storage unit 350 but are streamed in from
`an external, third party source. Thus, when a user clicks on a
`video thumbnail image 441, 442, or 443 to view the video, the
`video is not supplied from the cache storage unit 350 but is
`
`streamed directly from a corresponding one of external video
`sites 451, 452, 453. The direct streaming from the external
`video sites 451, 452, 453 is enabled using embed codes hav-
`ing the following general format:
`<embed
`src:“http://videosite.com/vid.swf?id:l2345”></
`embed>.
`
`[0032] The embed codes that enable direct streaming from
`the external video sites 451, 452, 453 are typically made
`available by the external video sites 451, 452, 453 for pasting
`into the HTML file corresponding to a user’s landing page,
`such as the one shown in FIG. 4. The process may even be
`automated so that the embed code is automatically pasted into
`the HTML file corresponding to a user’s landing page. This
`would occur, for example, when a user visits an external video
`site, views a video at the external video site, and indicates that
`he or she would like to add the video to his or her landing page
`at an online social network.
`
`In the embodiments of the present invention, embed
`[0033]
`codes for video files are generated from a source ID (which
`identifies the external source of the video file) and a content
`ID (which is an identifier ofthe video file used by the external
`source) using configuration files having the following general
`format:
`videosite:<embed
`swf?id:%ID%”></embed>.
`
`src:“http ://video site.com/vid.
`
`src:“http://videosite1.com/vid.
`
`The parameter “%ID%” signifies a variable field into which
`the content ID is inserted. The source ID points to the con-
`figuration file to use, because different configuration files are
`provided for different external video sites. For example, each
`of videosite1, videosite2 and videosite3 has its own configu-
`ration file, as shown below:
`videosite1:<embed
`swf?id:%ID%”></embed>
`videosite2:<embed
`swf?id:%ID%”></embed>
`videosite3:<embed
`swf?id:%ID%”></embed>
`
`src:“http ://videosite2 .com/vid.
`
`src:“http ://videosite3 .com/vid.
`
`As an example, if the source ID:“videosite3” and the content
`ID:“51515” for a video file, the embed code corresponding to
`that video file would be generated as:
`<embed src:“http://videosite3.com/vid.swf?id:5l515”></
`embed>.
`
`FIG. 5 is a flow diagram that illustrates the steps
`[0034]
`carried out to generate an HTML file that includes embed
`codes for the user’s videos. In the flow diagram of FIG. 5,
`steps 510-518 are carried out by the server computer of the
`external video site and steps 520-524 are carried out by the
`server computer of the online social network. Referring back
`to FIG. 2, the server computer of the online social network
`corresponds to the system 250 and the server computer ofthe
`external video site corresponds to the third party server 250
`connected to a database 285 and configured with an API 290
`that is provided by the online social network.
`[0035]
`In step 510, the user navigates to an external video
`site and selects a video for viewing. In response to this selec-
`tion, the video is streamed to the user’s computer and dis-
`played to the user (step 512). The user’s display includes a
`hyperlink “Post to Friendster.” This hyperlink permits the
`user to feature this video on the user’s landing page at the
`online social network, Friendster. In step 514, the user selects
`the hyperlink “Post to Friendster.” In response to this selec-
`tion, the user is prompted in step 516 foruser ID andpassword
`corresponding to the user’s account at the online social net-
`work. Upon submission of this information, the external
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`
`Video site transmits this information along with the particu-
`lars of the Video file, such as the source ID (which identifies
`the external Video site that is hosting the Video file) and the
`content ID (which is an identifier of the Video file used by the
`external Video site) to the online social network, and Various
`other data (step 518). Steps 516 and 518 are carried out using
`the API 290 pr0Vided by the online social network.
`[0036]
`In step 520, the online social network authenticates
`the user ID against the password using the information stored
`in its user database. If the user ID is authenticated, i.e., the
`password matches the password for the user ID stored in the
`user database, the particulars ofthe Video file are stored in the
`multimedia content database of the online social network
`
`along with the user ID (step 522). The following table con-
`ceptually illustrates the arrangement of the data that is stored
`in the multimedia content database.
`
`howeVer, preferable to carry out the generation step according
`to a predetermined schedule so as to conserve computational
`resources. For example, the generation step is not carried out
`when none of the Video file entries associated with the user’s
`
`landing page has an update flag that is equal to l, but is carried
`out when there is at least one Video file entry with an update
`flag that is equal to l.
`[0040] When a user selects a third party Video for Viewing
`from a web page within the online social network (e.g., a
`landing page of another user or a Video search page), the user
`may watch the third party Video at the web page within the
`online social network without naVigating to the third party’s
`web site. When the user does this, a hyperlink “Add to Profile”
`appears alongside the Video display. This hyperlink permits
`the user to feature the Video he or she is watching on the user’s
`landing page. In response to this selection, the source ID, the
`
`User
`ID
`
`Source ID
`
`Content
`ID
`
`Thumbnail Tags
`
`Description
`
`William Videositel
`
`William Videosite2
`
`William Videosite3
`
`Jeff
`
`Videosite2
`
`12345 Videol.jpg funny,
`dogs
`12345 Vide02.jpg tennis
`
`A compilation showing a number
`of funny dog tricks.
`An incredible shot executed by
`Roger Federer.
`51515 Video3.jpg food,
`Hot dog eating contest held in
`contest Honolulu, H1 in 2006.
`33221 Video4.jpg soccer moments.A compilation of incredible soccer
`
`
`In the table shown ab0Ve, each row represents data
`[0037]
`associated with a single Video file. “Source ID” indicates the
`external Video site that is hosting this Video file and identifies
`the configuration file to be used in generating the embed code
`for this Video file. “Content ID” indicates the unique ID used
`by the external Video site to identify this Video file and is used
`as an input parameter when generating the embed code for
`this Video file. “Thumbnail” indicates the memory location of
`the thumbnail image corresponding to this Video file. One or
`more entries under “Tags” indicate descriptiVe keywords
`associated with this Video file. The entry under “Description”
`pr0Vides a brief description of the content of this Video file.
`The particulars of the Video file that are transmitted from the
`external Video site to the online social network are controlled
`
`by the API 290.
`[0038] When a landing page of a user, such as the one
`shown in FIG. 4, is generated, it is generated from an HTML
`file corresponding to the landing page that is stored in the
`cache storage unit 350. This HTML file includes embed codes
`corresponding to any third party Video that is featured by the
`user in section 440. In step 524, the embed codes correspond-
`ing to the featured third party Videos are generated and
`inserted into the HTML file corresponding to user’s landing
`page. During this generation step, the multimedia content
`database is checked for Video file entries associated with the
`
`user that has an update flag set (i.e., equal to 1). For all Video
`file entries that meet these conditions, the embed code corre-
`sponding to such entries will be generated using a configura-
`tion file identified by that entry’s source ID and inserted into
`the HTML file corresponding to the user’s landing page. After
`the generation step is carried out for the user, the update flag
`of all Video file entries of the user is set to 0.
`
`[0039] The generation step may be carried out on-the-fly
`each time the landing page of the user is requested. It is,
`
`content ID, and the particulars of this Video file are stored in
`the multimedia content database of the online social network
`
`along with the user ID of this user.
`[0041]
`FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a user landing page
`that has been generated in accordance with another embodi-
`ment of the present inVention. The web page depicted in FIG.
`6 is the same as the web page depicted in FIG. 4 except it has
`an additional section 610 that features one or more Videos 611
`
`that haVe been determined to be popular with other users of
`the online social network who are related to the user by N
`degrees of separation or less, where N is typically 1 or 2 but
`can be any positiVe integer. The Videos 611 that are featured in
`section 610 are generated in the same manner as the Videos
`that are featured in section 440. The differences between the
`featured Videos in section 610 and the featured Videos in
`
`section 440 are: (l) the featured location on the landing page,
`and (2) the decision criteria that are used by the online social
`network in determining whether or not to feature the Video.
`[0042]
`In the simplest implementation, a single Video is
`featured in section 61 0 and this Video represents the Video that
`is the most popular with first degree friends of the user (i.e.,
`those users who are one degree of separation away). The
`popularity may be based on their adoption (most often added
`to a landing page) or their Viewership (most often Viewed), or
`a combination of the two. When two or more Videos are
`
`featured in section 610, the Videos may be featured in the
`order of their rank with only the top N Videos featured (where
`N can be any plural integer).
`[0043]
`In an altematiVe implementation, a Video’s popular-
`ity with all users of the online social network, up to a prede-
`termined degree of separation (e. g., 2, 3, or N), is considered.
`In this implementation,
`the Video’s popularity with first
`degree friends may be weighted more than the Video’s popu-
`larity with second degree friends, and the Video’s popularity
`
`EWS-OO6295
`
`EWS-006295
`
`

`

`US 2008/0222199 A1
`
`Sep. 11,2008
`
`with second degree friends may be weighted more than the
`video’s popularity with third degree friends, and so forth.
`[0044] By managing multimedia content in accordance
`with embodiments of the present invention described above,
`greater control can be exercised by the online social network
`over the multimedia content that are featured in the landing
`pages of its users. For example, inappropriate multimedia
`content can be filtered easily by searching for the source ID
`and content ID corresponding to the inappropriate multime-
`dia content in the multimedia content database and flagging
`them so that the next time a user page that features such
`multimedia content is accessed, the embed code for such
`multimedia content will not be inserted into that user page.
`[0045] As another example, an entire site can be blocked.
`Assuming the source ID for the site to be blocked is vid-
`eosite4, this can be done by modifying the configuration file
`associated with that site from:
`
`videosite4:<embed
`swf?id:%ID%”> </embed>
`to:
`
`src:“http ://videosite4 .com/vid.
`
`videosite4:<p> Access to the URL videosite4.com is not
`permitted.</p>
`[0046]
`Invalid links that are caused by URL changes imple-
`mented by the source of the multimedia content also can be
`fixed easily with the embodiments of the present invention.
`For example, if the source of the multimedia content (source
`IDfl/ideositeS) changes the URL for accessing its videos
`from videosite5.com/vid.swf?id%(xx to videosite5.com/en/
`
`v.swf?id:xxx, the configuration file for videosite5 is changed
`in a similar manner from:
`videosite5:<embed
`swf?id:%ID%”> </embed>
`to:
`videosite5:<embed
`swf?id:%ID%”> </embed>
`
`src:“http ://videosite5 .com/en/v.
`
`src:“http ://videosite5 .com/vid.
`
`After this change is made to the configuration file, all video
`file entries having source IDfl/ideositeS will have their
`update flags set to 1 so as to cause embed codes for all
`multimedia content from videosite5 to be regenerated when
`user pages that feature such multimedia content is subse-
`quently accessed.
`invention
`[0047]
`In the embodiments of the present
`described above, RSS feeds are described as the mechanism
`for transmitting content between the third party servers and
`the server computer of the online social network. Other types
`of web feeds may be employed with the present invention.
`Some of these examples include atom feeds and feeds based
`on the SOAP protocol. Also, the embed codes shown above
`are HTML embed codes. The present invention is, however,
`not limited to any particular type of embed codes, and may be
`practiced with embed codes for any markup language for
`creation of web pages.
`in the embodiments of the present
`[0048]
`In addition,
`invention described above, video content that includes video
`and audi