Content delivery in virtual social networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for content delivery in virtual social networks are provided. Content may be provided to the virtual social network by users of the virtual social network, professional content developers, etc. Any content provided to the virtual social network may be stored in a content database and tagged based on the type of content. The tags associated with the content may be compared to information concerning the various users of the virtual social network. The content may be provided to the user based on matching of the tags and user information. In various embodiments of the present invention, the content may be provided to communities based on matches between content tags and community information.

1 . A method for content delivery to a target in a virtual social network, the method comprising:
 receiving content provided to the virtual social network, the content having been associated with one or more tags;   determining whether the content is relevant to a target in the virtual social network based on matching the one or more tags with relevancy flags associated with the target;   determining whether the content is undesirable to the target based on at least preferences designated by the target; and   providing the content to the target based on the determined relevancy and desirability of the content.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the target is a user of the virtual social network. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the target is a community in the virtual social network. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing the content in a content database. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining information concerning relevancy flags in a target database. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the relevancy flags comprises profile information associated with the target. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the relevancy flags comprises information derived by tracking activity of the target in the virtual social network. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining the preference information in a target database. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the preferences further comprise user preferences designated by the target. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the preferences further comprise community rules. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the content is further based on access preferences of an author of the content. 
   
   
       12 . A system for content delivery to a target in a virtual social network, the system comprising:
 a content database configured to store information concerning content provided to the virtual social network, the information including one or more tags associated with the content;   a target database configured to store information concerning a target in the virtual social network;   a relevancy module configured to determine whether the one or more tags matches target information of a target beyond a threshold level, as indicated by the content database and the target database respectively; and   a content push module configured to deliver the content to the target based on at least the matches between the one or more tags and the target information, as determined by the relevancy module.   
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the content database is further configured to receive updated information concerning the content. 
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the content database is further configured to receive content information from a user of the virtual social network. 
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the content database is further configured to receive content information from a professional content developer. 
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the target database is further configured to store information derived by tracking activity of the target within the virtual social network. 
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the target is a user of the virtual social network system. 
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the target is a community in the virtual social network system. 
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 12 , further comprising a content filter configured to block content from being delivered to the target based on at least preferences designated by the target. 
   
   
       20 . A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereupon executable computing instructions for performing a method comprising:
 receiving content provided to the virtual social network, the content having been associated with one or more tags;   determining whether the content is relevant to a target in the virtual social network based on matching the one or more tags with relevancy flags associated with the target;   determining whether the content is undesirable to the target based on at least preferences designated by the target; and   providing the content to the target based on the determined relevancy and desirability of the content.   
   
   
       21 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 20 , wherein the executable instructions further provide for maintaining the target information in a target database, wherein the target information comprises information concerning activity of the target in the virtual social network.