Displaying an ancestry graph within a social networking service

Abstract

Systems and methods for displaying an ancestry graph within a social networking service are provided. A first and a second ancestry graphs are received via accounts of a first and a second user of a social networking service. Each ancestry graph including members of a subset of social contacts of the respective user and ancestry relationships between the respective user and the members of the subset of the social contacts. An ancestry relationship between a third user and the first user of the social networking service is determined, where the first ancestry graph includes the second user and the second ancestry graph includes the third user. The ancestry relationship between the third user and the first user and a suggestion for adding the third user to the first ancestry graph is provided to the first user via the account of the first user.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, via an account associated with a first user of a social networking service, a first ancestry graph comprising representations of members of a first subset of social contacts of the first user and representations of ancestry relationships between the first user and the members of the first subset of the social contacts;   receiving, via an account associated with a second user of the social networking service, a second ancestry graph comprising representations of members of a second subset of social contacts of the second user and representations of ancestry relationships between the second user and the members of the second subset of the social contacts;   determining an ancestry relationship between a third user of the social networking service and the first user of the social networking service, wherein the first ancestry graph comprises a representation of the second user and the second ancestry graph comprises a representation of the third user; and   providing to the first user, via the account associated with the first user, the ancestry relationship between the third user and the first user, and a suggestion for adding the representation of the third user to the first ancestry graph.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the providing is based on a permission by the third user. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining is based on a request received from the third user. 
     
     
         4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via an account associated with a fourth user of the social networking service, a request from the fourth user to join the first ancestry graph;   determining an ancestry relationship between the fourth user and the first user based on the first ancestry graph and one or more ancestry graphs associated with the members of the first subset of social contacts of the first user; and   providing to the first user, via the account associated with the first user, the ancestry relationship between the fourth user and the first user, and the request from the fourth user.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the first and the second ancestry graphs visually represents parent, child, and spouse relationships among members of the respective first and second subset of social contacts. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ancestry relationships comprise one or more of: spouse, sibling, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, parent-in-law, sibling-in-law, or cousin. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing, to the first user and via the account associated with the first user, representations of a plurality of persons;   providing, to the first user and via the account associated with the first user, representations of a plurality of preset groups of social contacts of the first user;   receiving, from the first user and via the account associated with the first user, a plurality of selections, wherein each selection associates one of the plurality of persons to one of the plurality of preset groups of social contacts of the first user; and   adding each selected person from the plurality of persons to the preset group associated with the selected person.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the representations of the plurality of persons and the representations of the plurality of preset groups are graphical representations on a display of a computing device associated with the first user, and
 each selection by the first user comprises dragging a graphical representation of a person from the plurality of persons and dropping the dragged graphical representation into a graphical representation of a preset group from the plurality of preset groups of social contacts.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the dragging and the dropping are performed using a finger, a stylus, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein at least one of the plurality of persons is not a member of the social networking service. 
     
     
         12 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   a machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, via an account associated with a first user of a social networking service, a first ancestry graph comprising representations of members of a first subset of social contacts of the first user and representations of ancestry relationships between the first user and the members of the first subset of the social contacts; 
 receiving, via an account associated with a second user of the social networking service, a second ancestry graph comprising representations of members of a second subset of social contacts of the second user and representations of ancestry relationships between the second user and the members of the second subset of the social contacts, the second ancestry graph comprising a representation of a third user; 
 receiving a request from the third user indicating an ancestry relationship between the third user and the first user; 
 determining an ancestry relationship between the third user of the social networking service and the first user of the social networking service, wherein the first ancestry graph comprises a representation of the second user; and 
 providing to the first user, via the account associated with the first user, the ancestry relationship between the third user and the first user, and a suggestion for adding the representation of the third user to the first ancestry graph. 
   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein each of the first and the second ancestry graphs visually represents parent, child, and spouse relationships among members of the respective first and second subset of social contacts. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , the instructions further cause the processors to perform operations comprising:
 providing, to the first user and via the account associated with the first user, representations of a plurality of persons;   providing, to the first user and via the account associated with the first user, representations of a plurality of preset groups of social contacts of the first user;   receiving, from the first user and via the account associated with the first user, a plurality of selections, wherein each selection associates one of the plurality of persons to one of the plurality of preset groups of social contacts of the first user; and   adding each selected person from the plurality of persons to the preset group associated with the selected person.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the representations of the plurality of persons and the representations of the plurality of preset groups are graphical representations on a display of a computing device associated with the first user, and
 each selection by the first user comprises dragging a graphical representation of a person from the plurality of persons and dropping the dragged graphical representation into a graphical representation of a preset group from the plurality of preset groups of social contacts.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the dragging and the dropping are performed using a finger, a stylus, or a combination thereof 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein at least one of the plurality of persons is not a member of the social networking service. 
     
     
         18 . A machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by a system, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, via an account associated with a first user of a social networking service, a first ancestry graph comprising representations of members of a first subset of social contacts of the first user and representations of ancestry relationships between the first user and the members of the first subset of the social contacts;   receiving, via an account associated with a second user of the social networking service, a second ancestry graph comprising representations of members of a second subset of social contacts of the second user and representations of ancestry relationships between the second user and the members of the second subset of the social contacts, the second ancestry graph comprising a representation of a third user;   receiving a request from the first user indicating an ancestry relationship between the first user and the third user;   determining an ancestry relationship between the third user of the social networking service and the first user of the social networking service, wherein the first ancestry graph comprises a representation of the second user; and   providing to the third user, via an account associated with the third user, the ancestry relationship between the third user and the first user, and a request for permission for adding the representation of the third user to the first ancestry graph.   
     
     
         19 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein each of the first and the second ancestry graphs visually represents parent, child, and spouse relationships among members of the respective first and second subset of social contacts. 
     
     
         20 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 18 , the instructions further cause the system to perform operations comprising:
 providing, to the first user and via the account associated with the first user, representations of a plurality of persons;   providing, to the first user and via the account associated with the first user, representations of a plurality of preset groups of social contacts of the first user;   receiving, from the first user and via the account associated with the first user, a plurality of selections, wherein each selection associates one of the plurality of persons to one of the plurality of preset groups of social contacts of the first user; and   adding each selected person from the plurality of persons to the preset group associated with the selected person.   
     
     
         21 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 20 , wherein the representations of the plurality of persons and the representations of the plurality of preset groups are graphical representations on a display of a computing device associated with the first user, and
 each selection by the first user comprises dragging a graphical representation of a person from the plurality of persons and dropping the dragged graphical representation into a graphical representation of a preset group from the plurality of preset groups of social contacts.