System and method for posting content to network sites

Abstract

A system and method for posting content to network sites are disclosed. A particular embodiment includes providing, by use of a data processor, a user interface at a location-specific kiosk, the user interface enabling a user to capture an image at the location-specific kiosk; applying an overlay to the captured image to produce posting content; receiving a community site selection and community site credentials at the location-specific kiosk; using the community site credentials to authenticate with the selected community site via a data network; and posting the posting content at the authenticated community site via the data network.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 providing, by use of a data processor, a user interface at a location-specific kiosk, the user interface enabling a user to capture an image at the location-specific kiosk using a camera of the kiosk;   applying an overlay to the captured image to produce posting content;   enabling the user to sign into a host user account associated with the location-specific kiosk at the location-specific kiosk;   automatically retrieving pre-configured community site selections and community site credentials using information from the host user account; and   posting the posting content at one or more authenticated community sites using the community site credentials via the data network.   
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the overlay is a location-specific overlay indicative of a location of the location-specific kiosk. 
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  including adding at least one brand identifier to the posting content. 
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the community site selections include at least one community site selection from the group: facebook.com, twitter.com, and email. 
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  including configuring the posting content for publication at a syndicated site via an Atom, RSS, REST, or web service feed, the syndicated site being from the group: a website, a feed-enabled device, a web widget, and an alternate display device. 
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  including gathering contextual data related to the user interaction with the location-specific kiosk, the contextual data being indicative of user affinity. 
     
     
         7 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  including gathering contextual data related to the user interaction with the location-specific kiosk and using the contextual data to customize the presentation of promotional content at the location-specific kiosk. 
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  including sending the posting content to a host server via a web-based queuing system. 
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  including automatically linking a user account at the one or more authenticated community sites with a brand account at the one or more authenticated community sites, the automatic linking only being performed if the user opted into automatic linking. 
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  including performing image recognition on an image from the location-specific kiosk and using information obtained from the image recognition to customize the presentation of information at the location-specific kiosk. 
     
     
         11 . A system comprising:
 a data processor; and   a kiosk processing module, executable by the processor, to:   provide, by use of the data processor, a user interface at a location-specific kiosk, the user interface enabling a user to capture an image at the location-specific kiosk using a camera of the kiosk;   apply an overlay to the captured image to produce posting content;   enable the user to sign into a host user account associated with the location-specific kiosk at the location-specific kiosk;   automatically retrieve pre-configured community site selections and community site credentials using information from the host user account; and   post the posting content at one or more authenticated community sites using the community site credentials via the data network.   
     
     
         12 . The system as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the overlay is a location-specific overlay indicative of a location of the location-specific kiosk. 
     
     
         13 . The system as claimed in  claim 11  being further configured to add at least one brand identifier to the posting content. 
     
     
         14 . The system as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the community site selections include at least one community site selection from the group: facebook.com, twitter.com, and email. 
     
     
         15 . The system as claimed in  claim 11  being further configured to configure the posting content for publication at a syndicated site via an Atom, RSS, REST, or web service feed, the syndicated site being from the group: a website, a feed-enabled device, a web widget, and an alternate display device. 
     
     
         16 . The system as claimed in  claim 11  being further configured to gather contextual data related to the user interaction with the location-specific kiosk, the contextual data being indicative of user affinity. 
     
     
         17 . The system as claimed in  claim 11  being further configured to gather contextual data related to the user interaction with the location-specific kiosk and using the contextual data to customize the presentation of promotional content at the location-specific kiosk. 
     
     
         18 . The system as claimed in  claim 11  being further configured to send the posting content to a host server via a web-based queuing system. 
     
     
         19 . The system as claimed in  claim 11  being further configured to automatically link a user account at the one or more authenticated community sites with a brand account at the one or more authenticated community sites, the automatic linking only being performed if the user opted into automatic linking. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory machine-useable storage medium embodying instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:
 provide a user interface at a location-specific kiosk, the user interface enabling a user to capture an image at the location-specific kiosk using a camera of the kiosk;   apply an overlay to the captured image to produce posting content;   enable the user to sign into a host user account associated with the location-specific kiosk at the location-specific kiosk;   automatically retrieve pre-configured community site selections and community site credentials using information from the host user account; and   post the posting content at one or more authenticated community sites using the community site credentials via the data network.   
     
     
         21 . The machine-useable storage medium as claimed in  claim 20  being further configured to include a proxy server for facilitating authentication of a user account on the community site. 
     
     
         22 . The machine-useable storage medium as claimed in  claim 20  being further configured to include a reverse proxy enabling a host site to intercept the user's access to a third party website and process content returned to the user from the third party website. 
     
     
         23 . The machine-useable storage medium as claimed in  claim 20  being further configured to provide a single sign-on capability to enable the user to sign into a user account. 
     
     
         24 . The machine-useable storage medium as claimed in  claim 20  being further configured to enable the user to post to multiple community sites using a single user input.