Degree of closeness based on communication contents

Abstract

In one example, a method may include monitoring contents of communications between a first user and a second user, determining a degree of closeness between the first user and the second user utilizing an ontological model, with the degree of closeness being based at least in part on the contents of communications between the first user and the second user, and updating the degree of closeness based at least in part on a frequency of communications between the first user and the second user.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method to determine relationship closeness between online service users, the method comprising:
 accessing an ontology of a first user of one or more online services, wherein the ontology includes one or more nodes representing one or more relationship concepts;   analyzing a first content of a first communication between the first user and a second user of the one or more online services by segmenting the first content into one or more sentences, one of the one or more sentences including one or more words;   mapping the one or more words of the first content onto the one or more nodes to indicate one or more mapped nodes; and   determining, based at least on the one or more mapped nodes, a relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining if a second communication occurred between the first user and the second user within a predetermined period of time subsequent to the first communication;   if the second communication did not occur within the predetermined period of time subsequent to the first communication, decreasing the relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user; and   if the second communication occurred within the predetermined period of time subsequent to the first communication, determining whether to update the relationship closeness value based on a second content of the second communication.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user includes determining a number of the one or more mapped nodes. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user includes determining that at least two of the one or more mapped nodes are linked. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user includes determining one or more axioms that define one or more relationships between the one or more mapped nodes. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the determining the one or more axioms that define the one or more relationships between the one or more mapped nodes includes determining a number of the one or more axioms. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first communication between the first user and the second user is a text communication. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first communication between the first user and the second user is an audio communication. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising decreasing the relationship closeness value by at least one incremental degree upon passage of each predetermined time period within which there has been no communication between the first user and the second user. 
     
     
         10 . A system comprising:
 a determining component configured to:
 access an ontology of a first user of one or more online services, wherein the ontology includes one or more nodes representing one or more relationship concepts, 
 analyze a first content of a first communication between the first user and a second user of the one or more online services by segmenting the first content into one or more sentences, one of the one or more sentences including one or more words, 
 map the one or more words of the first content onto the one or more nodes to indicate one or more mapped nodes, 
 determine, based at least on the one or more mapped nodes, a relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user, and 
 determine, whether a second communication occurred between the first user and the second user within a predetermined period of time subsequent to the first communication; and 
   an updating component configured to update the relationship closeness value based on a result of the determine whether a second communication occurred.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein responsive to the determining component determining that the second communication did not occur within the predetermined period of time after the first communication, the updating component is configured to update the relationship closeness value by decreasing the relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the determining component is further configured to determine whether to update the relationship closeness value based on a second content of the second communication responsive to the determining that that the second communication occurred within the predetermined period of time subsequent to the first communication. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the determining component is configured to determine a relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user by determining a number of the one or more mapped nodes. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the determining component is configured to determine a relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user by determining whether at least two of the one or more mapped nodes are linked. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the determining component is configured to determine a relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user by determining one or more axioms that define one or more relationships between the one or more mapped node, wherein the determining one or more axioms includes determining a number of the one or more axioms. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the updating component is further configured to decrease the relationship closeness value by at least one incremental degree upon passage of each predetermined time period within which there has been no communication between the first user and the second user. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10 , further comprising a monitoring component configured to monitor contents of communications regarding the first user, wherein each of communications is a text communication or an audio communication. 
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 accessing an ontology of a first user of one or more online services;   analyzing a first content of a first communication between the first user and a second user of the one or more online services by segmenting the first content into one or more sentences, one of the one or more sentences including one or more words;   mapping the one or more words of the first content onto the ontology;   determining, based on the mapped ontology, a relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user;   determining if a second communication occurred between the first user and the second user within a period of time subsequent to the first communication;   responsive to a determination that the second communication did not occur within the period of time subsequent to the first communication, decreasing the relationship closeness value between the first user and the second user; and   responsive to a determination that the second communication occurred within the period of time subsequent to the first communication, determining whether to update the relationship closeness value based on a second content of the second communication.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more online services are cloud-based services. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the first communication between the first user and the second user is a text communication or an audio communication.