Aggregating content associated with topics in a social network

Abstract

In order to facilitate access to relevant information, a system may determine topics that are of interest based on skills of users in a social network of users and annotations associated with content in the social network. Then, the system may identify experts knowledgeable about the topics among the users in the social network. These experts may be invited to aggregate and edit the topic content. For a given topic, the system may provide, to a subset of the experts, documents with suggested topic content and presentation formats for the topics. Based on feedback from the subset of the experts (such as modifications to one or more of the documents and/or the presentation formats), the system may modify or revise the documents.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-system-implemented method for aggregating topic content, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a transmission server associated with an online social network, annotations associated with content in the social network, wherein the transmission server comprises a processor and a memory;   using the processor to:
 select a set of topics based on an overlap between the received annotations and a set of predefined keywords; and 
 identify experts knowledgeable regarding the set of topics, among users of the social network; 
   transmitting over a data channel, from the transmission server, invitations to the identified experts to curate content associated with the set of topics;   after receiving acceptances to the invitations from a subset of the identified experts, using subsequent behavior of the subset of experts toward the content to improve program logic for providing content to the users of the online social network;   using the improved program logic to modify one or more content items associated with the set of topics; and   transmitting at least one of the modified content items over the data channel, from the transmission server to a first user computer associated with a first user of the social network.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 prior to receiving the annotations, providing a user interface for the online social network to one or more user computers associated with users of the online social network, including the first user computer;   wherein the at least one modified content item is displayed on the first user computer using the user interface.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined keywords are each associated with specified skills. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the experts are identified based on reputation scores of the users in the social network. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the reputation scores indicate influence of the users in the social network. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the reputation scores are based on endorsements of the users in the social network. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content items include one or more of:
 presentations;   résumés;   employment information; and   research information.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein modifying a given content item associated with a given topic in the set of topics includes at least one of:
 adding new topic content in the social network;   adding a link to topic content external to the social network;   removing at least some of the suggested topic content;   reordering the suggested topic content;   renaming topic content; and   defining a sub-category of the given topic.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing the modified content items to a plurality of the users;   receiving feedback from the plurality of users regarding the modifications; and   determining a subset of the modifications to accept based on the feedback.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the feedback from the experts has higher weight than the feedback from users who are not experts, when determining the subset of the modifications to accept. 
     
     
         11 . An apparatus, comprising:
 one or more processors;   memory; and   a program module, wherein the program module is stored in the memory and, during operation of the apparatus, is executed by the one or more processors to aggregate topic content, the program module including:
 instructions for receiving, at a transmission server associated with an online social network, annotations associated with content in the social network, wherein the transmission server comprises a processor and a memory; 
 instructions for selecting, using the processor, a set of topics based on an overlap between the received annotations and a set of predefined keywords; 
 instructions for identifying, using the processor, experts knowledgeable regarding the set of topics, among users of the social network; 
 instructions for transmitting over a data channel, from the transmission server, invitations to the identified experts to curate content associated with the set of topics; 
 instructions for, after receiving acceptances to the invitations from a subset of the identified experts, using subsequent behavior of the subset of experts toward the content to improve program logic for providing content to the users of the online social network; 
 instructions for using the improved program logic to modify one or more content items associated with the set of topics; and 
 instructions for transmitting at least one of the modified content items over the data channel, from the transmission server to a first user computer associated with a first user of the social network. 
   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the program module further includes:
 instructions for, prior to receiving the annotations, providing a user interface for the online social network to one or more user computers associated with users of the online social network, including the first user computer;   wherein the at least one modified content item is displayed on the first user computer using the user interface.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the predefined keywords are each associated with specified skills. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the experts are identified based on reputation scores of the users in the social network. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the reputation scores indicate influence of the users in the social network. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the reputation scores are based on endorsements of the users in the social network. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the content items includes one or more of:
 presentations;   résumés;   employment information; and   research information.   
     
     
         18 . A system, comprising:
 a processing module comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the system to:   receive, at a transmission server associated with an online social network, annotations associated with content in the social network, wherein the transmission server comprises a processor and a memory;   use the processor to:
 select a set of topics based on an overlap between the received annotations and a set of predefined keywords; and 
 identify experts knowledgeable regarding the set of topics, among users of the social network; 
   transmit over a data channel, from the transmission server, invitations to the identified experts to curate content associated with the set of topics;   after receiving acceptances to the invitations from a subset of the identified experts, use subsequent behavior of the subset of experts toward the content to improve program logic for providing content to the users of the online social network;   use the improved program logic to modify one or more content items associated with the set of topics; and   transmit at least one of the modified content items over the data channel, from the transmission server to a first user computer associated with a first user of the social network.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further stores instructions that, when executed, cause the system to:
 provide the modified content items to a plurality of the users;   receive feedback from the plurality of the users regarding the modifications; and   determine a subset of the modifications to accept based on the feedback.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the feedback from the experts has higher weight than the feedback from users who are not experts, when determining the subset of the modifications to accept.