Forum search with time-dependent activity weighting

Abstract

A search engine index measures and tracks one or more numeric indicators of activity at different times, including a most current time, in on-line forums and social networking sites. Such indicators may include, for example, a current volume per unit time of messages or data posted to the site, a moving average of such volume, a moving average of current participants over time, a count of current participants, other indication of site activity, or any combination of such indicators. The search engine is responsive to queries seeking forums ranked by activity for a defined time period, including a most current time. The search engine prioritizes search results to identify the specified sites or locations in order of activity (among other possible criteria) relative to a defined time.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 a server comprising a computer processor and memory, configured for serving a virtual reality process to a plurality of clients;   the server modeling a virtual physical environment through which at least one client of the plurality of clients may navigate via an associated avatar;   the virtual reality process including locations that each serve as a forum within which the at least one client's associated avatar may participate;   the server measuring a level of activity within at least one forum; and   the server providing the level of activity within the at least one forum to the at least one client of the plurality of clients.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , where movement of an avatar associated with the at least one of the plurality of clients to one of the forums is based at least in part on the level of activity within that forum. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , where the movement of the avatar is to a forum where a desired level of activity is taking place. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , where the level of activity is a number of clients requesting access within a designated limited time period. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , where the level of activity is a number of clients with designated characteristics requesting access within a designated limited time period. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , where the level of activity is a rate at which participant contribution data is being received for posting within a designated time period. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , where the level of activity is a number of posts per minute. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , where the level of activity is the quality of data received within a designated time period. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , where the server provides the level of activity over a prescribed period. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , where the prescribed period is daily. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , where the server records an activity index for the at least one forum over time. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , where index data associated with the activity index is plotted against time to reveal one or more activity patterns in the at least one forum. 
     
     
         13 . A system comprising:
 a server comprising a computer processor and memory, configured for serving a virtual reality process to a plurality of clients;   the server modeling a virtual physical environment through which at least one client of the plurality of clients may navigate via an associated avatar;   the virtual reality process including locations that each serve as a forum within which the at least one client's associated avatar may participate;   the server offering a forum search function accessible to the at least one client;   the server receiving a search request;   the server returning data comprising forums in response to the search request based, at least in part, on a number of clients active in at least one of the forums.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , whether the number of clients active is based, at least in part, on a rate at which the at least one client posts to the at least one of the forums. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , where the virtual physical environment comprises a modeled city street and one or more modeled buildings. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , where the one of the one or more modeled buildings is a singles bar. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , where the at least one of the plurality of clients may enter the singles bar and automatically participate in a chat session with other clients. 
     
     
         18 . A system comprising:
 a server comprising a computer processor and memory, configured for serving a virtual reality process to a plurality of clients;   the server modeling a virtual physical environment through which at least one client of the plurality of clients may navigate via an associated avatar;   the virtual reality process including locations that each serve as a forum within which the at least one client's associated avatar may participate;   the server measuring a population of each one of virtual buildings;   the server offering a search function accessible to the at least one client of the plurality of clients;   the server receiving a search request;   the server returning data comprising one or more virtual buildings in response to the search request based, at least in part, on a number of clients present in at least one of the virtual buildings.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , where a first building is a singles' bar and the search request is the number of clients in the singles bar. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18  where the at least one client of the plurality of clients may enter the singles bar and automatically participate in a chat session with other clients.