Providing content items based on user affinity in a social network environment

Abstract

A system and method for measuring user affinity in a social network environment is provided. One or more activities performed by a user associated with a social network environment are monitored. A relationship associated with the one or more activities is identified. An affinity for one or more objects associated with the social network environment is then determined based on the one or more activities and the relationship.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 accessing one or more content items of an online system, each content item identifying an object connected to a viewing user in the online system;   determining, by the online system, a rating for each of the one or more content items based on prior activity of the viewing user with the object identified in the content item; and   transmitting the one or more content items to the viewing user for presentation based on the rating for each content item.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the object represents a connected user of the online system with which the viewing user has a relationship as identified by the online system based on user interaction between the viewing user and the connected user in the online system. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein each content item further identifies an activity performed by the connected user represented by the object. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining, by the online system, a rating for each of the one or more content items further comprises:
 determining a relationship rating of the object based on the type of the connection of the viewing user to the object;   determining an activity rating of the object based on the type and degree of the prior activity of the viewing user with the object;   determining an affinity rating for the object based on the relationship rating and the activity rating; and   determining the rating for each content item based on the affinity rating of the object identified in the content item.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the determining an affinity rating for the object based on the connection rating and the activity rating further comprises:
 determining a first weight value for the relationship rating;   determining a second weight value for the activity rating; and   determining the affinity rating by combining the relationship rating and the activity rating according to their respective weight values.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein a sum of the first weight and the second weight values is constant. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second weight value is computed based on at least one of a recency of the prior activity, a frequency of the prior activity, and a rate of the prior activity. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the first weight value is computed based on at least the type of connection of the viewing person with the object, and a type of connection with a similar user having similar prior activity with the object. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein transmitting the one or more content items to the viewing user further comprises:
 computing a ranking the one or more content items according to the respective rating;   selecting a subset of the one or more content items with the highest rankings; and   transmitting the subset of the one or more content items to the viewing user for presentation.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more content items are generated based on prior user activity with a plurality of objects in the online system. 
     
     
         11 . A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions, which when executed, cause a processor to:
 access one or more content items of an online system, each content item identifying an object connected to a viewing user in the online system;   determine, by the online system, a rating for each of the one or more content items based on prior activity of the viewing user with the object identified in the content item; and   transmit the one or more content items to the viewing user for presentation based on the rating for each content item.   
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the object represents a connected user of the online system with which the viewing user has a relationship as identified by the online system based on user interaction between the viewing user and the connected user in the online system. 
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein each content item further identifies an activity performed by the connected user represented by the object. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , the non-transitory computer readable storage medium including further instructions, which when executed, cause a processor to:
 determine a relationship rating of the object based on the type of the connection of the viewing user to the object;   determine an activity rating of the object based on the type and degree of the prior activity of the viewing user with the object;   determine an affinity rating for the object based on the relationship rating and the activity rating; and   determine the rating for each content item based on the affinity rating of the object identified in the content item.   
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , the non-transitory computer readable storage medium including further instructions, which when executed, cause a processor to:
 determine a first weight value for the relationship rating;   determine a second weight value for the activity rating; and   determine the affinity rating by combining the relationship rating and the activity rating according to their respective weight values.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein a sum of the first weight and the second weight values is constant. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the second weight value is computed based on at least one of a recency of the prior activity, a frequency of the prior activity, and a rate of the prior activity. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the first weight value is computed based on at least the type of connection of the viewing person with the object, and a type of connection with a similar user having similar prior activity with the object. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , the non-transitory computer readable storage medium including further instructions, which when executed, cause a processor to:
 compute a ranking of the one or more content items according to the respective rating;   select a subset of the one or more content items with the highest rankings; and   transmit the subset of the one or more content items to the viewing user for presentation.   
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more content items are generated based on prior user activity with a plurality of objects in the online system.