Messaging Object Generation for Synchronous Conversation Threads

Abstract

In particular embodiments, a messaging device or server may be operable to receive a message including a thread identifier or a list of conversation participants; if the message includes a thread identifier, then append the message to a locally-stored conversation thread possessing the same thread identifier; if the message includes a list of participants, then: search a plurality of locally-stored conversation threads for a conversation threads having participants matching the list of participants; and in response to a match, append the message to the matching thread; in response to failing to find a match, generate an offline identifier for the message and storing the message locally.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 authenticating a login request from an application running on a device, wherein the login request is associated with a social-network identifier and the device is associated with a phone number;   in response to authenticating the login request, automatically registering, in a social-networking system, the phone number with the social-network identifier;   receiving, at the social-networking system, a message including a list of conversation participants, wherein the list comprises the phone number to identify a first one of the participants;   determining a social-network identifier for the first participant based on the phone number for the first participant;   determining whether the list of conversation participants of the message substantially matches a list of conversation participants associated with an existing conversation thread, based in part on the social-network identifier for the first participant;   in response to determining that the list of conversation participants of the message substantially matches a list of conversation participants associated with an existing conversation thread, appending the message to the matching existing conversation thread, wherein the existing conversation thread comprises a first previous message sent to a social-network account of the first participant as identified by the social-network identifier.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the phone number has not been explicitly linked to the social-network identifier by a user associated with the social-network identifier. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the phone number is associated with the social-network identifier based on a setting for the social-network account of the first participant requesting notifications through a cellular communication channel identified by the phone number. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the phone number is associated with the social-network identifier based on a setting for the social-network account of the first participant authorizing retrieval of voice messages received at the phone number. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first participant explicitly linked the phone number to the social-network identifier using the social-networking system. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message is a short message service (SMS) or multimedia service (MMS) message, and is received from an external endpoint represented by a phone number, and wherein the external endpoint represented by the endpoint has no connectivity to the social-networking system through any data channels. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the existing conversation thread further comprises a transcript of a voicemail sent between the conversation participants. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message is an incoming text message received from the phone number, and wherein the message itself does not comprise any social-network identifier. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the existing conversation thread further comprises an aggregation of all previous messages exchanged between the conversation participants without regard to what messaging service was used to deliver or send each previous message. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory, computer-readable media comprising instructions operable, when executed by one or more computing systems, to:
 authenticate a login request from an application running on a device, wherein the login request is associated with a social-network identifier and the device is associated with a phone number;   in response to authenticating the login request, automatically register, in a social-networking system, the phone number with the social-network identifier;   receive, at the social-networking system, a message including a list of conversation participants, wherein the list comprises the phone number to identify a first one of the participants;   determine a social-network identifier for the first participant based on the phone number for the first participant;   determine whether the list of conversation participants of the message substantially matches a list of conversation participants associated with an existing conversation thread, based in part on the social-network identifier for the first participant;   in response to determining that the list of conversation participants of the message substantially matches a list of conversation participants associated with an existing conversation thread, append the message to the matching existing conversation thread, wherein the existing conversation thread comprises a first previous message sent to a social-network account of the first participant as identified by the social-network identifier.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the phone number has not been explicitly linked to the social-network identifier by a user associated with the social-network identifier. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the phone number is associated with the social-network identifier based on a setting for the social-network account of the first participant requesting notifications through a cellular communication channel identified by the phone number. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the phone number is associated with the social-network identifier based on a setting for the social-network account of the first participant authorizing retrieval of voice messages received at the phone number. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 12 , wherein the first participant explicitly linked the phone number to the social-network identifier using the social-networking system. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the message is a short message service (SMS) or multimedia service (MMS) message, and is received from an external endpoint represented by a phone number, and wherein the external endpoint represented by the endpoint has no connectivity to the social-networking system through any data channels. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the existing conversation thread further comprises a transcript of a voicemail sent between the conversation participants. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the message is an incoming text message received from the phone number, and wherein the message itself does not comprise any social-network identifier. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the existing conversation thread further comprises an aggregation of all previous messages exchanged between the conversation participants without regard to what messaging service was used to deliver or send each previous message. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 one or more processors;   a communications interface;   one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media comprising instructions operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to:   authenticate a login request from an application running on a device, wherein the login request is associated with a social-network identifier and the device is associated with a phone number;   in response to authenticating the login request, automatically register, in a social-networking system, the phone number with the social-network identifier;   receive, at the social-networking system, a message including a list of conversation participants, wherein the list comprises the phone number to identify a first one of the participants;   determine a social-network identifier for the first participant based on the phone number for the first participant;   determine whether the list of conversation participants of the message substantially matches a list of conversation participants associated with an existing conversation thread, based in part on the social-network identifier for the first participant;   in response to determining that the list of conversation participants of the message substantially matches a list of conversation participants associated with an existing conversation thread, append the message to the matching existing conversation thread, wherein the existing conversation thread comprises a first previous message sent to a social-network account of the first participant as identified by the social-network identifier.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the phone number has not been explicitly linked to the social-network identifier by a user associated with the social-network identifier.