Methods and Systems for Providing Notifications to Users of a Social Networking Service

Abstract

A method determines user intent associated with a post from a user on a social networking service, based at least in part on content of the post. The method generates a first notification of the user intent associated with the post and selects a plurality of users of the social networking service to receive the first notification. The method provides the first notification to the users. After providing the first notification to the plurality of users, the method: (i) receives one or more responses to the first notification from one or more users of the plurality of users, the responses including information responsive to the first notification; (ii) generates a second notification, including indications of determined respective intent associated with the one or more received responses based, at least in part, on content of the one or more received responses; and (iii) provides the second notification to the user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 determining a user intent associated with a post from a user on a social networking service, based at least in part on content of the post;   generating a first notification of the user intent associated with the post;   selecting a plurality of users of the social networking service to receive the first notification;   providing the first notification to the plurality of users; and   after providing the first notification to the plurality of users:
 receiving one or more responses to the first notification from one or more users of the plurality of users, the one or more responses including information responsive to the first notification; 
 generating a second notification, including indications of determined respective intent associated with the one or more received responses based, at least in part, on content of the one or more received responses; and 
 providing the second notification to the user. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting the plurality of users of the social networking service to receive the first notification comprises:
 determining respective degrees of association between the user intent and users of the social networking service; and   choosing users of the social networking service whose respective degrees of association satisfy a criterion.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein choosing the users of the social networking service whose respective degrees of association satisfy the criterion comprises choosing users who are also contacts of the user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting the plurality of users of the social networking service to receive the first notification comprises choosing users of the social networking service with respective degrees of association with the user that satisfy a criterion. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein choosing the users of the social networking service with respective degrees of association with the user that satisfy the criterion comprises choosing users who are contacts of the user. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting the plurality of users of the social networking service to receive the first notification comprises:
 identifying a location of the user at the time of the post; and   choosing users of the social networking service with locations within a specified range of the identified location.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, at the server system:
 determining relevance scores for the one or more received responses, the relevance scores indicating respective degrees of relevance of the one or more received responses to the user intent; and   determining that the relevance scores for the one or more received responses satisfy a threshold;   wherein providing the information responsive to the first notification to the user is performed in accordance with determining that the relevance scores for the one or more received responses satisfy the threshold.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the information responsive to the first notification to the user comprises providing the one or more received responses to the user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the user intent associated with the post comprises comparing the content of the post with content of a plurality of previous posts made by users of the social networking service. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein respective posts of the plurality of previous posts have previously identified intents. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 determining the user intent associated with the post comprises identifying an offer in the post; and   the information responsive to the first notification includes a response to the offer.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 determining the user intent associated with the post comprises identifying a request in the post for a recommendation; and   the information responsive to the first notification includes a recommendation.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the request is for a recommendation in a geographic area; and   the recommendation in the information responsive to the first notification is specific to the geographic area.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising, at the server system, identifying a location for the recommendation in the information responsive to the first notification, wherein providing the information responsive to the first notification to the user comprises:
 generating a map;   adding a marker to the map at the identified location; and   providing the map with the marker to the user.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein providing the information responsive to the first notification to the user further comprises adding a hyperlink to the marker, the hyperlink being associated with the recommendation in the information. 
     
     
         16 . A server system, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:
 determining a user intent associated with a post from a user on a social networking service, based at least in part on content of the post; 
 generating a first notification of the user intent associated with the post; 
 selecting a plurality of users of the social networking service to receive the first notification; 
 providing the first notification to the plurality of users; and 
 after providing the first notification to the plurality of users:
 receiving one or more responses to the first notification from one or more users of the plurality of users, the one or more responses including information responsive to the first notification; 
 generating a second notification, including indications of determined respective intent associated with the one or more received responses based, at least in part, on content of the one or more received responses; and 
 providing the second notification to the user. 
 
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein selecting the plurality of users of the social networking service to receive the first notification comprises:
 determining respective degrees of association between the user intent and users of the social networking service; and   choosing users of the social networking service whose respective degrees of association satisfy a criterion.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein choosing the users of the social networking service whose respective degrees of association satisfy the criterion comprises choosing users who are also contacts of the user. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein respective posts of the plurality of previous posts have previously identified intents. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing one or more programs configured for execution by one or more processors of a server system, the one or more programs including instructions for:
 determining a user intent associated with a post from a user on a social networking service, based at least in part on content of the post;   generating a first notification of the user intent associated with the post;   selecting a plurality of users of the social networking service to receive the first notification;   providing the first notification to the plurality of users; and   after providing the first notification to the plurality of users:
 receiving one or more responses to the first notification from one or more users of the plurality of users, the one or more responses including information responsive to the first notification; 
 generating a second notification, including indications of determined respective intent associated with the one or more received responses based, at least in part, on content of the one or more received responses; and 
 providing the second notification to the user.