Viral interactions with portions of digital videos

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed toward systems and methods for interacting with portions of digital video within a social networking system. For example, systems and methods described herein enable a user to select a portion of a digital video and share or like just the portion of the digital video, rather than the entire digital video. The present disclosure is also directed toward systems and methods for identifying viral portions of a digital video within a social networking system. For example, systems and methods described herein analyze social networking activity related to portions of a particular digital video to identify one or more viral portions of the digital video. In response to identifying one or more viral portions, systems and methods provide an indication of, or otherwise share, the one or more viral portions during playback of the digital video.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 monitoring user interactions, within a social networking system, with portions of a digital video posted to the social networking system;   determining that a portion of the digital video is a viral portion based on the monitored user interactions for the portion of the digital video; and   in response to determining that the portion of the digital video is a viral portion, providing, via a graphical user interface, a playback timeline comprising:
 a first graphical indicator that highlights a portion of the playback timeline within the digital video to indicate a beginning and ending of the viral portion of the digital video within the playback timeline; and 
 a second graphical indicator that indicates a number of user interactions with the portion of the digital video. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein monitoring user interactions with portions of the digital video comprises monitoring one or more of: user interactions with a like user interface control or user interactions with a share user interface control. 
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein monitoring user interactions with portions of the digital video further comprises monitoring user interactions with a comment user interface control associated with the digital video. 
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying one or more video file layers associated with the digital video; and   identifying counts, for the portion of the digital video, based on the user interactions as indicated by the identified one or more video file layers.   
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising identifying, in response to determining the viral portion of the digital video, demographic information associated with the viral portion of the digital video based on demographic information associated with social networking system users that have interacted with the viral portion of the digital video. 
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 5 , further comprising providing the identified demographic information associated with the viral portion of the digital video to one or more advertisers, wherein the identified demographic information associated with the viral portion of the digital video comprises two or more of age information, gender information, location information, social networking activity information, or profile information. 
     
     
         7 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising providing, on the playback timeline, the second graphical indicator combined with the first graphical indicator during playback of the digital video on the social networking system. 
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein monitoring user interactions with the portions of the digital video further comprises monitoring user interactions indicating a selection of a particular portion of the digital video to share video. 
     
     
         9 . A system comprising:
 at least one storage device; and   at least one processor coupled to the at least one storage device, the at least one processor configured to cause the system to:   store instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:   monitor user interactions, within a social networking system, with portions of a digital video posted to the social networking system;   determine that a portion of the digital video is a viral portion based on the monitored user interactions for the portion of the digital video; and   in response to determining that the portion of the digital video is a viral portion, provide, via a graphical user interface, a playback timeline comprising:
 a first graphical indicator that highlights a portion of the playback timeline within the digital video to indicate a beginning and ending of the viral portion of the digital video within the playback timeline; and 
 a second graphical indicator that indicates a number of user interactions with the portion of the digital video. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the system to monitor user interactions with the portions of the digital video by monitoring one or more of: user interactions with a like user interface control associated with the portions of the digital video or user interactions with a share user interface control associated with the portions of the digital video. 
     
     
         11 . The system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the system to monitor user interactions with the portions of the digital video by monitoring user interactions with a comment interface control associated with the digital video. 
     
     
         12 . The system as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the system to:
 identify one or more video file layers associated with the digital video; and   identify counts, for the portion of the digital video, based on the user interactions with the portion of the digital video as indicated by the identified one or more video file layers.   
     
     
         13 . The system as recited in  claim 12 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to identify, in response to determining the viral portion of the digital video, demographic information associated with the viral portion of the digital video based on demographic information associated with social networking system users that have interacted with the viral portion of the digital video. 
     
     
         14 . The system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the system to provide the identified demographic information associated with the viral portion of the digital video to one or more advertisers. 
     
     
         15 . The system as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the system to automatically play the viral portion of the digital video when the digital video is accessed on the social networking system. 
     
     
         16 . The system as recited in  claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the system to provide, on the playback timeline, the second graphical indicator combined with the first graphical indicator during playback of the digital video. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 monitoring user interactions, within a social networking system, with portions of a digital video posted to the social networking system;   determining that a portion of the digital video is a viral portion based on the monitored user interactions for the portion of the digital video; and   in response to determining that the portion of the digital video is a viral portion, providing, via a graphical user interface, a playback timeline comprising:
 a first graphical indicator that highlights a portion of the playback timeline within the digital video to indicate a beginning and ending of the viral portion of the digital video within the playback timeline; and 
 a second graphical indicator that indicates a number of user interactions with the portion of the digital video. 
   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 identifying one or more video file layers associated with the digital video; and   identifying counts, for the portion of the digital video, as indicated by the identified one or more video file layers.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise assigning a heavier weight to a video file layer that indicates a particular portion of the digital video was shared than to a video file layer that indicates a particular portion of the digital video was viewed. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise providing a notification to other social networking system users in response to a user of liking the portion of the digital video on the social networking system.