System and method for changing the size of a user group to which media items are to be presented

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for: identifying a media item to be provided to a user group of a content sharing platform, wherein the media item is associated with a category, and wherein each user in the user group is associated with a weight indicating a probability of correspondence between the respective user and the category associated with the media item; receiving a request to change the size of the user group from a first level to a second level, the first level corresponding to a first weight threshold for the user group; and calculating a second weight threshold for the user group corresponding to the second level based on a value indicating a difference between the first level and the second level, the second weight threshold to be subsequently used to determine whether the media item is to be provided to a user requesting content from the content sharing platform.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Aspects and implementations of the present disclosure relate to changing the size of a group of users to be presented with media items from an initial level to a different level in response to receiving a request from a provider of the media items. Background Art

[0002] The provider of a media item often selects an appropriate group of users who may be interested in the media item. The media item provider may want to change the size of the user group to include additional users or limit the users to whom the media item may be presented. The media item provider may not easily identify users to include or exclude from the group of users who may be interested in the media item. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The following summary is a simplified summary of the present disclosure to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the present disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present disclosure. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the present disclosure, nor to delineate any scope of the specific embodiments of the present disclosure or any scope of the claims. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the present disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that will be presented later.

[0004] In some embodiments, a system and method for changing the size of a user group to be provided with a media item from a first level to a second level in response to receiving a request from a provider of the media item is disclosed. In an embodiment, a media item is identified to be presented to a user group of a content sharing platform. The media item is associated with a category. Each user of the user group is associated with a weight indicating the probability of a correspondence between the corresponding user and the category associated with the media item. A request to change the size of the user group from the first level to the second level is received. The first level corresponds to a first weight threshold for the user group. The second weight threshold for the user group is calculated based on a value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level. The second weight threshold is to be used or subsequently used to determine whether the media item is to be provided to a user requesting content from the content sharing platform.

[0005] Optionally, the first level may represent a first statistical value that indicates a first quantitative relationship between the number of users in the group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform. Optionally, the second level may represent a second statistical value that indicates a second quantitative relationship between the number of users in the group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform. Optionally, the value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level may be specified by the provider of the media item or may be specifyable by the provider of the media item and may be the difference between the first statistical value and the second statistical value. The method may optionally further include, or the system may optionally be configured to, determine a value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level. Determining the value may optionally include receiving input from the provider of the media item, the received input specifying the second level. Determining the value may optionally include identifying one or more rules regarding categories associated with the media item. Determining the value may optionally include determining a second statistical value based on the one or more rules. Determining the value may optionally include determining the difference between the first statistical value and the second statistical value. The method may optionally further include, or the system may optionally be configured to compare a weight associated with the requesting user for a category of the media item with a second threshold to determine whether the media item is to be provided to the requesting user. Optionally, the request to change the size of the user group may be received in response to the provider of the media item interacting with a slider component of the user interface, wherein the slider component may allow the provider of the media item to select a second level for the size of the user group. Optionally, the category may include at least one of: the user's parental status, the user's occupation, an industry associated with the user's occupation, the size of a company that employs the user, the user's educational status, the user's relationship status, or the user's property ownership status. Optionally, the provision of the media item may include one or more of: allowing access to the media item, sending the media item, and / or presenting the media item, or permitting the presentation of the media item.

[0006] In some embodiments, a system and method are disclosed for providing a user interface (UI) that allows a first user to change the size of a second user group to which a media item is to be provided from a first level to a second level. In one embodiment, a UI is provided to a first user of a content sharing platform. The UI includes at least a first portion and a second portion. The first portion includes one or more first UI components that allow the first user to provide one or more categories associated with the media item. The second portion includes one or more second UI components that allow the first user to change the size of the second user group to which the media item is to be provided. A first request may be received to associate a first category with the media item. One or more first UI components may be operable by the first user to provide the first request. The first request may be received in response to the first user interacting with the one or more first UI components. A second request may be received to change the size of the second user group to which the media item is to be provided from a first level to a second level. One or more second UI components may be operable by the first user to provide the second request. The second request may be received in response to the first user interacting with the one or more second UI components. In response to receiving the first and second requests, an indication of the estimated change in size of the second user group from the first level to the second level is provided in the UI.

[0007] The system may include: a memory component; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory component. The processor may be configured to implement a UI.

[0008] Optionally, one or more first UI components may be configured to display, via the UI, one or more categories to be selected by the first user for association with the media item. Optionally, one or more second UI components may include multiple horizontal markers and a slider component. Optionally, the first horizontal marker may correspond to a first level and the second horizontal marker may correspond to a second level. Optionally, the slider component may be operable to change the size of the second user group. Optionally, the first user may request to change the size of the second user group from a first level to a second level by moving the slider component from a first horizontal marker to a second horizontal marker. Optionally, the second horizontal marker may include a value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level. Optionally, the indication of the estimated change in the size of the second user group may include the number of second users added or removed from the second user group as a result of changing the size of the second user group from the first level to the second level. Optionally, the categories may include at least one of the following: the user's parental status, the user's occupation, an industry associated with the user's occupation, the size of the company that employs the user, the user's educational status, the user's relationship status, or the user's property ownership status.

[0009] In an embodiment, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform any one of the above methods. The computer program product may be included in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

[0010] The instructions may cause a processing device to identify media items to be provided to a user group of a content sharing platform, wherein the media items are associated with categories and wherein each user in the user group is associated with a weight indicating a probability of correspondence between the respective user and the category associated with the media item; receive a request to change the size of the user group from a first level to a second level, the first level corresponding to a first weight threshold for the user group; and calculate a second weight threshold for the user group corresponding to the second level based on a value indicating a difference between the first level and the second level, the second weight threshold to be subsequently used to determine whether the media item is to be provided to a user requesting content from the content sharing platform. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The various aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure will be more fully understood from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of the various aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure, which, however, should not be considered as limiting the present disclosure to specific aspects or embodiments but are only for illustration and understanding.

[0012] Figure 1 An example system architecture is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 2 Illustrated is a user interface that facilitates changing the size of a first user group from a first level to a second level in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 3 A flow chart illustrating an example method for changing the size of a user group from a first level to a second level, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 4 A flow chart illustrating an example method for calculating a weight threshold for a user group corresponding to a second level, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 5 A flow chart illustrating an example method for providing a user interface to a user of a content sharing platform that facilitates changing the size of a user group from a first level to a second level, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Aspects of the present disclosure are devoted to receiving a request from the provider of media items and the size of the user group to be provided with media items is changed to different levels from an initial level.Selection may be overwhelming for the provider of media items to the appropriate user group that is interested in media items (e.g., video clips, audio clips, etc.). The media items provider may want to provide the media items of a content sharing platform to the target user group (e.g., the parents of a young baby) associated with the first category. The user can be identified to be included in the user group based on one or more attributes (e.g., weight) included in the user profile associated with the user. A small portion of users that may be included in the user group associated with the first category of the content sharing platform may exist. Therefore, the media items provider may want to expand the user group to include a user that was not initially considered to belong to the first category but may still be interested in the media items relevant to the first category.

[0019] Existing mechanisms available to media item providers often result in selecting too wide a user group or alternatively failing to reach enough users. In some conventional systems, media item providers can identify one or more additional categories to be associated with the media items in order to increase the number of users included in the user group. However, by associating additional categories with the media items, more users than the media item provider expects can be included in the user group. As a result, even if the media items may be unrelated to these users, the media items can still be provided to users of the content sharing platform.

[0020] One possible option for implementing this may include, in response to receiving a request for content from a user of the content sharing platform, adding or changing one or more attributes of the user profile based on one or more predefined enrichment rules to determine whether the user should be included in a user group and, therefore, be provided with media items. However, adding or changing one or more attributes in response to a content request often utilizes unnecessary processing resources, thereby increasing system latency in responding to the content request.

[0021] Embodiments of the present disclosure address the above and other deficiencies by simplifying the user group selection process and allowing media item providers to explicitly define the desired user categories in the user group to which media items can be provided and the desired size of such a group. The size of the group can be dynamically adjusted (e.g., expanded or reduced) based on the preferences of the media item provider. In particular, aspects of the present disclosure can provide for changing the size of the user group to which media items are to be provided from an initial (first) level to a different (second) level in response to a request from the provider of the media items.

[0022] In some embodiments, a media item provider may upload or otherwise provide a media item to a content sharing platform for presentation to one or more users of the content sharing platform. The media item provider may specify a category of user groups to which the media item is to be presented. For example, the media item provider may indicate that the media item should be presented to parents of infants. In another example, the media item provider may indicate that the media item is to be presented to homeowners. The media item provider may also indicate a desired size of the user group to which the media items associated with a particular category are to be presented. Initially, the size of the user group for a particular category may be set to a first level.

[0023] The first level can be represented as a first statistical value that indicates a first quantitative relationship between the number of users belonging to a particular category and the entire user population (e.g., the total number of users of the content sharing platform). The first statistical value can be an estimated percentage of the user population belonging to the particular category from the entire user population of the content sharing platform. For example, the particular category associated with the media item can be parents of infants, and the users belonging to this category can correspond to 10% of the entire user population of the content sharing platform. Therefore, the first level can be represented by a first statistical value of 10% of the particular category of parents of infants.

[0024] Users of a content sharing platform can be associated with one or more weights that each indicate the probability that the user belongs to a corresponding category. In some embodiments, a machine learning model trained on historical data (e.g., a training input comprising a user's attributes and a target output comprising a category previously assigned to the user) can be used to generate one or more weights for each user of the content sharing platform, wherein each weight indicates the probability of a correspondence between a user and a specific category. For example, the trained machine learning model can generate weights 0.85 and 0.5 for user A, wherein the probability that the weight 0.85 indicates that user A belongs to the category of a parent of an infant is 85% and the probability that user A belongs to the category of a parent of an infant is 50%. The content sharing platform can store the weights of each user in association with the corresponding category in a data store. The content sharing platform can also set a weight threshold for each category or an overall weight threshold for all categories. The weight threshold can be used to determine whether a user is included in a user group that can provide it with media items associated with a specific category. This can be achieved by comparing the corresponding weight of the user with a weight threshold associated with the relevant category. If the corresponding weight meets or exceeds the weight threshold associated with the relevant category, the user can be considered to belong to the category and can be included in a user group that can provide it with media items. In other words, the user may be considered part of a suitable audience for the media item.If the corresponding weight does not meet or exceed a weight threshold associated with the relevant category, the user may (at least for the current determination) be considered not to belong to the category and the media item may not be provided.

[0025] Depending on the weight thresholds associated with a particular category, the size of the group of users (or the size of the appropriate audience) to be provided with media items of a particular category may vary. For example, if the first weight threshold is set to 0.9 and the second weight threshold is set to 0.8, the number of users with a corresponding weight that meets or exceeds the first threshold will be lower than the number of users with a corresponding weight that meets or exceeds the second threshold.

[0026] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, for a particular category, the size of the user group at the first (initial) level is associated with a first (initial) weight threshold, which can be user-defined or determined by the content sharing platform (e.g., by selecting a threshold that is likely to produce a certain percentage of user groups that match the first level of the particular category). According to the previous example, the first level can be represented by 10% (i.e., 10% of the entire user group of the content sharing platform can be estimated to be parents of infants). The weight threshold that can result in 10% of users being considered parents of infants can be set to 85%. In some embodiments, the content sharing platform determines the weight threshold by the following steps: (i) identifying users Ux associated with the category of parents of infants using weight w, (ii) determining the number n of users that constitute 10% of the total user group of the content sharing platform, (iii) selecting a cutoff value t that, when compared with the weight w of each user Ux, will result in n users Ux having a weight w that exceeds (or is equal to) the cutoff value t, and (iv) setting the first threshold to t.

[0027] As discussed above, a media item provider may request that the size of the user group to which the media item is to be provided be changed from a first level to a second level. The second level may represent a second statistical value indicating a second quantitative relationship between the number of users in the group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform. The second level may correspond to a user group that is expanded or reduced from the original user group of the first level. For example, a media item provider may request that the size of the user group to which the media item is to be provided be doubled (i.e., increased by 100%).

[0028] In some embodiments, the media item provider may specify a value (e.g., 100%) indicating the difference between the first level and the second level. Alternatively, the media item provider may simply specify a specific level that should result from the change (e.g., by setting the new level from level 1 to level 2), and the content sharing platform may determine a second statistical value indicating a second quantitative relationship between the number of users in the group and the entire user population. The value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level may be determined based on the difference between the first and second statistical values.

[0029] The size of the group at the second level can be determined based on the user population of the content sharing platform that meets the second weight threshold of the user group, wherein the second weight threshold corresponds to the second level. The second weight threshold can be calculated based on the value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level. According to the previous example, the second level can correspond to a user population that has been expanded by approximately 100% from the original user population of the specific category of the baby's parents (i.e., 10% of the entire user population), and the requested increase of 100% will result in 20% of the users being considered to belong to the specific category of the baby's parents (i.e., the original 10% from the entire user population). In some embodiments, the content sharing platform calculates the second weight threshold by the following steps: (i) identifying the user Ux associated with the category of the baby's parents using weight w, (ii) determining the number m of users that constitute 20% (the statistical value of the second level) of the total user population of the content sharing platform, (iii) selecting a cutoff value t2, which, when compared with the weight w of each user Ux, will result in m users Ux having a weight w exceeding (or equal to) the cutoff value t2, and (iv) setting the second threshold to t2. In response to determining that the weight assigned to user A meets the second weight threshold (i.e., 0.7) for the category of the infant's parents, user A may be determined to be included in the user group corresponding to the category of the infant's parents even though user A would not meet the first weight threshold.

[0030] In some embodiments, a relevance score can be generated and included in the user profile of the user. The relevance score can correspond to the weight associated with the category included in the user profile. Relevance scores can be generated about categories based on whether the weight of the user meets the first weight threshold and / or the second weight threshold. For example, in response to the determination that the weight threshold of the user exceeds the first weight threshold, a relevance score between 0 and 1 can be added to the user profile associated with the user. A relevance score of 1 can indicate that the category is significantly relevant to the user, but a relevance score of 0 can indicate that the category is not too relevant to the user. Subsequently, in response to the request that the media item owner will narrow down (reduce) the user group to which the media item should be provided, the content sharing platform can select a desired user group (by selecting a user group with a higher relevance score) from the user with a relevance score between 0 and 1. In another example, in response to the determination that the weight of the user does not meet the first weight threshold but meets the second weight threshold, a relevance score between -1 and 0 can be added to the user profile. Subsequently, in response to a request from a media item owner to expand the user group to which the media item should be provided, the content sharing platform can select a desired user group from users with a relevance score between 0 and -1 (by selecting a user group with a higher (i.e., less negative) relevance score). In yet another example, in response to a determination that a user's weight does not meet a first weight threshold or a second weight threshold, the user will not be part of the user group being considered for shrinking or expanding. The relevance score can also be used by the content sharing platform to identify candidate media items for presentation to users of the content sharing platform. In response to a request for content from a user, the content sharing platform can identify a collection of media items as candidates for presentation to the user. The content sharing platform can identify relevance scores corresponding to categories associated with candidate media items of the identified collection of media items. In response to determining that the category is relevant to the user based on the relevance score of the corresponding category, the candidate media item can be selected for presentation to the user. For example, the relevance score corresponding to the category associated with the candidate media item can be approximately 0.9. A relevance score of 0.9 can indicate that the category associated with the candidate media item is significantly relevant to the user. Thus, the candidate media item may be selected for presentation to the user over other media items in the set of identified media items.

[0031] Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure provide the mechanism for simplifying the user group selection process to the media items provider, thereby allow the media items provider to explicitly define the desired user category in the user group that can provide media items and the desired size of such group, and dynamically adjust the size of (for example, expanding or reducing) group according to the preference of the media items provider.This avoids the media items provider from guessing which other categories should be associated with media items so as to increase the quantity of the user included in the user group.By avoiding the media items provider from guessing which other categories should be associated with media items, processing resources are no longer wasted in presenting the media items relevant to the user of content sharing platform, the user is improved to the trust and / or interest of content sharing platform, and now media items are offered to the user of desired number, and media items are not presented to too large or too small user group.In addition, by determining weight threshold before receiving media items being presented to the user's request, unnecessary processing resources are not utilized to determine whether the user is included in the user group when the request to content is received, thereby reducing the system time delay when the user's request to content is responded to.Controlling the access to the data such as media items in a computer system can propose significant technical challenges. Aspects of the present disclosure may provide convenient mechanisms to simplify control over the extent to which media items are accessed and / or provided.

[0032] In addition, aspects of the present disclosure reduce overall system latency when a user requests content from a content sharing platform. By generating a relevance score before receiving a request for content from a user and adding it to the user profile, the content sharing platform can more quickly identify media items relevant to the user for presentation to the user based on the relevance score in response to receiving a request for content from the user. By identifying media items relevant to the user, the content sharing platform considers fewer candidate media items for presentation to the user. Therefore, fewer processing resources are utilized when selecting media items for presentation to the user, thereby reducing overall system latency. In addition, by using relevance scores, user group reduction and expansion operations are simplified, thereby requiring fewer processing resources when resolving requests from media item providers.

[0033] Figure 1 An example system architecture 100 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. System architecture 100 (also referred to herein as the "system") includes client devices 102A-N, a data store 110, a content sharing platform 120, one or more server machines 130-140, and a third party platform 165, each connected to a network 104.

[0034] In embodiments, the network 104 may include a public network (e.g., the Internet), a private network (e.g., a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN)), a wired network (e.g., an Ethernet network), a wireless network (e.g., an 802.11 network or a Wi-Fi network), a cellular network (e.g., a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), routers, hubs, switches, server computers, and / or combinations thereof.

[0035] The client devices 102A-N may each include a computing device, such as a personal computer (PC), a laptop, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a netbook computer, an Internet-connected television, and the like. In some embodiments, the client devices 102A-N may also be referred to as "user devices." Each client device may include a content viewer. In some embodiments, the content viewer may be an application that provides a user interface (UI) for a user to view or upload content, such as images, video items, web pages, documents, and the like. For example, a content viewer may be a web browser capable of accessing, retrieving, presenting, and / or navigating content served by a web server (e.g., web pages such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) pages, digital media items, and the like). The content viewer may render, display, and / or present the content to the user. The content viewer may also include an embedded media player (e.g., a web page that may provide information about products sold by an online merchant) embedded in a web page (e.g., a web page that may provide information about products sold by an online merchant). Player or HTML5 player). In another example, the content viewer can be a standalone application (e.g., a mobile application or app) that allows a user to view digital media items (e.g., digital video items, digital images, e-books, etc.). According to aspects of the present disclosure, the content viewer can be a content sharing platform application for a user to record, edit, and / or upload content for sharing on the content sharing platform 120. Thus, the content viewer can be provided to the client devices 102A-N by the content sharing platform 120. For example, the content viewer can be an embedded media player embedded in a web page provided by the content sharing platform 120.

[0036] The media item 121 can be consumed via the internet or via a mobile device application such as a content viewer of a client device 102A-N. As previously discussed, the requested media item 121 can be requested by a user of the content sharing platform 120 for presentation to the user. As used herein, "media," "media item," "online media item," "digital media," "digital media item," "content," and "content item" can include an electronic file that can be executed or loaded using software, firmware, or hardware configured to present the digital media item to an entity. In one embodiment, the content sharing platform 120 can use the data store 110 to store the media item 121. In another embodiment, the content sharing platform 120 can use the data store 110 to store the media item 121 or fingerprint as an electronic file in one or more formats. The media item 121 can be provided to the user, wherein the provision of the media item 121 can include one or more of: allowing access to the media item 121, sending the media item 121, and / or presenting the media item 121 or permitting presentation of the media item 121.

[0037] In one embodiment, media item 121 is a video item. A video item is a collection of sequential video frames (e.g., image frames) representing a scene in motion. For example, a series of sequential video frames can be captured continuously or reconstructed later to produce an animation. Video items can be provided in various formats including, but not limited to, analog, digital, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional video. In addition, a video item can include a movie, a video clip, or any set of animated images to be displayed in sequence. In addition, a video item can be stored as a video file including a video component and an audio component. The video component can refer to video data in a video coding format or an image coding format (e.g., H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC), H.264 MPEG-4 Part 2, Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), WebP, etc.). The audio component can refer to audio data in an audio coding format (e.g., Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MP3, etc.). It can be noted that a GIF can be saved as an image file (e.g., a .gif file) or saved as an animated GIF (e.g., GIF89a format) as a series of images. It may be noted that, for example, H.264 may be a video coding format that is a directional block motion-compensated based video compression standard for recording, compression, or distribution of video content.

[0038] In some implementations, the data store 110 is a persistent storage device capable of storing media items 121 and data structures for tagging, organizing, and indexing the media items 121. The data store 110 may be hosted by one or more storage devices such as main memory, magnetic or optical storage-based disks, tapes, or hard drives, NAS, SAN, etc. In some implementations, the data store 110 may be a network-attached file server, while in other embodiments, the data store 110 may be some other type of persistent storage device, such as an object-oriented database, a relational database, etc., that may be hosted by the content sharing platform 120 or one or more different machines coupled to the server content sharing platform 120 via the network 104.

[0039] In one embodiment, the content sharing platform 120 or server machines 130-150 can be one or more computing devices (such as rack-mounted servers, router computers, server computers, personal computers, mainframe computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, desktop computers, etc.), data storage (e.g., hard disks, memories, databases), networks, software components, and / or hardware components that can be used to provide users with access to media items 121 and / or provide users with media items 121. For example, the content sharing platform 120 can allow users to consume, upload, search, approve ("like"), disapprove ("dislike"), or comment on media items 121. The content sharing platform 120 can also include a website (e.g., a webpage) or application backend software that can be used to provide users with access to media items 121.

[0040] In embodiments of the present disclosure, a "user" may be represented as a single individual. However, other embodiments of the present disclosure encompass an entity controlled by a collection of users and / or automated sources. For example, a collection of individual users united as a community in a social network may be considered a "user." In another example, an automated consumer may be an automated ingestion pipeline of a content sharing platform 120, such as a topic channel.

[0041] The content sharing platform 120 may include multiple channels (e.g., channels A through Z). A channel can include one or more media items 121 available from a public source or having a common topic, theme, or theme. Media items 121 can be digital content selected by a user, provided by a user, uploaded by a user, selected by a content provider, selected by a broadcaster, and so on. For example, channel X may include videos Y and Z. A channel can be associated with an owner, who is a user who can perform actions on the channel. Different activities can be associated with a channel based on the actions of the owner, such as the owner creating digital content on the channel, the owner selecting (e.g., liking) digital content associated with another channel, the owner commenting on digital content associated with another channel, and so on. Activities associated with a channel can be collected in the channel's activity feed. Users other than the channel's owner can subscribe to one or more channels of their interest. The concept of "subscription" may also be referred to as "liking," "following," "adding a friend," and so on.

[0042] (Multiple) third-party platform 165 can be used to provide video advertisements. Alternatively, (multiple) third-party platform 165 can provide other services. For example, (multiple) third-party platform 165 can be a video streaming service provider that generates a media streaming service via a communication application for users to play videos, TV shows, video clips, audio, audio clips, and movies on client devices 102A-Z via (multiple) third-party platform 165.

[0043] In some embodiments, a media item provider can upload or otherwise provide (e.g., via a third-party platform 165) a media item 121 to a content sharing platform 120 for presentation to one or more users. The media item provider can specify a category of user groups to which media items 121 are to be provided. A category can correspond to one or more conditions (e.g., parental status, educational status, relationship status, property ownership status, etc.) or attributes (e.g., occupation, industry associated with an occupation, size of the company employing the user, etc.) of a user of the content sharing platform 120. If a user is associated with a condition or attribute corresponding to a category, the user can belong to the corresponding category. For example, a media item provider can indicate that media items 121 should be provided to the parents of an infant. Therefore, a user with a condition of being a parent of an infant can be provided with media items 121. In another example, a media item provider can indicate that media items 121 should be provided to an agent. Therefore, a user with an attribute of being an agent can be provided with media items 121.

[0044] The association of a user with a condition or attribute corresponding to a corresponding category can be determined based on one or more weights associated with the user, wherein the one or more weights each indicate a probability that the user belongs to the corresponding category. A user of the content sharing platform 120 can create a user profile and specify certain information in the user profile (e.g., name, email address, occupation, etc.). The content sharing platform 120 can also include one or more weights in the user profile, each weight indicating a probability that the user belongs to a corresponding category. The user profile can further include historical data associated with the corresponding user. In some embodiments, the historical data can include data provided by the user (e.g., data provided when the user creates a user profile for the content sharing platform 120, data provided by the user in response to questions prompted by the content sharing platform 120, etc.). In other or similar embodiments, the historical data can include data collected as a result of the user interacting with the content sharing platform 120. The historical data of the corresponding user can be used to determine one or more weights associated with the user.

[0045] The server machine 130 may include a category weight generator 132 to generate each weight included in the user profile using a machine learning model trained on historical data of one or more users of the content sharing platform 120. In some embodiments, historical data of one or more users of the content sharing platform 120 may be extracted from the corresponding user profiles and used to generate training data. The training data may include training inputs comprising attributes of the user and target outputs comprising categories previously assigned to the user. As a result of training, the machine learning model may infer dependencies between the user attributes and relevant categories, and the trained machine learning model may subsequently be used to provide weights indicating the probability of a correspondence between a new user and a category. For example, historical data associated with a new user of the content sharing platform 120 may be obtained from the user profile associated with the new user and provided as input to the trained machine learning model. The trained machine learning model may provide one or more weights as output, each weight indicating the probability of a correspondence between the new user and one or more categories. Each user profile of an individual user of the content sharing platform 120, including weights determined in association with corresponding categories, may be stored in the data store 110.

[0046] In some embodiments, a category may have a first category type or a second category type. The first category type may correspond to a status or attribute to which the user can be associated, without conflicting with another status or attribute to which the user is also associated. For example, regarding a user's parental status, a user may be both a parent of an infant and a parent of a young child. Thus, a user may belong to a first category of parents of an infant and a second category of parents of a young child. The first category type may include at least the user's parental status, the user's occupation, an industry associated with the user's occupation, or the user's educational status.

[0047] The second category type can correspond to a status or attribute to which the user can be associated without conflicting with another status or attribute to which the user is also associated. For example, with respect to the user's educational status, the user's highest level of education can be a bachelor's degree or a doctorate. Thus, the user can belong to the first category whose highest level of education is a bachelor's degree or the second category whose highest level of education is a doctorate. However, the user can belong to neither the first category nor the second category. In another example, with respect to the user's property ownership status, the user can be a homeowner or a tenant, but not both. Thus, the user can belong to the first category of homeowners or the second category of tenants. However, the user can belong to neither the first category nor the second category.

[0048] In some embodiments, the category weight generator 132 may generate two or more weights, each indicating a probability that the user belongs to a category of the second category type. For example, the first weight may be 0.9, which indicates a 90% probability that the user belongs to the first category of homeowners. The second weight may be 0.85, which indicates an 85% probability that the user belongs to the second category of tenants. In such an embodiment, the content sharing platform 120 may determine a category of the second category type to which the user should belong (i.e., the first category or the second category). The content sharing platform 120 may determine the category to which the user should belong based on one or more category rules. In some embodiments, the one or more category rules may be defined by an administrator of the content sharing platform 120 and may be stored at the data store 110. The one or more category rules may provide an indication of the category to which the user should belong based on two or more weights, each indicating a probability that the user belongs to a category of the second category type. In accordance with the above example, the content sharing platform 120 may determine that the user belongs to a group associated with homeowners in response to a determination that the probability that the user is a homeowner exceeds the probability that the user is a tenant, given the category rule that specifies that the user belongs to the category of homeowners.

[0049] In response to determining the category to which the user should belong, the content sharing platform 120 may provide an indication of the determined category to be included in the user profile of the user. In some embodiments, the indication of the determined category may be a pointer to a category of the second category type to which the user should belong. In other or similar embodiments, the indication of the determined category may include a regenerated weight for the category to which the user should not belong. For example, the content sharing platform 120 may reset the second weight to 0, thereby indicating that the probability that the user belongs to the second category of the tenant is 0%.

[0050] In some implementations, the content sharing platform 120 can provide an indication of the determined category in response to the category weight generator 132 generating the weight for the user profile. In other or similar implementations, the content sharing platform 120 can provide an indication of the determined category when evaluating whether to present the media item 121 to the user.

[0051] The media item provider may also indicate an expected size of the user group to which the media item 121 associated with the particular category is to be provided. The content sharing platform 120 may determine the size of the user group to which the media item 121 is to be provided based on the expected size indicated by the media item provider. Initially, the size of the user group of the particular category may be set to a first level. The first level may be represented as a first statistical value indicating a first quantitative relationship between the number of users belonging to the particular category and the entire user population (e.g., the total number of users of the content sharing platform 120). The first statistical value may be an estimated percentage of the user population belonging to the particular category from the entire user population of the content sharing platform 120. For example, the particular category associated with the media item 121 may be parents of infants, and users belonging to this category may correspond to 10% of the entire user population of the content sharing platform 120. Therefore, the first level may be represented by a first statistical value of 10% of the particular category of parents of infants.

[0052] In some embodiments, the content sharing platform 120 may set a weight threshold for each category. In other or similar embodiments, the content sharing platform 120 may set an overall weight threshold for all categories. The user determination module 142 may use the weight threshold to determine whether to include a user in a user group to which media items 121 associated with a particular category should be provided. This may be achieved by comparing the user's corresponding weight with a weight threshold associated with the relevant category. If the corresponding weight meets or exceeds the weight threshold associated with the relevant category, the user may be considered to belong to the category and may be included in the user group to which media items 121 should be provided.

[0053] Depending on the weight threshold associated with a particular category, the size of the user group (or size of the appropriate audience) to be provided with a particular category of media items 121 may vary. For example, if the first weight threshold is set to 0.9 and the second weight threshold is set to 0.8, the number of users with a corresponding weight that meets or exceeds the first threshold will be lower than the number of users with a corresponding weight that meets or exceeds the second threshold.

[0054] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, for a particular category, the size of the user group at the first (initial) level is associated with a first (initial) weight threshold, which can be user-defined or determined by the content sharing determination platform 120 (e.g., by selecting a threshold that is likely to produce a certain percentage of the user population that matches the first level of the particular category). According to the previous example, the first level can be represented by 10% (i.e., 10% of the entire user population of the content sharing platform 120 can be estimated to be parents of infants). The weight threshold that can result in 10% of users being considered parents of infants can be set to 85%. In some embodiments, the content sharing platform 120 determines the weight threshold by the following steps: (i) identifying users Ux associated with the category of parents of infants using weight w, (ii) determining the number n of users that constitute 10% of the total user population of the content sharing platform 120, (iii) selecting a cutoff value t that, when compared to the weight w of each user Ux, will result in n users Ux having a weight w that exceeds (or is equal to) the cutoff value t, and (iv) setting the first threshold to t. In other or similar implementations, the weight threshold may be determined by the threshold calculation component 144 of the group sizing module 142 of the server machine 140 .

[0055] As discussed above, a media item provider may request that the size of the user group to which the media item 121 is to be provided be changed from a first level to a second level. The server machine 140 may include a group sizing module 142 to facilitate changing the size of the user group from the first level to the second level. The second level may represent a second statistical value indicating a second quantitative relationship between the number of users in the group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform 120. The second level may correspond to a user group that is expanded or reduced from the original user group at the first level. For example, a media item provider may request that the size of the user group to which the media item 121 is to be provided be doubled (i.e., increased by 100%).

[0056] In some embodiments, the media item provider may specify a value (e.g., 100%) indicating the difference between the first level and the second level. Alternatively, the media item provider may simply specify a specific level that should result from the change (e.g., by setting the new level from level 1 to level 2), and the group sizing module 142 may determine a second statistical value indicating a second quantitative relationship between the number of users in the group and the entire user population. The value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level may be determined based on the difference between the first and second statistical values.

[0057] The size of the group at the second level can be determined based on the user group of the content sharing platform 120 that meets the second weight threshold of the user group, wherein the second weight threshold corresponds to the second level. The second weight threshold can be calculated based on a value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level. According to the previous example, the second level can correspond to an original user group belonging to a specific category of parents of infants (i.e., 10% of the entire user group) expanded by approximately 100% of the user group, and the requested 100% increase will result in 20% of users being considered to belong to the specific category of parents of infants (i.e., from the original 10% of the entire user group).

[0058] The group sizing module 142 may include a threshold calculation component 144. In some embodiments, the threshold calculation component 144 calculates the second weight threshold by: (i) identifying users Ux associated with the category of parents of infants using weights w, (ii) determining the number m of users that constitute 20% (a second level statistic) of the total user population of the content sharing platform 120, (iii) selecting a cutoff value t2 that, when compared to the weight w of each user Ux, results in m users Ux having weights w exceeding (or equal to) the cutoff value t2, and (iv) setting the second threshold value to t2. In response to determining that the weight assigned to user A satisfies the second weight threshold (i.e., 0.7) for the category of parents of infants, user A may be determined to be included in the user population corresponding to the category of parents of infants even though user A would not satisfy the first weight threshold.

[0059] In some embodiments, the relevance score generator 134 can further generate a relevance score to be included in the user profile of the user. The relevance score can correspond to the weight associated with the category included in the user profile. In some embodiments, the relevance score can replace the weight associated with the category included in the user profile.

[0060] In some embodiments, the content sharing platform can generate a relevance score based on the determination of whether the weight of the user satisfies the first weight threshold and / or the second weight threshold about the category.For example, in response to the determination that the weight threshold of the user exceeds the first weight threshold, the relevance score between 0 and 1 can be added to the user profile associated with the user.Relevance score 1 can indicate that the category is significantly relevant to the user, and relevance score 0 can indicate that the category is not too relevant to the user. Subsequently, in response to the request that the media item owner will reduce (reduce) the user group that should be provided with media items, the content sharing platform can select the desired user group (by selecting the user group with higher relevance score) from the user with the relevance score between 0 and 1. In another example, in response to the determination that the weight of the user does not meet the first weight threshold but meets the second weight threshold, the relevance score between-1 and 0 can be added to the user profile. If the size of the user group that the media items provider has requested to be provided with media items 121 is increased to the second level from the first level, then the relevance score between-1 and 0 can indicate that the user is only provided with the media items 121 associated with the corresponding category. That is, in response to a request from a media item owner to expand the user group to which the media item should be provided, the content sharing platform may select the desired user group from among users having relevance scores between 0 and -1 (by selecting the user group having a higher (i.e., less negative) relevance score). In another example, in response to a determination that the user's weight does not satisfy the first weight threshold or the second weight threshold, the user may not be part of the user group being considered for narrowing or expanding.

[0061] The relevance scores can be further used by the content sharing platform 120 to identify candidate media items for presentation to a user of the content sharing platform 120. A user can request content 120 from the content sharing platform via a client device 102A-N. In response to receiving the user request, the content sharing platform 120 can identify a collection of media items 121 as candidates for presentation to the user. In one example, each media item 121 in the collection of media items can be provided to the content sharing platform 120 by a separate media item provider.

[0062] The content sharing platform 120 can identify a candidate media item 121 from the set of media items. In some implementations, the media item provider of the candidate media item 121 may have requested that the size of the user group to which the media item should be provided be changed from a first level to a second level. For example, the media item provider may have requested to increase (increase) the user group or to decrease (reduce) the user group.

[0063] The content sharing platform 120 can identify a relevance score corresponding to the category associated with the candidate media item 121 from the user profile of the user. The content sharing platform 120 can determine whether to select the candidate media item 121 for presentation to the user based on the identified relevance score. For example, the relevance score corresponding to the category associated with the candidate media item 121 can be approximately 0.9. A relevance score of 0.9 can indicate that the category associated with the candidate media item 121 is significantly relevant to the user. Therefore, the candidate media item 121 can be selected for presentation to the user over other media items 121 in the identified set of media items.

[0064] In another example, the relevance score corresponding to the category associated with candidate media item 121 may be approximately -0.2. A relevance score of -0.2 may indicate that the category associated with candidate media item 121 is relevant to the user only if the media item provider has provided a request to expand the group of users to which candidate media item 121 is to be provided. Because the user has a relevance score of -0.2, the user may be included in a desired group of users having relevance scores between 0 and -1. Thus, candidate media item 121 may be selected for presentation to the user in response to a determination by the media item provider that the group of users to be provided is expanded over other media items 121 in the set of media items.

[0065] In another example, the relevance score corresponding to the category associated with the candidate media item may be approximately 0.2. As discussed above, the media item provider may have requested to reduce the group of users to whom the media item 121 is to be provided. Although a user may have a relevance score exceeding 0 (thereby indicating that the category may be relevant to the user), the user may not be included in the desired group of users with higher relevance scores to whom the media item 121 should be provided. Therefore, the media item 121 may not be selected for provision to the user.

[0066] Figure 2 1. A user interface 200 is shown that facilitates changing the size of a first user group from a first level to a second level in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. The user interface 200 may include at least a first portion 210, a second portion 220, and a third portion 230. The first portion 210 may include media items provided by a media item provider to a content sharing platform (e.g., Figure 1 The first portion 210 may include one or more first UI components (not shown) that allow a user to upload or otherwise provide the media items 212 to the content sharing platform 120. The first portion 210 may also include a media player that can play the media items for the user.

[0067] The second portion 220 may include one or more second UI components that allow the user to provide one or more categories 222A-C to be associated with the media item 212. In some implementations, the second UI component may allow the user to select a category (e.g., category 222A) to be associated with the media item 212 from one or more categories (e.g., categories 222A-C) allowed by the content sharing platform. In some implementations, the categories 222A-C may include at least one of the following: the user's parental status, the user's occupation, an industry associated with the user's occupation, the size of a company that employs the user, the user's educational status, the user's relationship status, or the user's property ownership status.

[0068] The third portion 230 may include one or more third UI components that allow a user to change the size of the second user group to which the media items 212 are to be provided from a first level to a second level. According to the previously discussed embodiments, the first level may represent a first statistical value indicating a first quantitative relationship between the number of users in the user group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform. The second level may represent a second statistical value indicating a second quantitative relationship between the number of users in the user group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform. In some embodiments, the one or more third UI components may include two or more horizontal markers 232A, B and a slider component 234. The first horizontal marker 232A may correspond to a first level of the size of the user group, and the second horizontal marker 232B may correspond to a second level of the size of the user group. The user may request to change the size of the second user group from the first level to the second level by moving the slider component 234 from the first horizontal marker 232A to the second horizontal marker 232B.

[0069] In some embodiments, the second level marker 232B can provide a value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level (e.g., a 65% increase). In other or similar embodiments, the second level marker 232B can provide a level indicator for a desired level of group size (e.g., L3). The value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level can be determined based on the level indicator in accordance with previously described embodiments.

[0070] The third portion 230 may also display an indication 236 of the number of second users of the content sharing platform to be included in the second user group as a result of changing the size of the second user group from the first level to the second level. In some embodiments, the indication 236 of the number of second users may be provided in a fourth portion (not shown) of the user interface 200.

[0071] Although the above description includes references to certain user interface elements included in the first portion 210, the second portion 220, the third portion 230, or the fourth portion (not shown) of the user interface 200, it should be understood that such references are provided for illustration and are not to be considered limiting. Any of the above user interface elements may be any of a variety of user interface elements including, but not limited to, a text field, a drop-down list, a check box, and the like.

[0072] Figure 3 A flow chart depicting a method 300 for changing the size of a user group from a first level to a second level, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 4 A flow chart illustrating an example method 400 for calculating a weight threshold for a user group corresponding to a second level, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 5 A flowchart depicting a method 500 for providing a user interface to a user of a content sharing platform for facilitating changing the size of a user group from a first level to a second level in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. Methods 300, 400, and 500 may be performed by processing logic that may include hardware (circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software (e.g., instructions running on a processing device), or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, some or all of the operations of methods 300, 400, and 500 may be performed by Figure 1 Executed by one or more components of system 100.

[0073] Now refer to Figure 3 At block 310, processing logic may identify media items to be provided to a user group of a content sharing platform. The media items may be associated with categories. According to previously described embodiments, the categories may be provided by the provider of the media items. Each user of the user group may be associated with a weight indicating a probability of correspondence between the respective user and the category associated with the media item. In some embodiments, the categories may include at least one of the following: the user's parental status, the user's occupation, an industry associated with the user's occupation, the size of a company that employs the user, the user's educational status, the user's relationship status, or the user's property ownership status.

[0074] At block 320, processing logic may receive a request to change the size of a user group from a first level to a second level. The first level may correspond to a first weight threshold for the user group. In some embodiments, the user group may be Figure 4 The method 400 of determining a first weight threshold. The first level may represent a first statistical value indicating a first quantitative relationship between the number of users in the group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform. The second level may represent a second statistical value indicating a second quantitative relationship between the number of users in the group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform.

[0075] In box 330, the processing logic may calculate a second weight threshold for the first user group corresponding to the second level based on the value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level. In some embodiments, the value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level may be specified by the provider of the media item and is the difference between a first statistic represented by the first level and a second statistic represented by the second level. In other or similar embodiments, the processing logic may determine the value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level by the following steps: receiving input from the provider of the media item, wherein the received input specifies the second level; identifying one or more rules about a category associated with the media item; determining the second statistic based on the one or more rules; and determining the difference between the first statistic and the second statistic. In some embodiments, the value may be determined in accordance with Figure 4 The method 400 determines a second weight threshold.

[0076] The processing logic may use a second weight threshold to determine whether a user requesting content from the content sharing platform is to be provided with a particular media item. The weight associated with the requesting user for the category of the media item may be identified from a user profile associated with the user. The processing logic may compare the weight associated with the requesting user for the category of the media item with the second weight threshold to determine whether the media item is to be provided to the requesting user.

[0077] As mentioned above, Figure 4 Flowchart depicting a method 400 for calculating a weight threshold for a group of users corresponding to a second level in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. At block 410, processing logic may identify users Ux associated with the category using weight w. At block 420, processing logic may determine the number n of users that constitute a portion of the total user population of the content sharing platform. At block 430, processing logic may select a cutoff value t that, when compared to the weight w of each user Ux, results in n users Ux having weights w that exceed (or are equal to) the cutoff value t. At block 440, the threshold weight is set to t.

[0078] In some implementations, method 400 may be performed to determine a first threshold corresponding to a first level of size of the user group or a second threshold corresponding to a second level of size of the user group in accordance with previously described embodiments.

[0079] As discussed above, Figure 5A flowchart depicting a method 500 for providing a user interface to a user of a content sharing platform in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure facilitates changing the size of a user group from a first level to a second level. At block 510, processing logic may provide a user interface (UI) to a first user of the content sharing platform (e.g., a provider of media items). The UI may include at least a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may include one or more first UI components that allow the first user to provide one or more categories associated with the media items. The one or more first UI components may be configured to display one or more categories to be selected by the first user for association with the media items via the UI. In some embodiments, the one or more categories may include at least one of the parental status of a second user (e.g., an end user of the content sharing platform), the occupation of the second user, the industry associated with the occupation of the second user, the size of the company that employs the second user, the educational status of the second user, the relationship status of the second user, or the property ownership status of the second user.

[0080] The second part may include one or more second UI components that allow the first user to change the size of the second user group to be provided with media items. The size of the second user group can be based on a first weight threshold of the probability of correspondence between the corresponding user and one or more categories associated with the media items. The one or more second UI components may include at least two or more horizontal marks and a slider component. The first horizontal mark may correspond to the first level and the second horizontal mark may correspond to the second level. The first user can request that the size of the second user group be changed from the first level to the second level by moving the slider component from the first horizontal mark to the second horizontal mark. In some embodiments, the second horizontal mark may include a value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level.

[0081] At block 520, processing logic may receive a first request to associate a first category with a media item. At block 530, processing logic may receive a second request to change the size of a second user group to be provided with the media item from a first level to a second level. At block 540, processing logic may present in the UI an indication of the estimated change in size of the second user group from the first level to the second level.

[0082] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1102A-N。The server machines 130-140 or client devices 102A-N in an endpoint-server network environment. The machine can operate as a server or endpoint machine in an endpoint-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine can be a television, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, a web appliance, a server, a network router, a switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by the machine. Furthermore, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" should also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute one or more sets of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

[0083] The example computer system 600 includes a processing device (processor) 602, a main memory 604 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, DRAM such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate (DDR SDRAM) or DRAM (RDRAM), etc.), a static memory 606 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a data storage device 618 that communicate with each other via a bus 640.

[0084] Processor (processing device) 602 represents one or more general-purpose processing devices such as a microprocessor, a central processing unit, or the like. More particularly, processor 602 can be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, a very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, or a processor implementing other instruction sets or a plurality of processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Processor 602 can also be one or more special-purpose processing devices, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), a network processor, or the like. Processor 602 is configured to execute instructions 605 (e.g., for predicting channel lineup ratings) for performing the operations discussed herein.

[0085] The computer system 600 can further include a network interface device 608. The computer system 600 can also include a video display unit 610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), input devices 612 (e.g., a keyboard and alphanumeric keypad, motion sensing input devices, touch screen), a cursor control device 614 (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generating device 620 (e.g., a speaker).

[0086] The data storage device 618 can include a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium 624 (also a computer-readable storage medium) on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 605 embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functionality described herein (e.g., for predicting channel lineup ratings). The instructions can also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604 and / or within the processor 602 during execution thereof by the computer system 600, with the main memory 604 and the processor 602 also constituting machine-readable storage media. The instructions can further be transmitted or received over the network 630 via the network interface device 608.

[0087] In one embodiment, instructions 605 include instructions for predicting channel lineup ratings. Although computer-readable storage medium 624 (machine-readable storage medium) is shown as a single medium in the exemplary embodiment, the terms "computer-readable storage medium" and "machine-readable storage medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database and / or associated caches and servers) that store one or more sets of instructions. The terms "computer-readable storage medium" and "machine-readable storage medium" should also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying a set of instructions for execution by a machine and causing the machine to perform one or more of any of the methodologies of the present disclosure. The terms "computer-readable storage medium" and "machine-readable storage medium" should therefore be taken to include, but are not limited to, solid-state memories, optical media, and magnetic media.

[0088] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, depending on the context, the appearance of the phrase "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification can, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0089] To the extent that the terms "includes," "comprising," "having," "including," variations thereof, and other similar words are used in the detailed description or claims, these terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprise" as an open transition word and do not exclude any additional or other elements.

[0090] As used in this application, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are generally intended to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware (e.g., circuitry), software, a combination of hardware and software, or an entity related to an operating machine having one or more specific functions. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor (e.g., a digital signal processor), a processor, an object, an executable file, a thread of execution, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a controller and the controller can be components. One or more components can reside within a process and / or thread of execution and a component can be located on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, a "device" can take the form of: specially designed hardware; generalized hardware specialized by the execution of software thereon that enables the hardware to perform specific functions (e.g., generating points of interest and / or descriptors); software on a computer-readable medium; or a combination thereof.

[0091] The foregoing systems, circuits, modules, etc. have been described with respect to interactions between several components and / or blocks. It will be appreciated that such systems, circuits, components, blocks, etc. can include those components or specified subcomponents, some of the specified components or subcomponents, and / or additional components, and in accordance with various permutations and combinations of the foregoing. Subcomponents can also be implemented as components that are communicatively coupled to other components rather than being included within a parent component (hierarchy). Additionally, it should be noted that one or more components can be combined into a single component that provides aggregate functionality or divided into several separate subcomponents, and any one or more intermediate layers, such as a management layer, can be provided to communicatively couple to such subcomponents to provide integrated functionality. Any component described herein may also interact with one or more other components not specifically described herein but known to those skilled in the art.

[0092] In addition, the words "example" or "exemplary" are used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. On the contrary, the use of the words "example" or "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete way. As used in this application, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or." That is, unless otherwise specified or clear from the context, "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any natural inclusive permutation. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then "X employs A or B" is satisfied in any of the above cases. In addition, unless otherwise specified or clear from the context for a singular form, the articles "a" and "an" as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be interpreted to mean "one or more."

[0093] Finally, embodiments described herein include the collection of data describing users and / or their activities. In one embodiment, such data is collected only if the user consents to its collection. In some embodiments, the user is prompted to explicitly consent to the data collection. Furthermore, the user can opt in or out of participating in such data collection activities. In one embodiment, the collected data is anonymized before any analysis is performed to obtain any statistical patterns, such that the identity of the user cannot be determined from the collected data.

Claims

1. A method comprising: identifying, by a set of one or more processing devices, media items to be provided to a group of users of a content sharing platform, wherein the media items are associated with categories, and wherein each user in the group of users is associated with a weight indicating a probability of correspondence between the respective user and the category associated with the media item; receiving, by the set of one or more processing devices, an indication of a user interaction with a UI component of a user interface (UI), the indication corresponding to a request to change the size of the user group from a first level to a second level, the first level corresponding to a first weight threshold for the user group, wherein the UI component enables a provider of the media item to specify an extent to which the size of the user group is to be changed between the first level and the second level; calculating, by the set of one or more processing devices, a second weight threshold for the user group corresponding to the second level based on a value indicating a difference between the first level and the second level; and One or more respective users are determined for inclusion in the user group for presenting the media item based on a second weight threshold calculated for the user group.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first level represents a first statistical value indicating a first quantitative relationship between the number of users in the user group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform, and the second level represents a second statistical value indicating a second quantitative relationship between the number of users in the user group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level is specified by a provider of the media item and is the difference between the first statistical value and the second statistical value.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the value indicative of the difference between the first level and the second level, wherein Determining the value includes: receiving input from a provider of the media item, the received input specifying the second level; identifying one or more rules regarding the category associated with the media item; determining the second statistical value based on the one or more rules; and A difference between the first statistic and the second statistic is determined.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The weight associated with the requesting user for the category of the media item is compared to the second weight threshold to determine whether the media item is to be provided to the requesting user.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein The UI component is a slider component.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein The category includes at least one of: the user's parental status, the user's occupation, an industry associated with the user's occupation, the size of a company that employs the user, the user's educational status, the user's relationship status, or the user's property ownership status.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein One or more respective users for inclusion in the user group for presenting the media item are received in response to receiving a request from a client device associated with the one or more respective users to access media content of the content sharing platform.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The UI is updated to indicate a size of the user group for presentation of the media item in view of the calculated second weight threshold.

10. A system comprising: Memory components; as well as A processor communicatively coupled to the memory component storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for a server, the instructions, when executed by a set of one or more processing devices, causing the set of one or more processing devices to: identifying, by the set of one or more processing devices, media items to be provided to a group of users of a content sharing platform, wherein The media item is associated with a category, and wherein each user in the group of users is associated with a weight indicating a probability of correspondence between the respective user and the category associated with the media item; receiving, by the set of one or more processing devices, an indication of a user interaction with a UI component of a user interface (UI), the indication corresponding to a request to change the size of the user group from a first level to a second level, the first level corresponding to a first weight threshold for the user group, wherein the UI component enables a provider of the media item to specify an extent to which the size of the user group is to be changed between the first level and the second level; calculating, by the set of one or more processing devices, a second weight threshold for the user group corresponding to the second level based on a value indicating a difference between the first level and the second level; and One or more respective users are determined for inclusion in the user group for presenting the media item based on a second weight threshold calculated for the user group.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein: The first level represents a first statistical value indicating a first quantitative relationship between the number of users in the user group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform, and the second level represents a second statistical value indicating a second quantitative relationship between the number of users in the user group and the total number of users of the content sharing platform.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein: The value indicating the difference between the first level and the second level is specified by a provider of the media item and is the difference between the first statistical value and the second statistical value.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein: The processing device is configured to further determine the value indicative of the difference between the first level and the second level, wherein determining the value comprises: receiving input from a provider of the media item, the received input specifying the second level; identifying one or more rules regarding the category associated with the media item; determining the second statistical value based on the one or more rules; and A difference between the first statistic and the second statistic is determined.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein: The processing equipment is further configured to: The weight associated with the requesting user for the category of the media item is compared to the second weight threshold to determine whether the media item is to be provided to the requesting user.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein: The UI component is a slider component.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein: The category includes at least one of: the user's parental status, the user's occupation, an industry associated with the user's occupation, the size of a company that employs the user, the user's educational status, the user's relationship status, or the user's property ownership status.

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