Program, method and system

Abstract

To provide a program, a method and a system for maintaining a safe condition in a community.SOLUTION: A program is configured to reflect actions received from user terminals operated by a plurality of users, on the user terminals of the users so that each of the users can recognize the actions, the program including: updating an evaluation history status of a user in accordance with external evaluations, which are made from others than the user, on an action received from the user; controlling the action that the user can take, so as to prevent a user who is not in a specific status from taking the specific action that the user can take in the specific status indicated by the evaluation history status of the user; and reflecting the action, which is the specific action received from the user in the specific status, when a user not in the specific status is included in the multiple users, on the terminals of the users including the user not in the specific status.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 23

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a program, a method, and a system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, community activities via the Internet, such as SNS, have been actively carried out by a group of multiple users. In such communities, if there is an offensive or unpleasant post, each user can set it to be hidden or mute the user who posted such a post (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Non-Patent Document 1] “[Twitter] How to hide tweets you don't want to see”, [online], [searched on July 21, 2023], Internet<https: / / stackinnovation.rgr.jp / twitter005 / > Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, it is troublesome for each user to individually set posts to be hidden, etc. Also, in order to reduce such trouble, for example, it may be considered that the administrator of the community maintains peace within the community by imposing restrictions such as making posts invisible to certain users. However, since a user who posts posts that may cause other users discomfort may actually be well-intentioned, excessive restrictions by the administrator may discourage user activity and hinder the revitalization of the community. Therefore, it is desirable for each user to take action independently to improve peace within the community.

[0005] The present invention has been devised in view of the above circumstances, and provides a program, method, and system for maintaining good public order within a community. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] (1) A program according to an aspect of the present invention is a program (e.g., a program stored in storage unit 120, a program for providing content, etc.) that enables an action (e.g., posting of content, a comment, a tap action, etc.) accepted from a user terminal (e.g., user terminal 300) operated by each of a plurality of users to be reflected in the user terminal of each of the plurality of users so that each of the plurality of users can recognize the action, A computer (e.g., a distribution server 100, a user terminal 300) A means (e.g., account information 125, user management unit 354) for updating the evaluation history status of the user (e.g., the user's level and accumulated points in FIG. 7) in response to external evaluations (e.g., tap actions or reports from other users, evaluations from the administrator, as exemplified in FIG. 22) that are evaluations of actions (e.g., posted content or comments) received from the user; The system functions as a means (e.g., the account management unit 133, the user management unit 354) for controlling actions that can be taken by a user whose evaluation history situation is a specific situation (e.g., actions that can be taken by a user who is at a specific level as exemplified in FIG. 19 ) so that users who are not in the specific situation cannot take those actions (e.g., so that users whose level is 79 or lower cannot create plans), The control means, when the plurality of users includes a user who is not in the specific situation (for example, when a user who is at level 79 or lower is included), can reflect an action received from a user in the specific situation, even if it is the specific action, on the terminals of each of the plurality of users including the user who is not in the specific situation (for example, even if a user at level 80 or higher creates a plan, the plan can also be viewed on the user terminal 300 of a user at level 79 or lower).

[0007] According to this configuration, the actions that a user can take are controlled according to external evaluations, which are evaluations from users other than the user who took the action. In addition, a specific action received from a user in a specific situation can be reflected to multiple users (even if the user is not in the specific situation), so that it is possible to maintain good public order within the community.

[0008] (2) In (1) above, the control means allows a user who has entered the specific situation (e.g., whose level has increased) to take the specific action (e.g., steps S404 and S405 in FIG. 23), thereby preventing users who are not in the specific situation from taking the specific action.

[0009] According to such a configuration, by allowing users who are in a specific situation based on external evaluation to take specific actions, the actions that can be taken by users who are not in a specific situation are restricted, so that users can be encouraged to take actions that will put them in a specific situation in which they can take specific actions, and public order within the community can be maintained at a good level.

[0010] (3) In the above (2), the specific situation includes a first specific situation (e.g., level 60 or higher) and a second specific situation (e.g., level 80 or higher) that may be satisfied on the premise that the first specific situation exists; The specific action includes a first specific action (e.g., no posting link restriction as illustrated in FIG. 19 ) and a second specific action (e.g., planning as illustrated in FIG. 19 ); The control means includes: By allowing the user who has reached the first specific situation to take the first specific action (for example, when the user reaches level 60, no posting link restrictions are allowed in steps S404 and S405 of FIG. 23), a control is performed so that users who are not in the first specific situation cannot take the first specific action; By allowing a user who has reached the second specific situation to take the second specific action (for example, when level 80 is reached, plan creation is permitted in steps S404 and S405 of Figure 23), users who are not in the second specific situation are prevented from taking the second specific action.

[0011] According to such a configuration, by gradually increasing the allowable specific actions for a user who has reached a specific situation depending on the specific situation, it is possible to encourage the user to take actions aimed at a higher level, thereby making it possible to maintain good public order within the community.

[0012] (4) In (1) above, the control means restricts a user who is no longer in the specific situation (e.g., whose level has dropped) from taking a specific action (e.g., steps S409 and S410 in FIG. 23), thereby preventing a user who is no longer in the specific situation from taking the specific action.

[0013] According to such a configuration, a user who is no longer in a particular situation according to an external evaluation is restricted from taking a particular action, so that the user is encouraged to take actions that can maintain or improve the particular situation, and public order within the community can be maintained at a good level.

[0014] (5) In the above (4), the specific situation includes a first specific situation (e.g., level 60 or higher) and a second specific situation (e.g., level 80 or higher) that may be satisfied on the premise that the first specific situation exists; The specific action includes a first specific action (e.g., no posting link restriction as illustrated in FIG. 19 ) and a second specific action (e.g., planning as illustrated in FIG. 19 ); The control means includes: By restricting the user who is no longer in the first specific situation from being able to take the first specific action, control is performed so that the user who is not in the first specific situation cannot take the first specific action (for example, when the level reaches 59, restrictions are imposed on the posting link in steps S409 and S410 of FIG. 23 ); By restricting a user who is no longer in the second specific situation from being able to take the second specific action, control is performed so that users who are not in the second specific situation are prevented from taking the second specific action (for example, when level 79 is reached, steps S409 and S410 in Figure 23 will prevent the user from creating plans. See the modified example (other examples of evaluation history status)).

[0015] According to such a configuration, by gradually restricting the specific actions permitted for a user who is no longer in a specific situation, it is possible to prevent the number of actions that can be taken from becoming too small, while encouraging actions that can maintain or improve the specific situation, thereby maintaining a good state of order within the community.

[0016] (6) In the above (1), the computer While not notifying any other users other than the user of information related to the user's evaluation history status, the device functions as a means (e.g., account management unit 133, display control unit 352, user management unit 354) for notifying the user (e.g., displaying evaluation history status 55 on the My Page in Figure 8).

[0017] With this configuration, information related to the evaluation history status that is updated in response to external evaluations can be notified to the user himself / herself, so that the user will be able to make efforts to improve public safety in the community while being aware of his / her own situation.

[0018] (7) In the above (1), the computer While not notifying information related to the user's evaluation history status not only to the user himself or any other users, it functions as a means (e.g., account management unit 133, data transmission / reception unit 131) for notifying an administrator other than any user (e.g., making it possible to display the user's level and points only on the administrator terminal 200 of the administrator) (see the modified example (Regarding notifying information related to evaluation history status)).

[0019] According to such a configuration, information related to the evaluation history status that is updated in response to external evaluations is not notified to any users, but is notified to the manager, so that user actions are not unduly discouraged, and the manager can grasp the information related to the users' evaluation history status and use it for management.

[0020] (8) In (1) above, the external evaluations that can update the evaluation history status by the updating means include evaluations from an operator other than the multiple users (for example, a high evaluation given by the management in Figure 22, a negative evaluation by the management, etc.).

[0021] According to such a configuration, since the external evaluation includes an evaluation from the administrator, who is a third party different from the user, personal feelings are less likely to interfere with the external evaluation, and the external evaluation can be fair.

[0022] (9) In the above (1), the external evaluations for which the updating means can update the evaluation history status include evaluations from other users among the plurality of users other than the user who took the action (for example, likes from other users, reports from other users, etc.).

[0023] According to such a configuration, the external evaluation includes evaluations from other users other than the user who took the action, so that the public order within the community can be made to be in line with the wishes of all users.

[0024] (10) In the above (9), the external evaluation is an evaluation whose reflection should be restricted (for example, notification or non-display by the selection in FIG. 11(B)). The evaluation history status is the number of external evaluations (e.g., reflected restriction points, number of reports, etc.; see (other examples of evaluation history status) in the modified example), The control means controls the actions that users can take (e.g., restricting the posting of content or comments for a certain period of time) so that a user whose number of external evaluations, which is the evaluation history status, is less than a predetermined value (e.g., less than 20) cannot take a specific action (e.g., posting content or comments) that a user whose number of external evaluations is a predetermined value or more (e.g., 20 or more reports) cannot take.

[0025] According to such a configuration, by restricting the actions that can be taken by a user who has received a certain number of evaluations that should be restricted from being reflected, it is possible to maintain peace and order within the community.

[0026] (11) In the above (1), the computer It functions as a means for performing restriction processing (for example, not reflecting a restricted action on the user terminals of multiple users) on actions that have been restricted (for example, reported, hidden, etc.) by a user other than the user who performed the action and whose evaluation history status is in a predetermined status (for example, a level of 90 or higher in Figure 19 means that the user is invited to be a moderator, or a level of 70 or higher means that reports are counted), among the actions received from the user.

[0027] According to this configuration, the restriction process on a user's actions is performed on actions that have been restricted by a user whose evaluation history status is in a specified status, thereby preventing the restriction process from being performed indiscriminately on the user's actions.

[0028] (12) In (11) above, the restriction process includes a process for restricting the reflection of actions that are subject to restriction due to a predetermined number of users (e.g., five users who are subject to report count) in the predetermined situation on the terminals of each of the plurality of users.

[0029] According to this configuration, when an action to be regulated is received from a specified number of users whose evaluation history status is in a specified state, the action is deemed to be a nuisance and its reflection is restricted, thereby making it possible to efficiently regulate nuisance behavior without hindering free interaction and communication.

[0030] (13) In the above (1), the computer A means (e.g., a content management unit 132, an input unit 330) for receiving favorable actions (e.g., tap actions or favorable comments from users other than the poster) from other users different from the user who performed the action received from the user; By receiving the favorable action, the device functions as a means for changing the manner of the action that is the target of the favorable action (for example, the manner of display of the content headings (60, 70) in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the manner of the tap action number 78 in FIG. 13, the display of the special action 79, etc.); When the changing means receives a favorable action from a user whose evaluation history status is a specified status (e.g., level 90 or above), it changes the status to a different state than when it receives a favorable action from a user who is not in the specified status (see variant example (regarding actions from users in a specified status)).

[0031] According to such a configuration, it is possible for the user and other users to easily recognize that the action is a favorable action received from a user whose evaluation history status is in a predetermined status.

[0032] (14) In the above (1), the computer A means (e.g., a content management unit 132, an input unit 330) for receiving favorable actions (e.g., tap actions or favorable comments from users other than the poster) from other users different from the user who performed the action received from the user; In response to receiving a favorable action from a user whose evaluation history status is a specified status (e.g., level 90 or higher), it functions as a means (e.g., control unit 130, display control unit 352, etc.) for notifying the user who performed the action that is the target of the favorable action (e.g., notifying the user who received a tap action from a user of level 90 or higher by displaying a notification screen or by push notification) (see variant example (regarding actions from users in a specified status)).

[0033] According to such a configuration, it is possible to reliably let the user who performed the action that was the subject of the favorable action know that there was a favorable action from a user whose evaluation history status is in a predetermined status.

[0034] (15) In the above (1), the computer A means (e.g., a content management unit 132, an input unit 330) for receiving favorable actions (e.g., tap actions or favorable comments from users other than the poster) from other users different from the user who performed the action received from the user; In response to receiving a favorable action from a predetermined number of users (e.g., five users of level 90 or above) whose evaluation history status is in a predetermined status, it functions as a means (e.g., control unit 130, display control unit 352, etc.) for notifying multiple users including the user who performed the action that was the target of the favorable action (e.g., displaying a notice to all users that there were tap actions by five users of level 90 or above, or changing the display mode of the content that was the target of the tap action) (see variant example (regarding actions from users in a predetermined status)).

[0035] With this configuration, it is possible for multiple users other than the user who performed the action to easily recognize that the action is one that has been favorably received a predetermined number of times from a user whose evaluation history status is in a predetermined status.

[0036] (16) In the above (1), the computer It functions as a means for notifying the user of information related to the user's evaluation history status updated in accordance with the external evaluation over a specified period of time (e.g., one day or one week) (e.g., displaying the information as feedback in a pop-up screen or on a notice page at a specified time) (see variant example (notifying of information related to evaluation history status)).

[0037] According to this configuration, it is possible to prompt the user to take action based on the information related to the notified evaluation history status.

[0038] (17) In the above (1), the computer It functions as a granting means (e.g., content management unit 132, account management unit 133, user management unit 354, etc.) that grants bonuses (e.g., granting bonuses determined according to the levels illustrated in Figure 19) depending on the evaluation history status of each of the multiple users.

[0039] According to such a configuration, a reward can be awarded according to the evaluation history status, so that the user can be encouraged to be conscious of achieving an evaluation history status in which a reward can be awarded.

[0040] (18) In the above (1), the plurality of users belong to the same community (e.g., a fan community supporting a common target), The actions that the user may take include promoting content related to the community (for example, spreading a link to a video of the talent that the user is supporting, introducing merchandise of the talent that the user is supporting, etc.); The updating means updates the evaluation history status of the user based on the external evaluation (e.g., the number of views of a video as shown in FIG. 22 or the number of clicks on a goods page), which may vary depending on the degree of profit contribution made to the content related to the community by the promotional activity.

[0041] Such a configuration can motivate users to advertise, thereby revitalizing the community.

[0042] (19) A method according to an aspect of the present invention is a method for controlling a computer (e.g., a distribution server 100, a user terminal 300) to enable an action (e.g., a content post, a comment, a tap action, etc.) received from a user terminal (e.g., a user terminal 300) operated by each of a plurality of users to be reflected in the user terminal of each of the plurality of users so that the action can be recognized by each of the plurality of users, A step of updating the evaluation history status of the user (e.g., the user's level and accumulated points in FIG. 7) in response to external evaluations (e.g., tap actions or reports from other users, evaluations from the administrator, as exemplified in FIG. 22) that are evaluations of actions (e.g., posted content or comments) received from the user (e.g., steps S401 to S403 and steps S407 to S409 in FIG. 24); and a step of controlling actions that can be taken by a user (e.g., steps S404 to S406 and steps S409 to S411 in FIG. 24) so ​​that a user who has a specific evaluation history situation cannot take a specific action (e.g., an action that can be taken by a user who has a specific level as exemplified in FIG. 19) that is not in the specific situation (e.g., a user who has a level of 79 or lower cannot create a plan), The controlling step is performed when the plurality of users includes a user who is not in the specific situation (for example, when a user who is at level 79 or lower is included), and even if an action received from a user in the specific situation is the specific action, the action can be reflected on the terminals of each of the plurality of users including the user who is not in the specific situation (for example, even if a user at level 80 or higher creates a plan, the plan can also be viewed on the user terminal 300 of a user at level 79 or lower).

[0043] According to this configuration, the actions that a user can take are controlled according to external evaluations, which are evaluations from users other than the user who took the action. In addition, a specific action received from a user in a specific situation can be reflected to multiple users (even if the user is not in the specific situation), so that it is possible to maintain good public order within the community.

[0044] (20) A system according to an aspect of the present invention (e.g., communication system 1) is a system having a computer (e.g., distribution server 100, user terminal 300) that performs processing to enable actions (e.g., content posting, comments, tap actions, etc.) accepted from user terminals (e.g., user terminal 300) operated by each of multiple users to be reflected in the user terminals of each of the multiple users so that each of the multiple users can recognize the actions, A means (e.g., account information 125, user management unit 354) for updating the evaluation history status of the user (e.g., the user's level and accumulated points in FIG. 7) in response to external evaluations (e.g., tap actions or reports from other users, evaluations from the administrator, as exemplified in FIG. 22) that are evaluations of actions (e.g., posted content or comments) received from the user; a means (e.g., an account management unit 133, a user management unit 354) for controlling actions that can be taken by a user whose evaluation history situation is a specific situation (e.g., actions that can be taken by a user who is at a specific level as exemplified in FIG. 19 ) so that a user who is not in the specific situation cannot take such specific actions (e.g., so that a user whose level is 79 or lower cannot create a plan); The control means, when the plurality of users includes a user who is not in the specific situation (for example, when a user who is at level 79 or lower is included), can reflect an action received from a user in the specific situation, even if it is the specific action, on the terminals of each of the plurality of users including the user who is not in the specific situation (for example, even if a user at level 80 or higher creates a plan, the plan can also be viewed on the user terminal 300 of a user at level 79 or lower).

[0045] According to this configuration, the actions that a user can take are controlled according to external evaluations, which are evaluations from users other than the user who took the action. In addition, a specific action received from a user in a specific situation can be reflected to multiple users (even if the user is not in the specific situation), so that it is possible to maintain good public order within the community. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0046] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a communication system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a distribution server. [Diagram 3]FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an administrator terminal. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a user terminal in detail. [Diagram 5] 1 is an example of a database relating to attributes. [Figure 6] 13 is an example of an attribute selection screen. [Figure 7] 2 is an example of a database relating to users. [Figure 8] 13 is an example of a user confirmation screen for information related to a user. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a flowchart of an attribute selection process. [Figure 10] 13 is an example of a display mode of content information related to content provided by a distribution server. [Figure 11] 13 is an example of a display mode of content information related to content provided by a distribution server. [Figure 12] 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display mode relating to classification of contents for each attribute. [Figure 13] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display mode of content provided by a distribution server. [Figure 14] 2 is an example of a database relating to content provided by a distribution server. [Figure 15] 13 is an example of a display mode of content information related to a content in response to a switching operation. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining an attribute extraction process. [Figure 17] 13 is an example of a display aspect of a user posting screen. [Figure 18] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a flowchart of a user posting process. [Figure 19] This is an example of an action that can be taken depending on the user's evaluation history status. [Figure 20] 13 is an example of a display aspect of a user posting screen according to a rating history situation. [Figure 21] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a flowchart of a user posting process according to a rating history status. [Figure 22] This is an example of changes in the evaluation history status due to external evaluation. [Figure 23] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a flowchart of an evaluation history status update process. [Figure 24] This is an example of a tap action presentation when a tap action is received from a user. [Diagram 25] 13 is an example of a database relating to tap action effects for each content. [Figure 26] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a flowchart of a tap action production process. [Figure 27] 13 is an example of a display form of content information and the like related to externally posted content. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0047] Hereinafter, an embodiment of a communication system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following examples, but is indicated by the claims, and it is intended that all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims are included in the present invention. In the following description, the same elements in the description of the drawings are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions will not be repeated.

[0048] In the communication system according to the present invention, a plurality of types of content associated with attributes can be provided to a user. The attributes include a plurality of types of first attributes (e.g., communities) and a plurality of types of second attributes (e.g., talents), and content information (e.g., headlines of news posts) related to the content associated with the attributes (e.g., news posts related to talents) can be displayed. The content information can be displayed by switching between a plurality of display states including a first display state (preferred filter off) in which content information associated with a community, etc., previously selected by the user is displayed so that the user can identify it, and a second display state (preferred filter on) in which content information associated with both a community, etc., previously selected by the user and a talent, etc., is displayed so that the user can identify it, by a switching operation by the user on a predetermined icon, etc.

[0049] Furthermore, the multiple types of content provided in the communication system according to the present invention are provided via a fan community, which is a group of users who support a specific target (e.g., a celebrity). In the community space of the fan community, the actions taken by each user are reflected so that other users can recognize them, thereby enabling users to interact with each other. Each user who uses the community is associated with an evaluation history status that changes depending on external evaluations, which are evaluations from sources other than the user himself / herself. The actions that the user may take within the community are controlled by external evaluations being made on the actions taken by the user within the community (e.g., content and comments posted by the user, etc.).

[0050] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a communication system 1. The communication system 1 includes a distribution server 100, an administrator terminal 200, a plurality of user terminals 300a, 300b, 300c, and an external web service system 400. The plurality of user terminals 300a, 300b, 300c, and the like are terminals owned by a plurality of users, and are hereinafter collectively referred to as user terminals 300.

[0051] The distribution server 100, the administrator terminal 200, and the user terminal 300 can each be connected to each other for communication via a network 2, and can transmit and receive information (data) in both directions. The network 2 is, for example, the Internet, and is composed of an access network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a mobile communication network (for example, 5G, a wireless network, etc.), a wired telephone network, FTTH (Fiber To The Home), or a CATV (Cable Television) network.

[0052] The distribution server 100, the administrator terminal 200, and the user terminal 300 can be communicatively connected to an external web service system 400 via the network 2. The external web service system 400 is, for example, a sharing service (such as Youtube (registered trademark)) for videos, texts, images, etc. posted by users, and provides a Web API (Application Programming Interface) for enabling information (such as text, images, videos, posting date and time, account names, etc.) to be supplied to other terminals such as the distribution server 100, the administrator terminal 200, and the user terminal 300 in response to access from the terminals. The external web service system 400 is a system operated and managed by a third party different from the administrator and operator of this communication system 1.

[0053] The distribution server 100 is, for example, a computer such as a workstation or a personal computer having a communication function. The distribution server 100 manages a plurality of contents that can be provided to users, and manages a community to which the contents are provided. The distribution server 100 provides the content in response to a request from a user via the network 2.

[0054] The contents provided by the distribution server 100 are managed and set by type, as described later with reference to FIG. 14. The contents inform the viewer of certain information, and include information such as video, audio, and text. The contents managed by the distribution server 100 are, for example, news and announcements by the operator (manager), user posts, and distributed videos provided by external web services obtained by using a Web API. The contents can be provided to the user by displaying them on the user terminal 300 via a medium such as a browser or a dedicated application on a smartphone. The medium on which the contents are provided also functions as a fan community for supporting a certain target.

[0055] The distribution server 100 stores information for displaying text, images, etc. corresponding to content that can be provided to the user on the user terminal and sound information for outputting sound in the storage unit 120. In addition, the distribution server 100 provides content (services) to the user by distributing content data including display information for displaying the text, images, etc. of the corresponding content and sound information for outputting sound in response to access from the user terminal 300.

[0056] The administrator terminal 200 is used by the operator of the service provider company. The administrator terminal 200 is, for example, a computer having an operation input function and a communication function such as a personal computer. The administrator creates content (hereinafter, also referred to as posted information) managed in the storage unit 120 of the distribution server 100, and constructs, modifies, and updates display information related to the display of the content, through the administrator terminal 200. For example, images for displaying new content, etc. on the user terminal 300 are generated and constructed, and images of existing content, etc. are changed and modified. In addition, the administrator sets and updates information managed in the storage unit 120 of the distribution server 100 through the administrator terminal 200. In addition, the administrator terminal 200 can also set permission and restrictions on users' actions on various contents.

[0057] In this embodiment, the distribution server 100 and the administrator terminal 200 are each an independent computer (device), but they may be realized by a single computer, or the function of one of these computers (e.g., the distribution server 100) may be realized by multiple computers (e.g., multiple servers).

[0058] The user terminal 300 is used by a user who wants to view, experience, etc. the content. The user terminal 300 may be a computer having an operation input function and a communication function, such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone.

[0059] In response to an operation on the terminal, the user terminal 300 communicates with the distribution server 100 and receives content data of the content selected by the user. Based on the received content data, the user terminal 300 also constructs, in a storage area of ​​the user terminal 300, posted information of the content selected by the user from among the contents managed by the distribution server 100, and displays images and text of the posted information. This enables the user to identify and recognize the information of the content via the user terminal 300.

[0060] Furthermore, the user terminal 300 accepts action operations on the displayed content and content posting operations by the user himself / herself. The user terminal 300 can transmit information corresponding to the operation on the terminal (for example, information for identifying the action or the posted content) to the distribution server 100 and reflect the action or the posted content on a plurality of user terminals via the distribution server 100. The action operations include, for example, tap actions (such as a so-called "like" function) that show a favorable expression of intent such as liking or sympathy for the content, and posting of comments. Hereinafter, actions by users, such as content posting operations by the users themselves, are collectively referred to as "actions." Furthermore, tap actions by users and favorable comments are also referred to as "like actions."

[0061] In this embodiment, users include consumers who are general consumers (also referred to as general users or simply users), talents, celebrities, etc. Talent includes, for example, talents belonging to a service provider (operating company), entertainers, actors / actresses, comedians, multi-talents, presenters, news anchors, singers, musicians, models, and other talented people in various genres. Celebrities include, for example, famous company executives or employees, athletes, e-sports athletes, famous scholars / cultural figures / cram school instructors, famous students, and other famous people in various genres. Hereinafter, talents or celebrities other than general users are also referred to as special users.

[0062] Note that a special user may be a general user who views distributed content using a terminal having the same configuration as the user terminal 300, or may be a general user who uses a separate terminal having a different configuration from the user terminal 300. Therefore, the user terminal used by a special user and the user terminal 300 used by a general user may be terminals having the same configuration or may be terminals having different configurations.

[0063] <Distribution server configuration> Next, the configuration of the distribution server 100 will be described. As shown in Fig. 2, the distribution server 100 includes a communication unit 110 that communicates with other computers, a storage unit 120 that stores various data, and a control unit 130 that controls the entire computer. The communication unit 110, the storage unit 120, and the control unit 130 are interconnected by a bus line.

[0064] The communication unit 110 is a communication interface including a network interface card controller (NIC) for performing wired or wireless communication. The communication unit 110 communicates with other computers via the network 2.

[0065] The storage unit 120 is composed of a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc. The storage unit 120 stores programs for executing various control processes (for example, programs for managing and providing content, etc.), various data, etc. The various data stored in the storage unit 120 includes posted information provided for each type of content, information related to attributes, user information related to users, etc.

[0066] The control unit 130 is configured with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) etc. The control unit 130 controls the overall operation of the distribution server 100 by executing the programs stored in the storage unit 120.

[0067] The following describes the functional configuration of the control unit 130. The control unit 130 functions as at least a data transmission / reception unit 131, a content management unit 132, and an account management unit 133.

[0068] The data transmission / reception unit 131 receives various information transmitted from the user terminal 300 and transmits various information to the user terminal 300. The data transmission / reception unit 131 refers to various management tables stored in the storage unit 120. The various information transmitted and received by the data transmission / reception unit 131 includes, for example, information related to the content managed in the content management unit 132, various notifications, and the like.

[0069] The content management unit 132 stores and updates information for identifying text, images, etc. corresponding to content posted by the administrator terminal 200 or the user terminal 300 in the storage unit 120 via the communication unit 110. The content management unit 132 stores, for example, information on attributes that can be associated with content to be provided to a user as attribute information 121 in the storage unit 120. The content management unit 132 stores and updates information for identifying information such as the category and poster of content posted by the administrator terminal 200 or the user terminal 300, and attributes associated with each content, as content data 122 in the storage unit 120. In addition, the content management unit 132 stores and updates information for identifying the type of action (behavior) performed on the content as action information 123, and stores information on the authority to take an action (behavior) on the content as action authority information 124 in the storage unit 120.

[0070] The account management unit 133 stores and updates user information on users who can use the content managed by the distribution server 100 in the storage unit 120, for example, as account information 125. The user information on the users includes, for example, an ID for identifying the users, a user name, and permitted action information on actions that the users can take. The user information managed by the account management unit 133 includes not only general user accounts, but also special user accounts and account information for identifying posts by the administrator terminal 200.

[0071] <Administrator terminal configuration> Next, the configuration of the administrator terminal 200 will be described. As shown in Fig. 3, the administrator terminal 200 includes a communication unit 210 that communicates with other computers, a storage unit 220 that stores various data, an input unit 230 for inputting operations, etc., an output unit 240 for outputting images, sounds, etc., and a control unit 250 that controls the entire computer. The communication unit 210, the storage unit 220, the input unit 230, the output unit 240, and the control unit 250 are connected to each other by a bus line.

[0072] The communication unit 210 is a communication interface equipped with a NIC for performing wired or wireless communication. The communication unit 210 mainly communicates with the distribution server 100 via the network 2. The storage unit 220 is composed of a RAM, a ROM, and the like. The storage unit 220 stores programs for executing various control processes (e.g., programs for managing content provided to users by the distribution server 100, etc.), various data, and the like.

[0073] The input unit 230 includes an input device (e.g., a touch panel, a touch pad, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, etc.) for receiving an input operation from the administrator. The output unit 240 includes an output device (a display, a speaker, etc.) for presenting information to the administrator.

[0074] The control unit 250 is configured with a CPU, etc. The control unit 250 controls the overall operation of the administrator terminal 200 by executing the programs stored in the storage unit 220.

[0075] The following describes the functional configuration of the control unit 250. The control unit 250 functions as at least a content setting unit 251, an attribute setting unit 252, an action authority setting unit 253, and a user evaluation information update unit 254.

[0076] The content setting unit 251 stores and updates information related to the content managed by the content management unit 132 of the distribution server 100 in response to operations on the administrator terminal 200. This makes it possible to store and update, for example, information for identifying the content, categorization of the content, and information set and edited related to the presentation when the content is provided in the storage unit 120 of the distribution server 100.

[0077] The attribute setting unit 252 stores and updates attribute information related to attributes stored as attribute information 121 in the distribution server 100 in response to an operation on the administrator terminal 200. This allows information related to attributes to be stored and updated in the storage unit 120 when, for example, a new attribute is added or the composition of attributes is changed.

[0078] The behavior restriction setting unit 253 stores and updates information on the authority to perform actions such as content posting actions and actions showing reactions to content in the provided community space, which are managed as the action information 123 and behavior authority information 124 of the distribution server 100 in response to operations on the administrator terminal 200. This allows, for example, addition and modification of actions set for each user's rating history status, which will be described later, and the setting of behavior restrictions for each user by the administrator to be stored and updated in the storage unit 120.

[0079] The user evaluation information update unit 254 can perform external evaluations on users that may affect the evaluation history status of each user stored as the account information 125 of the distribution server 100, and can store and update the evaluation history status of each user, in response to operations on the administrator terminal 200. This allows the evaluation history status of each user to fluctuate depending on the evaluation from the administrator, and the actions that users can take based on the action authority information 124 to be controlled.

[0080] <User terminal configuration> Next, the configuration of the user terminal 300 will be described in detail. As shown in Fig. 4, the user terminal 300 includes a communication unit 310 that communicates with other computers including the distribution server 100, a storage unit 320 that stores various data, an input unit 330 for inputting operations and the like, an output unit 340 for outputting images and the like, and a control unit 350 that controls the entire computer. The communication unit 310, the storage unit 320, the input unit 330, the output unit 340, and the control unit 350 are mutually connected by a bus line.

[0081] The communication unit 310 is a communication interface equipped with a NIC for performing wired or wireless communication. The communication unit 310 communicates with other computers including the distribution server 100 via the network 2. The storage unit 320 is composed of a RAM, a ROM, etc. The storage unit 320 stores programs for executing various control processes (for example, programs for viewing content, etc.), various data, etc.

[0082] The input unit 330 includes an input device (for example, a touch panel, a touch pad, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a microphone, etc.) for receiving input operations and voices from a user.

[0083] The output unit 340 includes an output device (display, speaker, etc.) for presenting and outputting information (text, image, sound, etc.) to the user. The control unit 350 is composed of a CPU, etc. The control unit 350 controls the overall operation of the user terminal 300 by executing programs stored in the storage unit 320.

[0084] The following describes the functional configuration of the control unit 350. The control unit 350 functions as an information acquisition unit 351, a display control unit 352, an input information transmission unit 353, and a user management unit 354.

[0085] The information acquisition unit 351 acquires content data and the like from the distribution server 100 via the communication unit 310, and stores information for displaying text and images (posted information) related to the content based on the content data in the storage unit 320. The posted information includes information for displaying on the user terminal 300 actions taken on the content by other user terminals 300.

[0086] The display control unit 352 displays content information (e.g., headlines of articles of the content) related to the content stored in the storage unit 320 so that the user can identify it based on the content data acquired by the information acquisition unit 351. For example, by displaying the headline of a news article related to a celebrity on the user terminal 300, the user can recognize that the content is news related to a celebrity.

[0087] In addition, the display control unit 352 displays UI (User Interface) images (including, for example, menu images selectable by the user and operation images that accept operations) in a format corresponding to the content being distributed based on the program stored in the memory unit 320.

[0088] The input information sending unit 353 sends the voice information and operation input information acquired by the input unit 330 to the distribution server 100. The operation input information includes actions (e.g., comments, tap actions, etc.) on various contents in the displayed community space, information on content posted by the user himself / herself in the community space, and selection operations on various icons and the like displayed on the user terminal 300.

[0089] The user management unit 354 stores and updates user information related to users in the storage unit 320. The user information related to users includes, for example, an ID for identifying a user, a user name, information related to attributes selected in advance by the user, and information related to actions that the user can take (permitted or restricted) within a community.

[0090] <About the fan community content provision function> (Overview of the fan community) The fan community that allows the content provided by the distribution server 100 according to the present embodiment to be viewed will be described in more detail below. The content provided by the distribution server 100 is provided by a dedicated application (program (e.g., a program for a native application, etc.)) that runs on a terminal such as a smartphone or tablet. The dedicated application functions as a so-called fan community used by users who support a common target (e.g., a talent, a character, goods, etc.). In the fan community, content related to the common target is provided (made viewable by the user), which facilitates the user's fan activities. In addition to allowing users to interact with the target of their support, the content may also be provided by a WEB application via a browser, not limited to a dedicated application. The content may also be provided by a fan community provided by a WEB application via a browser.

[0091] In this embodiment, the cheering target may be any object that the user can feel affection for, be interested in, or care about, such as a character or object. Characters include, for example, real people (3D) such as celebrities and famous people, and fictional beings (2D, 2.5D) such as anime characters and mascot characters. Other cheering targets include objects such as trains and animals.

[0092] (Specific examples of attributes in fan communities) In the following, in this embodiment, an example will be described in which the target of support of the user is a talent, and the fan community is the fan community of the talent. In this embodiment, the talents are divided into large groups (also called a first attribute) consisting of multiple talents. Furthermore, the talents divided into the large groups can also be divided into small groups (also called a second attribute) consisting of fewer people than the large groups. For example, the small groups are unit groups consisting of some of the talents belonging to the large groups.

[0093] The unit (attribute) that a user who uses a fan community supports may not only be one talent, but may be multiple talents, a small group (unit), or a large group. For example, supporting (becoming a fan) a large group is also called "box pushing." In the fan community of this embodiment, a user can set (select) the target of support in advance by preferred unit (attribute).

[0094] 5, the talents in the fan community in this embodiment will be described using an example of a talent information database stored as attribute information 121 in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the talents are divided into groups classified into "Belonging Group 1." Belonging Group 1 is a large group, and is classified into, for example, Group A, Group B, etc.

[0095] Each belonging group 1 is associated with a "talent ID" and a "talent name" as information for identifying the belonging talent. Furthermore, each talent is associated with information for identifying the "belonging group 2" to which the talent belongs. Belonging group 2 is a small group consisting of fewer people than belonging group 1. For example, it can be a "1st generation," a "2nd generation," etc., categorized based on the time when members joined the group, or a group composed of a specific concept (for example, "Gamers," composed of talents who mainly broadcast live game-related broadcasts).

[0096] With regard to the group affiliation, some talents may belong to multiple groups. Also, there may be talents who belong to group 1 but do not belong to any group 2. In addition, there may be group 2s that are made up of talents who belong to different groups 1 (composed across different groups 1, for example, group A and group B).

[0097] For example, a talent with a talent ID of "t1" and a talent name of "AAA" belongs to group 1, "Group A," and group 2, "A-1st Generation." On the other hand, a talent with a talent ID of "t6" and a talent name of "FFF" belongs to group 1, "Group A," but group 2, "A-3rd Generation" and "A-Gamers."

[0098] <Example of attribute selection processing> (Screen example for attribute selection) Next, with reference to Figs. 6 to 9, an example of a screen for a user using a fan community to select an attribute (group or talent) to support and a process flow will be described. The selection (setting) screen for attributes to support, as exemplified in Fig. 6, is displayed on the user terminal 300 when the user starts using the fan community app or when a setting change is requested from My Page or the like. In the fan community in this embodiment, a user can participate in a community (first attribute) corresponding to the group 1 (first attribute) to which the talent described with reference to Fig. 5 belongs. Fig. 6(A) is an example of a participation community setting screen, and a user can select (set) a community (first attribute) to participate in from among a plurality of types of first attributes. For example, the participation community setting screen in Fig. 6(A) includes a participation community selection area 50. The participation community selection area 50 displays an icon for each community that the user can participate in. The user can select a participation community by selecting the icon of the community in which the user wishes to participate. A check mark or the like is displayed on a community that the user has selected to participate in.

[0099] "Community A" corresponds to "Group A" in Fig. 5, and "Community B" corresponds to "Group B" in Fig. 5. In other words, the multiple types of first attributes include Group A, or Community A corresponding to Group A, and Group B, or Community B corresponding to Group B. Note that there may be a community that the user is always participating in regardless of the user's selection, as shown in Fig. 6(A) as "※Always participating in Community P." For example, "Community P" does not correspond to a group to which a talent belongs, but is a community that provides announcements for the fan community as a whole.

[0100] FIG. 6(B) is an example of a favorite talent setting screen, in which a user can select (set) a favorite talent (second attribute). The favorite talent setting screen in FIG. 6(B) includes, for example, a search window 51, a group selection area 52, and a talent selection area 53. The search window 51 allows a talent to be searched for by inputting a keyword. The group selection area 52 displays icons of groups (corresponding to the group 1 and community) that can be supported in the fan community app, and by selecting an icon, for example, the talents can be displayed for each group 1. Note that all groups may be selected in the group selection area 52. Also, icons that can be selected and displayed for each unit may be displayed.

[0101] In the talent selection area 53, the icon and name of each talent are displayed, but as shown in Fig. 6(B), for example, they may be displayed in the order of their units. A favorite talent can be selected by selecting the icon of each talent. A check mark or the like is displayed on the icon of the selected talent.

[0102] It should be noted that all of the talents in a group may be selected as the favorite talent by operating the icons in the group selection area 52. Alternatively, a "select all" icon may be displayed, and all of the displayed talents may be selectable by a selection operation. Also, favorite talents may be selected not only on a talent-by-talent basis, but also on a unit basis (two groups to which the user belongs), and the most favorite (the most favorite talent among the favorite talents) may be selected.

[0103] (Example of a user information database for selected attributes) FIG. 7 is an example of a user information database stored as the account information 125. In the user information database, a "user ID," "level," "accumulated points," "participating community," "favorite talent ID," and the like for identifying the user are associated with each user. The "participating community" and the "favorite talent ID" are associated with information for identifying the attributes selected by the user in the setting screen illustrated in FIG. 6. For example, the setting screen in FIG. 6 is the setting screen for the user ID "u1" in FIG. 7, and the user ID "u1" selects "community A" as the participating community in FIG. 6(A) and selects the talents "AAA," "BBB," and "EEE" in FIG. 6(B). Therefore, the user ID "u1" is associated with the belonging community "community A" and the favored talent IDs "t1," "t2," and "t5" corresponding to each talent. Hereinafter, the user ID is also simply referred to as a user. The "level" and "accumulated points" change depending on the user's actions in the fan community, but details will be described later.

[0104] (Example of a user's My Page) 8 is an example of a My Page screen for each user in a fan community. For example, when a user selects the My Page icon 16, the user terminal 300 acquires information about the user stored as account information 125 and displays it on the user terminal 300. The My Page screen displays, for example, a name area 54, a user evaluation history status 55, favorite talent information 56, participating community settings 57, notification settings 58, settings and application information 59, and allows editing operations such as changing various settings.

[0105] The My Page screen in FIG. 8 is a screen displayed on the user terminal 300 of the user "u1", and the name "userA" used in the fan community of the user "u1" and an icon image are displayed in the name area 54. The icon image can be, for example, a fan mark of a talent. A fan mark is a symbol or the like used by a talent to represent the talent, and fans can publicly indicate which talent they are fans of by using the same fan mark. For example, the icon image can be edited by tapping the image editing icon displayed in the lower right corner of the icon image, or can be selected and set on the initial setting screen.

[0106] In the user evaluation history status 55, the "level" and "accumulated points" associated with each user in the user information database of Fig. 7 are displayed so that the user can check them. The evaluation history status will be described in detail later.

[0107] The favorite talent information 56 displays the talents that the user has selected in advance so that the user can identify (confirm / recognize) them. For example, the icon and name of each talent are displayed so that the user "u1" can confirm the talents "AAA", "BBB", and "EEE" that he / she selected and set on the favorite talent setting screen of Fig. 6(B). In addition, the favorite talent can be changed as appropriate by operating the edit icon displayed on the favorite talent information 56, etc., and the screen of Fig. 6(B) is displayed.

[0108] Furthermore, when a selection operation is performed on the participating community setting 57, the participating community setting screen of FIG. 6(A) is displayed, and the participating community can be appropriately changed.

[0109] When the notification settings 58 and the settings / app information 59 are operated, the user can set push notifications and perform various settings for the fan community app. The My Page in FIG. 8 may be any page that allows the user to confirm and edit their own information. For example, a list of participating communities may be displayed on the first screen of the My Page (such as the screen displayed when the My Page icon 16 is operated) in the same way as the favorite talent information 56. Also, the change screen (FIG. 6) for participating communities and favorite talent may be displayed together by operating a single edit icon.

[0110] (Example of attribute selection process flow) Next, the flow of the attribute selection process will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining a flowchart of the attribute selection process described with reference to Fig. 6. The attribute selection process is repeatedly executed in the account management unit 133 in the distribution server 100 in response to receiving a request (operation information, etc.) from the user terminal 300.

[0111] In step S101, it is determined whether or not this is the first login. The first login is, for example, when the user downloads and starts the fan community app of this embodiment for the first time, or when the user uses the fan community app of this embodiment via a web browser for the first time, and is the timing when the user sets attributes in the fan community for the first time. If it is determined in step S101 that this is the first login, in step S102, information for displaying an attribute selection screen on the display unit of the user terminal 300 is transmitted. The attribute selection screen is, for example, a setting screen for selecting a participating community and a favorite talent, as exemplified in FIG. 6, and may be incorporated into a flow such as a tutorial at the time of the first login (such as a basic explanation at the time of the first login).

[0112] Next, in step S103, it is determined whether or not an operation for selecting and confirming a participating community and a favorite talent has been performed in the user terminal 300. For example, the user selects a community that the user wants to participate in from among the participating communities displayed in the participating community selection area 50 in FIG. 6(A). Also, in FIG. 6(B), the user selects a favorite talent from among the talents displayed in the talent selection area 53. Note that an icon for performing a confirmation operation, such as a confirmation icon, may be displayed on the attribute selection screen in FIG. 6. It may be determined that a confirmation operation has been performed by receiving information (including information that can identify the selected participating community and favorite talent) transmitted by operating the confirmation icon or an icon such as "next". If it is not determined in step S103 that a participating community and a favorite talent have been selected and confirmed, the determination is repeated in step S103 until a selection and confirmation operation is performed.

[0113] On the other hand, when it is determined that an attribute has been selected and confirmed by performing a selection operation on a confirmation icon or the like on the user terminal 300, the process proceeds to step S104, where the participating community selected based on the information received from the user terminal 300 and the selected favorite talent are stored as selected attributes. For example, the account management unit 133 associates the selected participating community and the selected favorite talent ID with the user "u1", stores them as account information 125, and ends the process.

[0114] Returning to step S101, if it is not determined in step S101 that this is the first login, it is determined in step S105 whether or not there has been a request to edit the participating community settings or the favorite talent settings. For example, it is determined that an editing request has been made when there is an operation on the edit icon of the favorite talent information 56 on the My Page shown in Fig. 8 or an operation on the participating community settings 57 on the user terminal 300.

[0115] If it is determined in step S105 that an editing request has been made, then in step S106, information is transmitted for displaying an editing screen for the participating community settings or the favorite talent settings on the user terminal 300. This causes, for example, the attribute selection (setting) screen exemplified in Fig. 6 to be displayed. On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S105 that an editing request for the participating community settings or the favorite talent settings has been made, the process ends.

[0116] After the setting edit screen is displayed in step S106, it is determined in step S107 whether a participating community or a favorite talent has been selected. For example, it is determined that a selection has been made by receiving information (including information that can identify the selected participating community and favorite talent) transmitted by a selection operation on the display of each participating community in Fig. 6(A) or the display of each talent in Fig. 6(B) on the user terminal 300.

[0117] When it is determined in step S107 that a participating community or a favorite talent has been selected, in step S109, the selected participating community or selected favorite talent is updated and stored as a selected attribute, and the process ends. For example, in the distribution server 100, based on information corresponding to the attribute selection operation received from the user terminal 300, the user information database of Fig. 7 stored as account information 125 is updated and stored.

[0118] Returning to step S107, if it is not determined that a participating community or a favorite talent has been selected, it is determined in step S109 whether or not a back selection has been made. For example, a back icon 10 is displayed on the attribute selection screen of FIG. 6, and it is determined whether or not a selection operation has been performed on the back icon 10. If it is determined that a selection operation has been performed on the back icon 10, the process ends. Alternatively, the process may end by moving to another screen by operating a home icon 13 or the like displayed at the bottom of the app. On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S107 that a back selection has been performed, the process returns to step S107.

[0119] As a result, as described later, it becomes possible to extract and display information related to attributes previously selected by the user in the fan community, so that the user can extract and obtain information related to the favorite group 1 (first attribute) and further information related to each talent (second attribute). Note that, although an example in which the attribute selection process is executed by the distribution server 100 has been described, it may also be executed by the user terminal 300.

[0120] <Examples of content provision> (Overview of the Content List Screen) Next, an example of a content provision mode provided by the distribution server 100 through a fan community will be described with reference to Figs. 10 to 14. Fig. 10 shows an example of a home screen in a fan community application (hereinafter, also simply referred to as an application) of this embodiment. The home screen is displayed, for example, on the user terminal 300 when logging in to the application (for example, when the application is started) or when a home icon 13 displayed at the bottom of the application is selected. Information for identifying the content displayed on the home screen of Fig. 10 (heading of the content article) is mainly information for identifying the content posted in the community in which the user participates.

[0121] The channel icon 12 displayed at the top of the app can display a list of channels for each participating community as exemplified in FIG. 12, and may be displayed on any screen of the app, and may be hidden on a specific screen (for example, when the contents of the content are displayed as in FIG. 13). Channels are, for example, classified by type of topic (theme). The search icon 17 displayed at the top of the app is an icon for searching for content. The search icon 17 may be displayed, for example, when content headings are displayed in a list, such as the home screen in FIG. 10 or the screen for each community in FIG. 11(A) described later.

[0122] In addition, the home icon 13, the community icon 14, the notification icon 15, and the My Page icon 16 displayed at the bottom of the app may be displayed on any screen in the app, and may be hidden on a predetermined screen (for example, when the contents of the content are displayed as in FIG. 13). As described above, the home icon 13 is an icon for displaying the home screen of FIG. 10 by performing a selection operation, and the community icon 14 is an icon for displaying a screen for each community such as FIG. 11(A) described later by performing a selection operation. The notification icon 15 is an icon for displaying a screen on which various notifications can be confirmed, such as when a post is made regarding a selected attribute (for example, a talent set by the user as a favorite talent) by performing a selection operation, a reply comment to the user's own post, and a mention to the user. The My Page icon 16 is an icon for displaying the My Page exemplified in FIG. 8 by performing a selection operation.

[0123] (Home screen overview) At the top of the home screen in Fig. 10, a favorite filter 20 and a language switching icon 21 are displayed. The favorite filter 20 is a filter icon that can narrow down the list of headlines of displayed content so that only headlines of content associated with a favorite talent previously selected by the user are displayed, and details will be described later with reference to Figs. 15 and 16. The language switching icon 21 is an icon that allows the displayed language to be switched by a selection operation, for example, from Japanese to English.

[0124] The contents provided by the distribution server 100 can be classified into one of a number of categories, and the home screen can display the contents for each of the classified categories. The content list (heading) screen of the home screen displays content headings 60 (content information) of the contents (also called articles / threads) for each category, such as features 61, recommended topics 62, popular user posts 63, commemorative broadcasts 64, and goods 65. For example, the feature 61 displays a notice article set by the content setting unit 251 to inform all users, such as a notice from the administrator. The content displayed in the feature 61 is displayed regardless of which participating community and which recommended talent the user has selected. In addition, when a heading or image displayed in the feature 61 is selected, a transition to a screen showing detailed information or an external website may be made.

[0125] For categories after Recommendation Topic 62, content posted within the community that the user participates in is displayed. The "community" referred to in the application in this embodiment refers to communities A to C corresponding to the groups to which the talent belongs, as exemplified in Fig. 6, and community P in which the user is always a member.

[0126] (About the community channel list screen) The details of the "Community" of the application in this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 11 to 14. Fig. 11(A) is an example of a content list (heading) screen of the "Community" (hereinafter, also referred to as a community screen or a channel screen). Each community is classified into channels by topic type as shown in Fig. 12. For example, the community screen in Fig. 11(A) is a screen of the "Official Channel" channel of "Community A" (corresponding to group A illustrated in Fig. 5), and the channel screen displayed in Fig. 11(A) is switched by a channel selection operation on the channel list screen in Fig. 12.

[0127] The channel list screen illustrated in Fig. 12 is displayed, for example, by tapping on the channel icon 12 displayed at the top of the app screen (e.g., Fig. 10) or by flicking (e.g., flicking from the left side of the app screen to the right). When the channel list screen in Fig. 12 is displayed, the list screen can be closed by performing the operation performed when the screen was displayed (e.g., selecting the channel icon 12 or flicking from the right side of the app screen back to the left side).

[0128] The channel list screen in Fig. 12 displays a community bar 81, favorite confirmation icon 31, your own post icon 32, get started icon 33, notification setting icon 34, etc. The communities displayed in the community bar 81 include communities in which the user participates (selected by the user). By selecting an open / close icon displayed in the community bar 81, a channel list 82 for each community is displayed. For example, the channel list 82 corresponding to community A displays each channel name. A selection bar 83 displayed next to each channel name indicates which channel is selected.

[0129] For example, FIG. 12 shows a screen displayed on the user terminal 300 of the user "u2" illustrated in FIG. 7. The communities in which the user "u2" participates are "community A" and "community B", so the channel screen list in FIG. 12 displays a channel bar 81a for "community A", a channel bar 81b for "community B", and a channel bar 81c for "community P" in which the user "u2" always participates. The selection bar 83 is displayed next to the "official channel" of "community A", indicating that the community screen displayed in FIG. 11(A) is the "official channel" of "community A". For example, the selection bar 802b moves by a selection operation on a channel name displayed in the channel list 802. As a result, the "official channel" of "community A" in FIG. 11(A) is displayed on the app screen.

[0130] When a selection operation is performed on the channel list screen of Fig. 12, the screen may switch to the community screen of Fig. 11(A). Also, as shown in Fig. 12, the channel list screen may be displayed so as to be superimposed on another screen, and the screen displayed below the channel list screen may be switched to the screen of the selected channel, and by performing an operation to close the channel list screen of Fig. 12, the community screen of Fig. 11(A) may be displayed in full. Also, when a channel is selected on the channel list screen of Fig. 12, and a selection operation is performed on the community icon 14 displayed at the bottom of the app screen, the selected channel is displayed as the community screen of Fig. 11(A).

[0131] The favorite confirmation icon 31 in FIG. 12 is an icon that, when selected, allows the user to check the content (also called post) that is stored as the account information 125 or that is stored in the storage unit 320 and that the user has registered in the favorites. The own post icon 32 is an icon that, when selected, allows the user to check the content (thread created) that the user himself / herself has posted in the community, or the comments that the user himself / herself has made on the content (thread created). The introduction icon 33 is an icon that, when selected, allows the user to recheck the tutorial that is displayed at the time of initial login, and to display how to use the app, mental preparation, etc. The notification setting icon 34 is an icon that, when selected, allows the user to display a screen for setting various notifications (such as selecting information to be notified by push). For example, the same screen as that displayed when the notification setting icon 58 illustrated in the My Page in FIG. 8 is selected may be displayed.

[0132] (About the Community screen) The community screen in Fig. 11(A) displays a favorite filter 20, a language switching icon 21, a sorting icon 22, a posting icon 23, and the like, in the same manner as the home screen exemplified in Fig. 10. The sorting icon 22 is an icon that, when selected, enables the order of the headings of the displayed content to be sorted in order of new arrivals or popularity (for example, in order of the most liked actions). The posting icon 23 is an icon that, when selected, enables a user to post content (create a thread) within the community.

[0133] Each piece of content posted in the community is partially displayed by a content heading 70 (content information) on the community screen in Fig. 11 (A). For example, content headings 70a, 70b, 70c, etc. are displayed. Each content heading 70 displays a poster 71, a report icon 72, a favorite icon 73, content information 74, etc.

[0134] The icon, name, etc. of the person who posted the corresponding content is displayed in the contributor 71. For example, if the contributor is an administrator or a special user (described later), the contributor is displayed together with an official mark, etc.

[0135] When the report icon 72 is selected, a screen as shown in FIG. 11(B) is displayed (for example, a pop-up display on the current screen). By selecting the text displayed in FIG. 11(B), the user can, for example, report unpleasant content to the administrator, hide the content on the user terminal 300, or block the content poster in the fan community app (so that the actions such as postings of the blocked user are not displayed on the user's own user terminal 300 after the operation), etc. Note that operations such as hiding and blocking cannot be performed on administrators or special users (content posted by them), and may be operations that can only be performed on other general users.

[0136] The favorite icon 73 is an icon that allows a user to save a favorite post so that the user can check it later by selecting the favorite icon 73. For example, when the favorite icon 73 is selected, the article ID of the post for which the favorite icon 73 was operated is updated and stored in association with the user in the user information database of Fig. 7 stored as the account information 125. This allows the user to check the favorite post when the favorite confirmation icon 31 of Fig. 12 is selected.

[0137] The content information 74 displays a part of the title and description of the posted content.

[0138] Furthermore, in the content heading 70, if the posted content is posted together with an image, an image 75 is displayed, and if there are comments on the content, the comments (e.g., the latest comment or some of the most popular comments) are displayed in featured comments 76. Furthermore, the number of comments on the content is displayed in the number of comments 77, and the number of tap actions on the content is displayed in the number of tap actions 78. The number of tap actions on the content is displayed, for example, as the total number of times that all users have tapped on a heart icon 708 displayed together with the number of tap actions 78 in the content heading (60, 70) or on an icon 708 displayed together with the number of tap actions 78 displayed on the content screen in FIG. 13 described later.

[0139] In addition, users who use the fan community app include special users, and when there is a comment or tap action from a special user, the fact that there is a comment or tap action from the special user can be displayed as a special action 79 together with the icon of the special user in the content heading 70. A special user is, for example, a user corresponding to the talent himself / herself illustrated in FIG. 5. Therefore, by displaying the special action 79, the user can recognize that there has been an action such as a comment or tap action from the talent himself / herself. This can promote interaction with the target of support in the fan community app, and can increase user satisfaction.

[0140] In the special action 79, together with an icon corresponding to each talent, if a talent has made a comment, an icon such as a speech bubble mark from which it can be inferred that a comment has been made, and if a talent has made a tap action, an icon such as a heart mark from which it can be inferred that a tap action has been made, are displayed. For example, the content heading 70a on the community screen in FIG. 11 displays special actions 79 indicating that actions have been made by three talents. The icons of the talents displayed on the left and center are displayed with a speech bubble mark and a heart mark, indicating that a comment and a tap action have been made. On the other hand, the talent displayed on the right side is displayed with only a heart mark along with the icon, indicating that only a tap action has been made without a comment.

[0141] In addition, the special action 79 displayed in the content heading 70 may be displayed within the content heading 60 of the home screen of FIG.

[0142] Fig. 13 is an example of a content screen displayed when a content heading 70a is selected from among the contents displayed in Fig. 11(A), and is an example of a display screen of the content itself (post itself) that is the content of the content heading 70a. Note that, if the same content is also displayed on the home screen of Fig. 10, the content screen of Fig. 13 is displayed by selecting the corresponding content heading 60 on the home screen.

[0143] 13, a back icon 10b is displayed at the top, and a poster 71, a report icon 72, a favorite icon 73, a number of tap actions 78, a category 85, contents 74b, related talents 88, and special actions 79 are displayed. If there are comments on the content, the comments are displayed in a list at the bottom. The list of comments displays a number of comments 77b that displays the number of comments, each comment 87, a comment posting field 84 where users can post comments, and the like.

[0144] When the back icon 10b is selected, the screen returns to the one the user had displayed immediately before. For example, if the content screen was accessed from the community screen in Fig. 11(A), the screen returns to the community screen in Fig. 11(A), and if the content screen was accessed from the home screen in Fig. 10, the screen returns to the home screen in Fig. 10.

[0145] If a category is associated with the content, the associated category name is displayed in category 85. Posted text information such as the title and description of the content is displayed in content 74b.

[0146] 5 is associated with the content, and displays the icon, name, etc. of the associated talent. Special action 79 is a display for indicating that, when an action has been taken on the content by a special user corresponding to the talent in FIG. 5, the special user has taken action on the content.

[0147] Each comment 87 is displayed with a poster 71b that displays the comment poster, a report icon 72b that enables the comment to be reported or hidden as shown in Fig. 11(B), a reply icon 86 that enables a reply to the comment, a reply list 89 that displays a list of replies, etc. Note that the user's own icon may be displayed in the comment posting field 84.

[0148] The display mode of each comment 87 may be changed depending on the poster. For example, comment 87a is a comment made by a special user (AAA himself) corresponding to the talent "AAA" illustrated in FIG. 5. For example, the display order of the comments in the list at the bottom of the content screen in FIG. 13 may be changed so that the comment is displayed at the top, and the color may be changed so that it can be distinguished from comments made by other users (the display mode may be different). This can encourage users to interact with the talent in the fan community, improving user satisfaction.

[0149] Next, an example of a database of contents in each community stored as content data 122 in distribution server 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 14. For example, Fig. 14 shows a content database for "Community A." The content database stores information such as "channels," "posting authority" for each channel, and "article ID" for each piece of content.

[0150] "Channels" are classified by topic, and the screen of each channel can be selected and displayed by a selection operation on the channel list 82 illustrated in FIG. 12. For example, "Official Channel" is a channel where official announcements from the administrator are posted, and "Group A Chat" is a channel with the theme of chatting about "Group A" of the group 1 in FIG. 5 corresponding to "Community A". "Cutout" is a channel with the theme of sharing links to cutout videos recommended by users (for example, videos posted on a video distribution site, which are videos cut out from videos already posted on the video distribution site). "Past Recommendations" is a channel with the theme of recommending videos related to Group A (for example, videos posted in the past by a talent belonging to the group). When a selection operation is performed on "All Channels" in the channel list 82 in FIG. 12, all the contents of the channels in FIG. 14 are displayed together. These channels are just examples, and for example, temporary special channels may be provided.

[0151] "Posting authority" is information about users who have the authority to post content in each "channel." For example, "official channel" and "past recommendations" can only be posted from official accounts (for example, special users such as administrators and celebrities). Posting from official accounts can be made, for example, from the administrator terminal 200 or from a terminal with the same configuration as the user terminal 300, as long as the user ID is identified as an official account. Also, "Group A chat" and "cutouts" can be posted by all users. For example, in the channel list 82 in FIG. 12, an official mark is displayed on channels that can only be posted from official accounts, and a speech bubble mark or the like is displayed on channels that can be posted by all users. This allows users to easily identify whether or not a channel is available for posting.

[0152] An "article ID" is an ID that identifies each piece of content, and is assigned to each piece of content. In addition, each "article ID" is associated with a "category," "contributor ID," and "talent ID."

[0153] "Category" is a category that can be associated with content when it is posted. For example, "Event", "Goods", "Stream / Video", "Fan Art", "Clip", "Music", "Commemorative Stream", etc. can be associated to make it easy to recognize the theme of the content itself. When a "Category" is associated, the category name will be displayed in category 85 on the content screen example in Figure 13.

[0154] The "contributor ID" is an ID that identifies the contributor of the content.

[0155] The "talent ID" is the talent ID of a related talent associated with the content when the content is posted, among the talent IDs stored in the talent information database of Fig. 5. In this manner, in this embodiment, when posting content, the poster can associate a related talent with the content according to the content, and can store the associated "talent ID" for each piece of content. In other words, each piece of content data is stored together with the meta information of the talent.

[0156] For example, article ID "a1" is associated with category "events", the poster is "ou1", and talent IDs "t1", "t2", "t6", and "t14" are associated with it. FIG. 13 mentioned above is an example of the display of article ID "a1", and poster 71 displays the name of "Staff S" corresponding to user ID "ou1" and an official mark indicating that it is an official account. Also, category 85 displays category "events" associated with article ID "a1".

[0157] The related talents 88 display icons and names of the talents "AAA", "BBB", "FFF", and "MMM" corresponding to the talent IDs "t1", "t2", "t6", and "t14" associated with the article ID "a1". In this way, since the related talents can be set when posting, the related talents can be displayed in the content, and the user can easily identify which talent the post is about. The related talents 88 may also be displayed in the content heading 70 of the community screen illustrated in FIG. 11(A).

[0158] In this way, the content can be associated with the related talent. Therefore, when the related talent includes a favorite talent selected in advance by the user, the distribution server 100 can notify the user by push notification that a post related to the favorite talent has been made based on information in the user information database stored as the account information 125. For example, when a content in which the favorite talent is associated with a related talent has been posted, or every predetermined time (for example, every 5 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.), the distribution server 100 sends a push notification to the user that a content in which the favorite talent is associated with a related talent has been posted. When a push notification is made, the user can perform an operation in response to the push notification to transition to a content screen (for example, FIG. 13, etc.) of the content associated with the favorite talent. When a content in which the favorite talent is associated with a related talent has been posted, this is when the content heading (60, 70) of the content is displayed on the home screen in FIG. 10 or the community screen in FIG. 11(A).

[0159] In addition, the category and related talent can be arbitrarily set by the poster when posting the content, and the content can be posted without association. For example, a post in community A may be posted with no related talent, such as article ID "a99", in which case only community A (first attribute) is associated with the content.

[0160] (Example of home screen) Returning to FIG. 10, the details of the contents displayed on the home screen will be described. On the home screen of each user terminal 300, the contents stored in the content database corresponding to the "participating community" associated in the user information database illustrated in FIG. 13 stored as the account information 125, among the content database illustrated in FIG. 14 stored as the content data 122, are displayed. That is, for the category of the recommended topic 62 and subsequent categories on the home screen of each user, only the content headings of the contents posted in the community in which the user participates are displayed. For example, if the communities selected in advance in FIG. 6, FIG. 9, etc. are "community A" and "community B", the home screen displays the contents posted in "community A", "community B", and "community P" in which the user always participates. If there is no community in which the user always participates, the home screen displays the contents posted in the community selected in advance by the user. On the other hand, the contents posted in "community C" in which the user does not participate are not displayed. Also, for the category of the recommended topic 62 and subsequent categories, the content headings 60 displayed change according to the on / off operation of the recommended filter 20 described later.

[0161] In any category, the number of contents that can be displayed on the home screen may be one, or the content headings 60 of a predetermined number of the latest contents (for example, 2, 5, 7, etc.) may be displayed. Alternatively, the content headings 60 of a predetermined number of contents in order of popularity may be displayed. In addition, the content headings 60 for each category may be switched by performing a left-right sliding operation on the touch panel of the user terminal 300. For example, by performing an operation of sliding the content heading 60 (for example, the latest date) displayed in the commemorative distribution 64 of FIG. 10 to the left (such as a flick operation), an older content heading 60 may appear from the right side of the screen. In addition, for example, only half of the content heading 60 may be displayed on the right side of the screen, or it may not appear unless a sliding operation is performed.

[0162] In addition, in the content heading 60 of any category on the home screen, if the talent in Figure 5 is associated with the content, related talent 88 may be displayed, displaying the icon, name, etc. of the associated talent.

[0163] Also, in the recommended topic 62, a predetermined number of pieces of content that are associated with a recommended talent previously selected by the user as exemplified in Figures 6, 9, etc., from among the pieces of content posted within the communities in which the user participates are displayed. For example, in the recommended topic 62 of a user who participates in "Community A" and has selected talent "AAA" as their recommended talent, pieces of content associated with talent ID "t1" corresponding to talent "AAA" are extracted and displayed from among the pieces of content stored in the content database of community A in Figure 14.

[0164] Popular user posts 63 displays a predetermined number of contents that are considered to be popular among contents posted by general users other than the official accounts of the communities in which the user participates. For example, the contents may be sorted in order of the number of favorable actions (tap actions and / or comments) or the engagement rate (for example, contents with a high ratio of favorable actions to the number of views).

[0165] Furthermore, the content displayed on the home screen may include a category in which content associated with a specific category is displayed among the content stored in the content database. For example, in the commemorative broadcast 64, content associated with the category "commemorative broadcast" among the content stored in the content database is displayed, and in the goods 705, content associated with the category "goods" is displayed. Note that there may be a category in which only posts on a specific channel of a specific community are displayed. For example, there may be a category in which a specific number of the latest content headings 60 posted on a specific channel of "Community P" are displayed. Note that these categories displayed on the home screen are merely examples, and temporary special categories may also be provided.

[0166] The recommended topic 62 on the home screen is preferentially displayed at the top of the categories that can be displayed on the home screen, excluding the feature 61. This makes it easier for the user to identify information about the recommended talent. However, this is not limiting, and the recommended topic 62 may be preferentially displayed at the top, including the feature 61. Alternatively, there may be other categories that are displayed with priority over the recommended topic 62. The categories can be displayed in the order that the administrator wants the user to recognize.

[0167] Furthermore, the content displayed in the content heading 60 of the recommended topic 62 may overlap with the content displayed in the content headings 60 of other categories after the recommended topic 62, or if a content is displayed in the recommended topic 62, it may not be displayed in the content headings 60 of other categories. Note that the recommended topic 62 is not displayed to users who have not previously selected any talent as their recommended talent.

[0168] (Example of content attribute extraction process related to selected attributes) Next, a filter function that narrows down the content to be displayed so that it is associated with a favorite talent (second attribute) previously selected by the user will be described with reference to Fig. 15 and Fig. 16. In the fan community application of this embodiment, the content displayed on the user terminal 300 can be further narrowed down to the favorite talent (second attribute) previously selected by the user when a predetermined condition based on the user's intention is satisfied, since each content data is stored together with the meta information of the talent, in addition to narrowing down the content to the participating community (first attribute) previously selected by the user.

[0169] The content associated with the favorite talent is narrowed down by a predetermined switching operation on the user terminal 300. The predetermined switching operation is an operation of selecting a predetermined icon, etc. For example, the selection operation on the favorite talent filter 60 on the home screen of FIG. 10 and the content screen of FIG. 11(A) is one example.

[0170] Fig. 15 shows example screens when the favorite filter 20 is on and off on the content screen of Fig. 11(A). Fig. 15(A) shows an example screen when the favorite filter 20 is on and the filtering to favorite talents preset by the user is active. Fig. 15(B) shows an example screen when the favorite filter 20 is off and the filtering to favorite talents preset by the user is not active.

[0171] FIG. 15 is an example of a screen displayed on the user terminal 300 of the user "u1" in FIG. 7, for example. In FIG. 15(A), the favorite filter 20 is on, so only the content associated with the talent selected in advance by the user "u1" as a favorite talent is extracted. That is, in the user information database stored as the account information 125, the talent IDs associated with the user "u1" are the talent ID "t1" of the talent "AAA", the talent ID "t2" of the talent "BBB", and the talent ID "t5" of the talent "EEE", so only the content associated with any of the talent IDs is extracted from the content information database stored as the content data 122. For example, the content of the article ID "a1" associated with the talent IDs "t1" and "t2" and the content (the content headings 60, 70) of the article ID "a7" associated with "t5" in the content information database of the community A in FIG. 14 are displayed.

[0172] On the other hand, article ID "a4" that is not associated with any of the talents selected by user "u1" is not displayed. For example, even if the content is posted within a participating community, the content headings (60, 70) of content that is not associated with a related talent are not displayed. In contrast, when the favorite filter 20 is turned off, as shown in FIG. 15(B), content headings 70d of content related to talent "DDD", content heading 70e of content related to talent "FFF", and content headings 70 of content not associated with any talent, which are content that is not associated with the favorite talent selected by user "u1", are displayed.

[0173] (Example of attribute extraction process flow) Next, the flow of the attribute extraction process for extracting content related to an attribute previously selected by the user will be described with reference to Fig. 16. Fig. 16 is a diagram for explaining a flowchart of the attribute extraction process described with reference to Fig. 15. The attribute selection process is repeatedly executed by the content management unit 132 in the distribution server 100 in response to receiving a request from the user terminal 300 (for example, operation information for the favorite filter 20, etc.).

[0174] In step S201, it is determined whether or not a content display request operation has been made from the user terminal 300. The display request operation includes an operation to load display data in the user terminal 300, and a selection operation to turn on or off the favorite filter 20 when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The operation to load display data includes, for example, logging in to the app (querying the server when the app is opened), a reload operation (reloading operation), or a selection operation to the home icon 13, the community icon 14 on the app screen, or a channel displayed in the channel list 82 in FIG. 12. The predetermined condition is satisfied, for example, when the user switches the icon of the favorite filter 20 displayed on the user terminal 300 by tapping.

[0175] If it is not determined in step S201 that a display request operation has been made, the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S201 that a display request operation has been made from the user terminal 300, it is determined in step S202 whether the favorite filter 20 is on or not. In this embodiment, the default setting of the favorite filter 20 is off. Therefore, the favorite filter 20 is off when logging in when starting the app, or on the content screen or home screen of a channel that is displayed for the first time after starting the app. In this case, since it is not determined in step S202 that the favorite filter 20 is on, the process proceeds to step S203.

[0176] In step S203, information on the participating community selected by the user of the user terminal 300 that sent the display request operation is extracted and transmitted to the user terminal 300, and the process ends. The selected participating community includes the "belonging community" for each user that is stored as the account information 125 by the user having selected it in advance as illustrated in FIG. 6(A) and FIG. 9, and the community that is always in the participating state, if there is such a community. For example, the user "u2" in FIG. 7 participates in "community A" and "community B". Therefore, in step S203, the user terminal 300 of the user "u2" displays the contents posted in "community A", "community B", and "community P" that is always in the participating state on the home screen, and the community bars 81 of "community A", "community B", and "community P" are displayed on the channel list screen in FIG. 12.

[0177] Returning to step S202, if it is determined that the favorite filter is on, the process proceeds to step S204. For example, when a selection operation to turn on the favorite filter 20 is performed, it is determined in step S201 that a display request operation has been performed, and it is determined in step S202 that the favorite filter is on. Also, when a reload operation is performed on the community screen or home screen of a channel where the operation to turn on the favorite filter 20 has already been performed after the application is started, or when the content screen of FIG. 13 is displayed with the favorite filter 20 on and then the community screen or home screen where the favorite filter 20 was on is returned to, the state in which the favorite filter 20 is on is stored (stored in the storage unit 120 or storage unit 320), and it is determined in step S201 that a display request operation has been performed, and it is determined in step S202 that the favorite filter is on.

[0178] In step S204, information on the selected favorite talent from among the selected participating communities is extracted and transmitted to the user terminal 300, and the process ends. For example, for user "u2", only content associated with talent IDs "t2", "t3", "t4", "t7", and "t8" is extracted from content posted in "Community A", "Community B", and "Community P" and displayed on the channel content screen and home screen. On the home screen, for categories after the favorite topic 62 (categories other than the feature 61 and the favorite topic 62 in FIG. 10), the content heading 60 of the content associated with the favorite talent previously selected by the user through the participating community and selection operation on the favorite filter 20 is displayed.

[0179] Although an example has been described in which the attribute extraction process is executed by the distribution server 100, it may also be executed by the user terminal 300. For example, information regarding each user's favorite talent may be stored in the memory unit 320 of the user terminal 300, and information regarding the content obtained from the distribution server 100 (for example, every 10 items) may be extracted by the user terminal 300.

[0180] In addition, even if the content is posted by a talent other than the favorite talent or the content is mainly (mainly) about a talent other than the favorite talent, if the talent associated with the content is associated with a favorite talent selected in advance by the user, by turning on the favorite filter 20, the content headings (60, 70) of the content related to the talent other than the favorite talent will be displayed on the home screen of FIG. 10 or the community screen of FIG. 11(A). For example, assume that the content posted by the talent "AAA" corresponding to the content heading 70c in FIG. 11(A) is related to the birthday event of the talent "AAA". However, assume that the talent "BBB" is scheduled to participate in the birthday event of "AAA" as a celebration (also called collaboration), so that "BBB" is set as the related talent. Then, in the content database, the talent ID "t2" corresponding to the talent "BBB" is associated with the article corresponding to the content heading 70c. As a result, even if a user who has not selected the talent "AAA" as their favorite talent turns on the favorite filter 20 on their user terminal 300, the content heading 70c related to the birthday event of the talent "AAA" will be displayed. As a result, the user will not miss information related to the favorite talent, even if the information is likely to be overlooked at first glance because it is not related to the favorite talent.

[0181] Even if the favorite filter 20 is not on (whether the favorite filter is on or off), the related talent 88 can be displayed on the home screen in Fig. 10, the community screen in Fig. 11(A), or the content screen itself in Fig. 13. Therefore, even if the favorite talent is not set individually, the user can recognize who in the group is related to the content, which increases interest.

[0182] (Examples of associations between categories, talents, etc. posted by users) Next, a specific example of user posting processing when a user posts content will be described with reference to Figs. 17 and 18. Fig. 17 is an example of a user posting screen. For example, when a content screen of a channel in which "posting authority" is set to "user" in the community content database of Fig. 16 is displayed, the posting icon 23 illustrated in Fig. 11(A) is selected to display it. Note that for channels such as official channels in which only official accounts can post content, users without the authority may not be able to select the posting icon 23 on the content screen. For example, the display mode may be changed, such as by displaying it in gray, or the posting icon 23 itself may not be displayed.

[0183] FIG. 17(A) is a screen that is displayed when the posting icon 23 is selected on the content screen of the channel "Group A Chat". FIG. 17(A) displays input fields for the title, text, etc., an image icon 37, a next icon 38, etc. When the image icon 37 is selected, an image saved in the user terminal 300 can be uploaded. When the next icon 38 is selected, the screen transitions to the screen in FIG. 17(B). Note that if the title and text have not been entered, it is not necessary to proceed to the next page. If an image has been uploaded instead of being entered into the text, it may be possible to proceed to the next page. This is to avoid a proliferation of empty posts.

[0184] On the screen of FIG. 17(B), it is possible to select a category and related talent to be associated with the content to be posted. For example, when the category bar 39 is selected, a category list 39b opens as illustrated in FIG. 17(C). The user can select any category from the category list. Note that the number of categories that can be selected may be one, or multiple categories may be selectable. When the related talent bar 40 of FIG. 17(B) is selected, a list of talents as shown in FIG. 6(B) is displayed, and any talent (talent to be associated) can be selected. Note that the selection of related talents is not limited to one person, and multiple people can be selected. When a selection operation is performed on the icon 41 to be posted, the content is posted to "Group A Chat".

[0185] (User submission process flow) Next, the flow of the user posting process when a user posts content will be described with reference to Fig. 18. Fig. 18 is a diagram for explaining the flowchart of the user posting process described with reference to Fig. 17. The user posting process is repeatedly executed by the control unit 350 of the user terminal 300.

[0186] In step S301, it is determined whether or not a posting icon has been selected. For example, it is determined whether or not a selection operation has been performed on the posting icon 23 on the content screen in FIG. 11(A) or the like. When it is determined that the posting icon 23 has not been selected, the process is terminated. On the other hand, when it is determined that the posting icon 23 has been selected, it is determined in step S302 whether or not the channel to which posting is to be made is a channel to which user posting is permitted. For example, in the case of the channels "Group A Chat" and "Clip" in FIG. 14, all users are permitted to post, so in step S303, the posting screen in FIG. 17(A) is displayed. This allows, for example, the input of text information or the attachment of an image by operating the image icon 37.

[0187] On the other hand, if the content screen when "All Channels" is selected in the channel list 802 in Figure 12, or the content screen for the channel "Official Channel" or "Past Recommendations" is displayed, posting is permitted only to official accounts, so in step S302 it is not determined that the channel is one for which user posting is permitted, and the process is terminated.

[0188] After the posting screen is displayed in step S303, it is determined in step S304 whether or not "Next" has been selected. For example, it is determined whether or not "Next" icon 38 has been selected as an operation to proceed to the next page on the posting screen in Fig. 17(A) . If it is determined in step S303 that "Next" has been selected, it is determined in step S305 whether or not character input has been completed. If character input has not been completed, the process returns to step S304.

[0189] On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S304 that "Next" has been selected, then it is determined in step S306 whether or not "Close" has been selected. For example, this may be a selection operation on the close icon 35. If it is determined in step S306 that "Close" has been selected, the process ends. On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S306 that "Close" has been selected, the process returns to step S304.

[0190] If it is determined in step S305 that character input has been completed, a category etc. selection screen is displayed in step S307. For example, this is a screen that allows the selection of a category or related talent in FIG.

[0191] After the category etc. selection screen is displayed in step S307, it is determined in step S308 whether or not a category has been selected. If it is determined in step S308 that a category has been selected, the category is associated with the posted information in step S309. For example, if "event" is selected in category list 39b in Fig. 17(C), the category "event" is associated with the posted information.

[0192] If it is determined in step S308 that no category has been selected, or after a category has been associated in step S309, it is determined in step S310 whether or not a related talent has been selected. If it is determined in step S310 that a related talent has been selected, the related talent is associated with the posted information in step S311. For example, in FIG. 17(B), if the related talent bar 40 is selected to select talent "AAA," talent ID "t1" is associated with the posted information.

[0193] When it is not determined in step S309 that a related talent has been selected, or after the related talent has been associated in step S310, it is determined in step S312 whether or not a posting confirmation operation has been performed. For example, it is determined whether or not a selection operation has been performed on the posting icon 41 in FIG. 17(B). When it is determined in step S312 that a posting confirmation operation has been performed, in step S313, the posting information (including, for example, input character information, attached image information, selected category, selected related talent, and information identifying the poster's ID, etc.) is sent to the distribution server 100 for processing. As a result, for example, in "Group A Chat", if the category "Event" is selected and "DDD" is selected as the related talent, the distribution server 100 stores the article ID as "a4" as exemplified in FIG. 14.

[0194] Returning to step S312, if it is not determined that a posting confirmation operation has been performed, it is determined in step S314 whether or not a close selection has been performed. The close selection is, for example, a selection operation on the close icon 35 on the screen of Fig. 17(B). If it is determined in step S314 that a close selection has been performed, the process ends.

[0195] On the other hand, when it is not determined in step S314 that "Close" has been selected, it is determined in step S315 whether or not "Back" has been selected. For example, this is a selection operation on the back icon 36 in FIG. 17(B). When it is determined in step S315 that "Back" has been selected, the process returns to step S303, and returns to the display of the posting screen for character input in FIG. 17(A). This allows the user to re-edit the information of characters and images that were input on the posting screen before selecting "Next" in step S304. On the other hand, when it is not determined in step S315 that "Back" has been selected, the category selection screen is continued to be displayed in step S307. Note that, although an example in which the user posting process is executed by the user terminal 300 has been described, the process may be executed by the distribution server 100, and the display information may be transmitted to the user terminal 300.

[0196] <About behavior control function based on user ratings within fan communities> (Overview of behavior control function) Next, the behavior control function based on the evaluation of the user in the fan community of this embodiment will be described. In the fan community of this embodiment, the user himself can post content in the community and share it with other users. In this way, while the community is activated by interacting with other users, if there are no restrictions on the actions that users can take, there is a risk that the security and atmosphere in the community will deteriorate as users who post content that other users may feel uncomfortable with will be left unchecked. For this reason, a level that serves as an index of credibility, sincerity, etc. is set for each user, and the behavior that can be taken in the community is changed according to the level. In this embodiment, the evaluation history status of the user is updated by an external evaluation other than the user himself depending on the behavior taken by the user in the community, and the behavior that can be taken in the community is changed according to the evaluation history status. As a result, the actions that can be taken by users with high indices such as credibility and sincerity are increased, and the actions that can be taken by users with low indices are restricted. In other words, the evaluation history status changes by taking actions that are acceptable in the fan community.

[0197] (Summary of user level fluctuations) The "level" of each user is stored in association with the user ID, as exemplified in the user information database of FIG. 7. The "level" changes according to the "accumulated points". The "accumulated points" change according to external evaluation, which will be described later. For example, the user's level is 1 in the initial setting, and when the accumulated points reach 10, the level becomes 2. To go from level 2 to level 3, more points are required than the number of points required to go from level 1 to level 2, and when the accumulated points reach 21, for example, the user reaches level 3. In this way, as the level increases, the number of points required increases, making it more difficult to increase the level. In addition, the "accumulated points" may decrease according to external evaluation, so that, for example, when the accumulated points of a user who was at level 2 fall below 20, the level decreases from 2 to 1.

[0198] In addition, each user can check their own "level" and "accumulated points" in the user evaluation history status 55 on the My Page, as shown in FIG. 8. This allows the user to be mindful of taking actions that will raise their level. On the other hand, the "level" and "accumulated points" of other users cannot be checked. In this way, by not disclosing one's own level to other users, it is possible to prevent low-level users in the community from feeling inferior and high-level users from behaving arrogantly. Note that only one of the "level" and "accumulated points" may be displayed on the My Page.

[0199] (About actions that can be taken by level) Actions that can be taken by user levels in this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 19, 20, and 21. Figure 19 is a table showing examples of actions permitted (possible) by level, and is divided into levels "1-49", "50-59", "60-69", "70-79", "80-89", "90-99", and "100", for example. Actions permitted for each level are stored as action authority information 124 in distribution server 100, etc.

[0200] "Specific actions", which are actions that can be taken or not, are controlled according to the level, and include, for example, "no posting link restrictions", "plan creation", "moderator invitation", and "community creation". "No posting link restrictions" means that when a user posts content within a community, there are no restrictions on the URL that can be posted, and the restrictions are lifted for users with a level of 60 or higher. Furthermore, content posted by users with no posting link restrictions is also reflected on the user terminals 300 of users with a level of 59 or lower. In other words, even if a content includes a link that is restricted from posting, if the content was posted by a user with a level of 60 or higher, users with a level of 59 or lower can view (and access) the link, including the content.

[0201] "Plan creation" is the authority to start a plan (event) within the community, and can be created by users level 80 and above. For example, it is possible to start an event plan such as a so-called offline meetup where people gather in real or virtual space at a specified date and time, or a survey plan. In other words, it allows users to act as leaders. Also, even users level 79 and below can participate in plans created by users level 80 and above.

[0202] "Moderator invitation" means that a user can act as an administrator of posted content within a community, and can do so if they are a level 90 or higher user. For example, it means deleting or hiding (also called restricting) content or comments that have been visually judged to be inappropriate, something that an administrator would normally do. It may also be the authority to take measures to suspend (for example, for a certain period of time) the accounts of malicious users. Content restricted by a level 90 or higher user will no longer be displayed on the user terminals 300 of users at level 89 or lower.

[0203] "Community creation" means that a new community can be created that a user can participate in, as exemplified in FIG. 6(A) and the like, and is an action permitted only to users with the highest level of trust, 100. For example, a "community A2" can be created as a community created by fans of group A (corresponding to community A) to support group A. The created community A2 will be displayed in the participation community selection area 50 in the participation community setting screen in FIG. 6(A). Alternatively, a new "channel" may be created. For example, a channel with a new theme can be added to the channel of "community A". The newly added channel will be displayed in the channel list display 82 in FIG. 12. A user at level 99 or lower can also participate in and select a community or channel created by a user at level 100.

[0204] In addition, the level of the user in this embodiment may not only be raised but also lowered. Therefore, even if the specific action exemplified in FIG. 19 is a specific action permitted as the level is raised, it is restricted and cannot be taken as the level is lowered. For example, a user of level 80 or higher can create a plan within a community, but when the level is lowered to 79, the user cannot create a plan. In addition, when a created plan or community is reported by other users on the display screen of the created plan or community as being inappropriate in the fan community app, this is an external evaluation that may lower the level of the user who created the plan or community.

[0205] FIG. 20 is an example of a posting screen on the user terminal 300 of a user who is not "unrestricted posting links." In this embodiment, it is assumed that only links to "video sharing site A" and "SNS-B" are permitted as URLs that can be posted by a user who has restrictions on posting links up to level 59. In this case, when a URL other than "video sharing site A" and "SNS-B" is entered in the text to be posted, a message such as "Currently, only URLs to "video sharing site A" and "SNS-B" can be posted" is displayed as illustrated in FIG. 20. In addition, when the next icon 38 is displayed in a different manner when posting is possible and when posting is not possible, the next icon 38 may be displayed in a manner that does not allow posting, so that a selection operation cannot be performed. In this way, it is relatively easy to hide inappropriate images (images that may cause discomfort, such as violent images) for uploaded images, etc., by automatic determination using image recognition, whereas it is not easy to determine whether a URL refers to a malicious website (for example, a fake site, a fraudulent site, or a page where other unpleasant content is posted), and it is necessary for the administrator to set it to be hidden, which is time-consuming. Therefore, for content (in this case, URL links) that is difficult to determine whether it is inappropriate or not, by allowing only high-level users (users who are highly trusted) to post it, the burden on administrators can be reduced and public order within the community can be stabilized by discouraging inappropriate posts.

[0206] In addition, "Video Sharing Site A" and "SNS-B," to which even users who do not have "no posting link restrictions" can post, are, for example, websites where streaming videos of celebrities who are the target of support in a fan community app are posted, and relatively safe link destinations have been established.

[0207] The flow of the process of determining whether or not a user has posted links restricted in the user posting process will be described with reference to Fig. 21. Fig. 21 is a flowchart in which a process of determining whether or not a user has posted links restricted (processing surrounded by a dotted line) is added to the user posting process described with reference to Fig. 18, and therefore a description of the same processes as Fig. 18 will be omitted.

[0208] 17A is displayed in step S303, a determination is made in step S316 as to whether or not a link other than the predetermined link has been pasted. If it is not determined that a link other than the predetermined link has been pasted, the process proceeds to step S304, where a determination is made as to whether or not "Next" has been selected.

[0209] On the other hand, if it is determined that a link other than the predetermined link has been pasted, the process proceeds to step S317, where it is determined whether the user is permitted to paste links other than the predetermined link. For example, the user terminal 300 determines whether the level is 80 or higher based on the "level" and "accumulated points" for each user acquired from the distribution server 100 and stored in the storage unit 320.

[0210] If it is determined in step S317 that the user is permitted to paste links other than the predetermined link, the process proceeds to step S304, where it is determined whether or not "Next" is selected. On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S317 that the user is permitted to paste links other than the predetermined link, a notice is given in step S318 that posting is not permitted, and the process returns to step S316. For example, if the user is at level 10, since pasting of links other than the predetermined link is not permitted, a notice is given that pasting of links other than the predetermined link is not permitted, as exemplified in FIG. 20.

[0211] Returning to FIG. 19, "report count" is a right that can affect whether or not a particular piece of content is hidden from all users. In this embodiment, content that has accumulated a certain number of users who have hidden or reported it from users with a level of 70 or higher can be hidden from all users. For example, content that has been hidden or reported by five users with a level of 70 or higher can be hidden from all users.

[0212] In addition, content or comments posted by a user who has accumulated a certain number of hidden or reported content by users with a level of 70 or higher, which is subject to the "report count," can be made invisible to all users. For example, content or comments posted by a user who has been hidden or reported by five users with a level of 70 or higher can be made invisible to all users.

[0213] Note that the users who are not displayed may not include the users who posted the comments or content. This allows the user to know (be aware) that the content or comment posted by the user is subject to restrictions, for example, by the lack of action from other users, even though the content or comment posted by the user is reflected on the user's own device.

[0214] The "benefit" is associated with different benefits depending on the level as the benefit to be granted. For example, when there is a giveaway project, a more valuable item for fans, such as a rarer item, may be granted depending on the level. For example, if the benefit is a stamp that can be used in posting comments, or an item that can be used in a talent's live performance, the amount of money required to purchase stamps or items is higher for benefit D granted to users at levels 60 to 69 than for benefit E granted to users at levels 50 to 59, and the equivalent amount of the benefit granted increases as the level increases.

[0215] (Examples of fluctuations in evaluation values) Next, referring to FIG. 22, an example of a change in the number of accumulated points (evaluation value) will be described. FIG. 22 is a table for explaining an example of an external evaluation that changes the "accumulated points" of a user, and an example of the relationship between the external evaluation and the change number. When a user (including an administrator) takes some action on content (posted article), comments, etc., the account management unit 133 changes or updates the accumulated points of the user depending on whether or not the action is an external evaluation stored as the action information 123. If the level changes in response to a change in the accumulated points, the account management unit 133 performs a process of permitting or restricting the action authority stored as the action authority information 124 for the user.

[0216] External evaluation is evaluation from other users other than the user himself / herself. For example, if a content or comment posted by a user is "liked" by other users, 5 points are added for each "like" (1 tap action).

[0217] Alternatively, points may be awarded in response to a high evaluation from the management when the management has a favorable impression of the user as being highly trustworthy based on the content posted by the user, the content of the comments, etc. The number of points awarded by the management may be a predetermined number of points, or may be changed by the management as appropriate.

[0218] Also, points may be awarded according to the degree of propagation of the target of support. That is, points are awarded according to the degree of profit contribution to the target of support by the act of promoting the content (video, goods, etc.) related to the target of support. For example, the act of promotion includes the act of spreading the link of the distribution video of the talent who is the target of support, and the act of introducing the goods of the talent who is the target of support. For example, when a video link of a distribution video related to the talent or the group to which the talent belongs is attached to the content posted by the user, points are awarded according to the number of video views from the posted content. In addition, when a link to a goods page related to the talent or the group to which the talent belongs is attached, points can be awarded according to the number of clicks on the goods page link. The goods page is, for example, the official goods page of the talent who is the target of support in the fan community, or a sales page of a product planned in collaboration with another company, and a dedicated URL for community posting may be issued for tallying. Alternatively, when a product is purchased via the dedicated URL for community posting of the goods page on the official website, points may be awarded to the user who posted the URL.

[0219] On the other hand, if a user is reported by another user or hidden, the points are decreased. For example, by operating the screen displayed in FIG. 11(B), it is possible to decrease 5 points for each report. Alternatively, if the administrator is concerned that a user may be detrimental to the atmosphere in the community due to the content posted by the user or the content of the comments, the administrator may give a negative evaluation (deduct points). The number of points deducted by the administrator may be a predetermined number, or may be changed by the administrator as appropriate.

[0220] As an example of external evaluation, the text of a comment made on a content may be judged, and if the comment contains positive words predetermined by the administrator or the like, the points may be increased, and if the comment contains negative words predetermined by the administrator or the like, the points may be decreased. The text may be judged automatically by AI. For example, the proportion of positive or negative words may be automatically judged for the content posted by the user himself or for comments from other users on the content posted by the user, and points may or may not be awarded depending on which element is more prevalent. The positive and negative words are not determined by the user, but are based on criteria based on external factors (for example, criteria by the administrator (including AI judgment)).

[0221] (About the evaluation history status update process) Next, the flow of the evaluation history status update process of a user will be described with reference to FIG. 23. FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining a flowchart of the process of updating the evaluation history status of a user that changes according to the external evaluation described with reference to FIG. 22. The evaluation history status update process is repeatedly executed by the account management unit 133 in the distribution server 100 when some action (for example, an action that is subject to external evaluation such as a tap action, a comment, a report, or hiding) is performed on the content or comments posted by each user in the fan community app. Note that the evaluation history status refers to the result of evaluation of a user by external factors other than the user himself / herself, including the "level" and "accumulated points" in the user information database of FIG. 7 stored as account information.

[0222] In step S401, it is determined whether or not there has been an external evaluation. For example, it is determined whether or not there has been an external evaluation, as exemplified in Fig. 22, for the content or comment posted by the user. If it is determined that there has been no external evaluation, the process ends.

[0223] On the other hand, when it is determined that there is an external evaluation, in step S402, it is determined whether the external evaluation is an "increase in the number of points" evaluation. For example, if the external evaluation is "Likes from other users" (tap action from other users) as exemplified in FIG. 22, the number of points increases by 5, so in step S402, it is determined that the external evaluation is an "increase in the number of points" evaluation.

[0224] When it is determined in step S402 that the external evaluation was a "point increase" evaluation, in step S403, the number of points is added for each user according to the external evaluation, and the evaluation history status is updated and stored. For example, assume that a user is at level 59 and reaches the number of points required to reach level 60 by adding 5 to their accumulated points due to the external evaluation, and their level is raised to 60. At that time, in the user information database, the level is 60 and the accumulated points are updated to the value after adding 5 and stored.

[0225] Next, in step S404, it is determined whether the level has been increased due to a change in the number of points. When it is determined in step S404 that the level has been increased due to a change in the number of points, in step S405, the user is permitted to take a specific action according to the level after leveling up, and the permitted action information of the user stored as account information 125 is updated and stored. For example, assume that the user has reached level 60 and thus the posting link restriction is removed, as illustrated in FIG. 19. In this case, for example, information indicating that the user has no posting link restriction is stored in association with the user information database stored as account information 125. Note that there may be cases where no new permitted actions are available even if the user has increased in level, in which case the permitted action information is not particularly updated and the process ends.

[0226] After the permitted action information is updated and stored in step S405, in step S406, information for notifying the user that the specific action is permitted is transmitted to the user, and the process ends. For example, the user terminal 300 may display a push notification of a message saying "You have leveled up, so there are no more restrictions on posting links," or a notification within the app, or a pop-up may be displayed the next time you post.

[0227] Returning to step S402, if it is not determined that the external evaluation is "point increase", the process proceeds to step S407, where it is determined whether the external evaluation is "point decrease". For example, if the external evaluation is "report from another user" as illustrated in Fig. 22, the number of points is decreased by 5, and therefore in step S407, it is determined that the external evaluation is "point decrease".

[0228] When it is determined in step S407 that the external evaluation was a "point reduction" evaluation, in step S408, the number of points is reduced for each user according to the external evaluation, and the evaluation history status is updated and stored. For example, suppose that a user was at level 60, but the accumulated points are reduced by 5 due to the external evaluation, so that the accumulated points no longer satisfy the number of points required for level 60, and the level is reduced to 59. In this case, in the user information database, the level is updated to 59, and the accumulated points are updated to the value after the 5 is subtracted, and stored.

[0229] Next, in step S409, it is determined whether the level has been downgraded due to a change in the number of points. If it is determined in step S409 that the level has been downgraded, in step S410, the specific actions permitted before the level downgrading are restricted according to the level after the level downgrading, and the permitted action information is updated and stored. For example, assume that the posting link is restricted as illustrated in FIG. 19 due to the level being 59. In this case, for example, information that the posting link is restricted for the user is stored in a user information database stored as account information 125. Note that there may be cases where no actions are restricted even if the level has been downgraded, in which case the permitted action information is not particularly updated and the process ends.

[0230] After the permitted action information is updated and stored in step S410, information for notifying the user that a specific action has been restricted is transmitted to the user in step S411, and the process ends. For example, the user terminal 300 may send a push notification or a notice within the app with a message saying "Restrictions have been placed on posting links due to a level downgrade," or a pop-up may be displayed the next time a post is made.

[0231] Returning to step S407, if it is not determined that the external evaluation is a "point reduction" evaluation, the process ends. For example, this occurs when an action that is not defined as affecting the fluctuation of the point number has occurred. Note that, although an example in which the evaluation history status update process is executed by the distribution server 100 has been described, the process may be executed by the user terminal 300 and then the information may be transmitted to the distribution server 100.

[0232] <About the effects displayed by tapping actions> (Example of display screen for tap action production processing) Next, referring to Figs. 24, 25, and 26, a description will be given of a display effect when a tap action is received by a user on a content, a comment, or the like. In this embodiment, the number of tap actions is incremented by an operation (e.g., a click operation or a tap operation from the user terminal 300) on an icon 708 displayed in the content described with reference to Figs. 10, 11, and 13, or the tap action number 78 (78b) displayed on the heading of the content. Furthermore, when the number of tap actions is incremented, a display effect can be performed on the user terminal 300. For example, every time an operation is performed on the icon 708, a predetermined mark is displayed popping out from the icon 708.

[0233] Fig. 24 is an example of a presentation display (reception presentation) when a tap action is received from a user. Fig. 24(A) is an example of a screen for each channel of each community as exemplified in Fig. 11(A) and the like, and is an example of an operation performed on icon 708 with tap action number 78 displayed on content heading 70 displayed at the top. In this case, since the number of tap operations has reached 50, "50" is displayed in individual tap action number 48. Therefore, the user can recognize the number of tap actions he or she has performed.

[0234] FIG. 24(A) shows an example of three consecutive taps (continuous taps), in which the thumbs-up mark 41a appears to pop out from the icon 708 with a tap action count of 78 at the first tap (48th tap). Next, the thumbs-up mark 41b appears to pop out from the icon 708 at the second tap (49th tap). Also, the fan mark 42 appears to pop out from the icon 708 at the third tap (50th tap). The fan mark 42 is a fan mark of a related talent associated with the content in which the icon 708 was operated. In this way, if the performance time (from popping out to disappearing) of the mark that popped out at the previous tap overlaps with the performance time of the mark that popped out at the next tap, multiple marks are displayed. In this way, the marks are displayed one after another at the consecutive taps, so that the user can feel a sense of exhilaration in the feel of the tap action (operability), and further tap actions can be encouraged. The effect of the marks popping out may be such that multiple marks are not displayed at the same time as in the example shown in FIG. 24(A), but rather the marks are displayed one at a time.

[0235] FIG. 24(B) shows a special effect (special reception effect) that is displayed when the number of tap actions from the user reaches a predetermined number. For example, when the number of operations on the icon 708 reaches 100, an effect is displayed in which various marks rain down on the entire screen. Note that the predetermined number may be an upper limit value that allows the user to perform a tap action on each action target. In other words, when the predetermined number is reached, no effect is generated by operations on the icon 708, and no update of the number of individual tap actions 48 is performed. Alternatively, it may be performed every time the predetermined number is reached (for example, every 10 times). Also, it is not necessary to set an upper limit value.

[0236] Note that the predetermined number of times is not limited to the number of individual tap actions 48, which is the number of individual tap actions performed by a user on the content, but instead, or in addition, each time the number displayed in the number of tap actions 78, which is the total number of tap actions performed by users in the fan community, reaches a predetermined value (e.g., 100 times), a performance may be given to the user who performed the 100th action.

[0237] Next, examples of types of effects executed by accepting a tap action will be described with reference to Fig. 25. Fig. 25 is an example of a content-specific effect data table of effect displays by tap actions stored in storage unit 320 of user terminal 300 based on content data 122 stored in distribution server 100 or content data 122 acquired from distribution server 100. Information related to effect displays is associated with each content (posted article).

[0238] In the content-specific effect data table, an effect type is defined for each article ID. Also, a lottery probability used for the effect is associated with each effect type. The effect type is defined according to whether the number of tap actions is less than a predetermined number of times or when the predetermined number of times is reached. If the predetermined number of times is 100, which is the upper limit of the possible tap actions, then 1 to 99 is less than the predetermined number of times.

[0239] For the performances that are less than the predetermined number of times, a default performance and, if a related talent is set to the content, a fan mark performance are defined. For the default performances, for example, marks such as applause, thumbs up, hearts, and rare marks are defined. A mark corresponding to the related talent is associated with the fan mark. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14, for the article ID "a1", the talent IDs "t1", "t2", "t6", and "t14" are associated with the related talents. Therefore, the fan marks "mark_t1", "mark_t2", "mark_t6", and "mark_t14" corresponding to each related talent are associated. The same probability may be uniformly set for the lottery probability that each mark is used in the performance, and the appearance probability of the fan mark or rare mark may be set to be small. In this way, if a related talent is associated with the content, a fan mark appears by performing a tap action. This can encourage the user to perform a tap action, and further, when the user posts content, it can be encouraged to select a related talent before posting. As a result, it becomes easier for other users to obtain information about the favorite talent, and the fan community can be invigorated through user actions.

[0240] The effects when the predetermined number is reached include a luxurious effect, and if a related talent is set for the content, a talent effect is set. As with the fan marks when the number is less than the predetermined number, the talent effects are set to "special_t1", "special_t2", "special_t6", and "special_t14", which correspond to each related talent associated with the article ID "a1". For example, an animation that reminds the talent, such as a fan mark popping out, is displayed.

[0241] In addition, when no related talent is set for the content, as exemplified by article ID "a99" in Figure 25, the type of performance is not set to fan mark or talent performance, and if the number is less than a certain number, a default performance is performed, and when the specified number is reached, a luxurious performance is performed.

[0242] For each of the effects, for example, multiple effect patterns may be defined for the luxurious effect, and there may be one default effect when the number is less than the predetermined number. Also, only one of the fan mark effect when the number is less than the predetermined number or the talent effect when the predetermined number is reached may be defined. For example, even if a related talent is selected for the content, the performance when the predetermined number is reached may be only the luxurious effect.

[0243] (Example of tap action production process flow) An example of the flow of the tap action rendering process will be described with reference to Fig. 26. Fig. 26 is a diagram for explaining a flowchart of the tap action rendering process described with reference to Fig. 24, Fig. 25, etc. The tap action rendering process is repeatedly executed by the control unit 350 of the user terminal 300 in response to an operation from the user, based on the content information acquired by the distribution server 100.

[0244] In step S501, it is determined whether or not a tap action operation has been performed. For example, a tap operation from the user is performed on an icon 708 displayed in a content or comment on the home screen in Fig. 10, the community screen in Fig. 11(A), or the content screen in Fig. 13. If it is not determined in step S501 that a tap action operation has been performed, the process ends.

[0245] On the other hand, when it is determined in step S501 that a tap action operation has been performed, it is determined in step S502 whether or not the total number of tap actions by the user on the content, etc. is less than a predetermined number. For example, assume that the predetermined number is 100, which is the upper limit at which the user can perform a tap action operation on each action target. In that case, if the total number of tap actions stored in the storage unit 320 (or stored as the action information 123 of the distribution server 100) is 100, it is not determined in step S502 that the total number of tap actions is less than the predetermined number, and the process ends.

[0246] In step S501, for example, if the total number of tap actions is 50, it is determined that the total number of actions is less than a predetermined number, and in step S503, a tap action counter (a counter for identifying the total number of tap actions) stored in storage unit 320 is incremented by 1. After the tap action counter is incremented in step S503, it is determined in step S504 whether or not the total number of tap actions after increment is a predetermined number. For example, if the total number of tap actions is 50, incrementing by 1 in step S503 makes the total number of tap actions 51, and in step S504 it is determined that the total number is not the predetermined number of 100.

[0247] If it is not determined in step S504 that the total number of tap actions is equal to the predetermined number, it is determined in step S505 whether or not the content on which the tap action was performed is associated with a related talent. For example, if the content on which the tap action was performed is the article "a1" in FIG. 14, it is determined that there is a related talent.

[0248] If it is determined in step S505 that there is an associated talent, then in step S506, tap actions less than a predetermined number are determined by lottery based on the content-specific performance table of Fig. 25. After the performance is determined in step S506, the performance of the tap action determined in step S507 is executed, and tap action count update information is sent to the distribution server 100, and the process ends. For example, when "mark_t1" of the performance type fan mark for article ID "a1" in Fig. 25 is determined by lottery, the number of tap actions is updated to 78 and the number of individual tap actions is updated to 48, and a performance is executed in which a fan mark corresponding to "mark_t1" pops out.

[0249] Returning to step S505, if it is not determined that the content on which the tap action operation was performed is associated with a related talent, the process proceeds to step S508, where a tap action less than the predetermined number of default tap actions is selected by lottery. In step S509, the default tap action determined in step S508 is performed, and the tap action count update information is sent to the distribution server 100, and the process ends. For example, in the case of article ID "a99" in FIG. 25, since the content is not associated with a related talent, a lottery is performed for the default effect. For example, if "thumbs up" is selected by lottery, the number of tap actions 78 and the number of individual tap actions 48 are updated, and an effect in which a mark corresponding to "thumbs up" pops up is executed.

[0250] Returning to step S504, when it is determined that the total number of tap actions is the predetermined number, the process proceeds to step S510. For example, this is the case when the number of individual tap actions becomes 100 as a result of the increment of the tap action counter in step S503.

[0251] In step S510, it is determined whether or not the content on which the tap action operation has been performed is associated with a related talent. For example, if the content on which the tap action operation has been performed is the article "a1" in FIG. 14, it is determined that there is a related talent.

[0252] When it is determined in step S510 that there is an associated talent, in step S511, a tap action effect for when the predetermined number is reached is determined by lottery. In step S512, the tap action effect for when the predetermined number is reached determined in step S511 is executed, and tap action count update information is sent to the distribution server 100, and the process ends. For example, when "special_t1" of the talent effect type for article ID "a1" in FIG. 25 is determined by lottery, the number of tap actions 78 and the number of individual tap actions 48 are updated, and the effect corresponding to "special_t1" is executed.

[0253] Returning to step S508, if it is not determined that the content on which the tap action operation was performed is associated with a related talent, in step S513, a tap action presentation for when a predetermined number is reached is executed, and tap action count update information is sent to distribution server 100, and processing ends. For example, in the case of article ID "a99" in FIG. 25, since the content is not associated with a related talent, the number of tap actions is updated to 78 and the number of individual tap actions is updated to 48, and a presentation corresponding to "luxurious presentation" is executed.

[0254] In steps S507, S509, S512, and S513, tap action update information (e.g., information specifying that a tap action has been performed) is transmitted to distribution server 100, whereby the total number of tap actions for each content or comment stored as content data 122 is updated and reflected in the number of tap actions 78 (78b) of other users' user terminals 300. In addition, although an example in which the tap action production process is executed in user terminal 300 has been described, it may also be executed in distribution server 100 and display information may be transmitted to user terminal 300.

[0255] In the above example, when a related talent is associated with content, fan marks corresponding to each associated talent or talent performances are executed by lottery. However, when a favorite talent selected in advance by the user is associated with the related talent, the probability of selection (probability of winning) of the fan mark corresponding to the favorite talent may be made higher than that of other fan marks.

[0256] <Using APIs provided by external services> Next, with reference to Fig. 27, an example will be described in which an API provided by an external web service system 400 is used to allow users to use content provided by the external web service system 400. The external web service system 400 is, for example, a video distribution site. It is assumed that a talent who is the support target of a fan community in this embodiment is distributing videos on the video distribution site. In this embodiment, it is made possible for users to easily check the distribution schedule of the talent's video distribution on the video distribution site.

[0257] In this embodiment, by utilizing an API provided by the external web service system 400, information on the distributor of a video and the person who is co-distributing with the distributor (also called collaboration) is acquired, and information associated with the talent ID of the corresponding talent is generated and can be displayed on the user terminal 300. Since the talent ID is associated with the information displayed to the user, it is possible to extract and allow the user to specify the broadcasts of the participating community (first attribute) and favorite talent (second attribute) that the user has previously selected.

[0258] 27(A) and (B) are examples of distribution schedule screens displayed on the user terminal 300. For example, the distribution schedule screen may be displayed when a distribution schedule icon 18 is displayed at the bottom of the application screen and a selection operation is performed on the distribution schedule icon 18. Alternatively, the distribution schedule screen may be selectable on the channel list screen exemplified in FIG. 12, or may be displayed in the channel list display 82 for each community.

[0259] FIG. 27(C) is an example screen of video content provided by external web service 400, and it is possible to transition to the video content screen by performing a specified operation from the screen of FIG. 27(A) or FIG. 27(B).

[0260] In the distribution schedule screens of FIG. 27(A) and FIG. 27(B), a favorite filter 20, a distribution period selection area 91, a group selection area 92, a distribution date and time 93, a content heading 90, a channel account 98, and a related talent 94 are displayed. For example, the user performs a selection operation on the content heading 90 to transition to a distribution page in an external web service of FIG. 27(C). The transition destination is the video distribution channel of the account displayed in the channel account 98. In the related talent 94, an icon of a talent who appears in the corresponding distribution is displayed. For example, the content heading 90a in FIG. 27(A) indicates that there is a distribution by the account of the official channel of group A, and the content heading 90b indicates that there is a distribution by the channel of talent BBB.

[0261] In the distribution period selection area 91, for example, icons such as "Upcoming distribution" that displays a list of content headings 90 (content information) that identify the most recent past distributions (contents), "Currently distributing" that displays a list of content headings 90 that identify the currently distributed distributions (contents), and "Upcoming schedule" that identifies the future scheduled distributions (contents) are displayed, and the list of displayed content headings 90 can be switched by the user's selection operation for each icon. Fig. 27(A) is an example of a distribution schedule screen when the "Currently distributing" icon is selected, and a list of content headings 90 for identifying the currently distributed distributions is displayed. Fig. 27(B) is an example of a distribution schedule screen when the "Upcoming schedule" icon is selected, and a list of content headings 90 for identifying the future scheduled distributions is displayed.

[0262] In the group selection area 92, icons for selecting the group 1 to which the talent illustrated in FIG. 5 belongs are displayed. Only groups corresponding to communities in which the user participates are displayed as groups in the group selection area 92. For example, FIG. 27(A) and FIG. 27(B) are screens displayed on the user terminal 300 of the user "u2" in FIG. 7, and in FIG. 27(A) and FIG. 27(B), icons of "group A" and "group B" corresponding to the community A and community B in which the user "u2" participates are displayed. By operating each icon, content headings 90 of broadcasts related to talents belonging to any of the groups (or both may be selectable) are displayed. In FIG. 27(A) and FIG. 27(B), the icon of "group A" is selected, so that content headings 90 for identifying broadcasts in which talents belonging to group A appear are extracted and displayed. The user can specify whether or not a talent belonging to group A is appearing in a broadcast because the content heading 90 is associated with the appearing talent 94 (talent ID in FIG. 5) by the broadcast server 100. Note that, although an example is shown in which only groups corresponding to communities in which the user participates are displayed in the group selection area 92, the present invention is not limited to this, and all groups may be displayed regardless of the community in which the user participates.

[0263] Also, as described above with reference to FIG. 9, by selecting the favorite filter 20 on the distribution schedule screen, distributions in which the favorite talent previously selected by the user appears can be extracted and displayed.

[0264] The talents displayed in the appearing related talent 94 in FIG. 27(A) and FIG. 27(B) are displayed based on information acquired using the API of the video distribution site. For example, the distribution screen (including posts during distribution, after distribution, and before distribution) in FIG. 27(C) is provided with a summary field 95, and the poster of the distribution can edit the text in the summary field 95 as appropriate. By embedding attribute specific information 96 in the summary field 95, the distribution server 100 acquires the attribute specific information 96 and generates the content heading 90. The attribute specific information 96 is, for example, a channel account in the video distribution site. Since FIG. 27(C) is a distribution by a channel account corresponding to the talent "CCC", the distribution server 100 can acquire attribute specific information 96a, which is the channel account. In addition to the icon of the talent, the name of the talent may be displayed in the appearing related talent 94. Also, the appearing related talent 94 may be displayed as the related talent 88 described with reference to FIG. 13 and the like.

[0265] In addition, in the summary field 95, attribute identification information 96b (also called handle), which is information (identifier) ​​that identifies the channel account corresponding to the talent "AAA", is input. The handle is also a URL that leads to the corresponding channel account. For example, when a joint distribution is performed with a talent different from the talent corresponding to the channel account that performs the distribution, a handle that identifies the joint distribution partner is input. The input action is also called mentioning another channel by inputting text information with an @ mark in front of the other channel. For example, when a distribution by the channel of the talent "CCC" is a so-called collaborative distribution with the talent "AAA", a handle for identifying the channel account of the talent "AAA" is embedded in the summary field 95 of the distribution. By inputting the handle, which is the attribute identification information 96b, in the summary field 95, the server 100 can obtain the attribute identification information 96b, which is information on the collaboration partner, in addition to the distribution account itself.

[0266] As described above, the distribution server 100 acquires the attribute identification information 96, and generates a content heading 90 in which the talent ID of the talent corresponding to the channel account (attribute identification information 96a) performing distribution and the talent ID of the talent corresponding to the joint distribution partner input in the handle (attribute identification information 96b) are associated. For example, assume that the information acquired from the external web service 400 includes the attribute identification information 96 corresponding to the talents "CCC" and "AAA". In this case, the content management unit 132 generates and stores information for identifying the content heading 90 associated with the talent IDs "t3" and "t1" of the talents "CCC" and "AAA" in a database that manages the content headings 90 that can be displayed on the distribution schedule screen stored as the content data 122, thereby generating the content heading 90. In addition, the distribution server 100 acquires text information (for example, "A friendly distribution with AAA") of the title 97 of the distribution screen in FIG. 27(C) and thumbnail image information 99, and displays the text information and thumbnail image in the content heading 90. This makes it possible to identify which talent in the talent information database stored as attribute information 121 illustrated in FIG. 5 will be appearing in the broadcast, thereby allowing the user to identify broadcasts associated with attributes previously selected by the user.

[0267] For example, in the following description, it is assumed that FIG. 27(B) is the screen of user "u1" in FIG. 7. In addition, when FIG. 27(B) is the screen of user "u1", although user "u1" does not participate in community B, the icon of community B may be displayed in the group selection area 92 as shown in FIG. 27(B), and the distribution schedule screen of group B may be displayed by selection, or only the icon of the participating community may be displayed (the icon of community B may be hidden). The talents selected by user "u1" as his / her favorite talents are talents "AAA", "BBB", and "EEE" corresponding to talent IDs "t1", "t2", and "t5", but talent "CCC" has not been selected as his / her favorite talent. However, even if there is a joint distribution with a favorite talent in a distribution by a channel account of "CCC", who is not a favorite talent, information on the joint distribution partner can also be obtained by the attribute identification information 96b. Therefore, even if the favorite filter 20 is on, a content heading 90 for identifying the distribution of the talent "CCC" is displayed, and the appearing talents 94 are displayed, so that the user will not miss information about the favorite talent.

[0268] Also, for example, if a joint broadcast suddenly starts in the middle of a broadcast, and new attribute identification information 96b (handle) is added to the summary field 95 of the broadcast screen in the external web service 400, it is extracted as needed. Therefore, even if a joint broadcast suddenly starts, the content heading 90 of the broadcast is displayed in the broadcast schedule of the current broadcast in Fig. 27(A). Also, if the content heading 90 is associated with a favorite talent selected by the user in advance, a push notification can be sent, so the user will not miss the sudden broadcast of the favorite talent.

[0269] Note that, although an example has been described in which the content heading 90 displayed in the distribution schedule in Fig. 27 is automatically generated using the API of the external web service 400, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be set manually from the administrator terminal 200, for example. For example, the content heading 90 may be generated by associating a transition link and a related talent with the content heading 90. Even if an API cannot be used, it is possible to guide the user to a link destination outside the fan community app related to the talent.

[0270] Furthermore, the content heading 90 generated when the channel account in the external web service is the official channel of the group corresponding to the belonging group 1 in Fig. 5 may not be associated with any talent (no associated talent). Even in this case, the content heading 90 is not associated with an individual talent, but is associated with the participating community and group of the group corresponding to the channel account. Therefore, if the user participates in the community corresponding to the group, the content heading 90 is displayed on the distribution schedule screen, and is also displayed as a content heading 90 extracted for each group by operating the icon for each group in the group selection area 92.

[0271] <Examples of specific configurations and effects> (1-1) In the above-mentioned embodiment, as described with reference to Figs. 1 to 18, the distribution server 100 of the communication system 1 can provide a user with a plurality of types of content associated with attributes (for example, a community, a group, a unit, a talent, etc.) based on a stored program or a method of controlling a computer by the program (hereinafter, simply referred to as a program). The attributes include communities (first attributes) corresponding to a plurality of types of groups A, B, etc., such as communities displayed in the participating community list 50 of Fig. 6(A), and a plurality of types of talents (talent ID, talent name) and units (belonging group 2), etc., stored in the talent information database of Fig. 5 (second attributes). As described with reference to Figs. 6, 7, 9, etc., the attributes are stored in a user information database stored as account information 125 in order to enable identification of participating communities and favorite talents selected in advance according to user operations from among communities corresponding to a plurality of types of groups and a plurality of types of talents, or in the storage unit 320 of the user terminal 300.

[0272] Furthermore, as described with reference to Figures 10, 11, 14 to 16, 27, etc., the distribution server 100 or the user terminal 300 switches between one of a number of display states in response to an operation on the favorite filter 20, including a first display state in which content headings (60, 70, 90) as exemplified in Figure 15(B) are displayed on the display unit of the user terminal 300 so as to be identifiable by the user from among the content associated with the participating community that has been preselected and stored by the user (e.g., content stored in the content database of community A in Figure 14), and a second display state in which the favorite filter 20 is on, such as Figure 15(A), in which content headings (60, 70, 90) relating to content associated with both the participating community and the favorite talent that has been preselected and stored by the user are extracted and displayed so as to be identifiable by the user. This allows the display to be switched between content headings that are posted in a community previously selected by the user (participation) and are displayed regardless of whether the content is associated with a favorite talent, and content headings related to content posted in a community previously selected by the user (participation) and associated with a favorite talent. This allows the user to easily identify information that he or she likes. For example, if a user participates in community A and selects a talent "AAA" with a talent ID of "t1" as his or her favorite talent, content headings of content that is associated with the talent ID "t1" among the contents stored in the content database of community A in FIG. 14 are extracted and displayed on the home screen in FIG. 10, the community screen in FIG. 11(A), the distribution schedule screen in FIG. 27, and the like. The favorite filter 20 can be turned on and off regardless of the level of the evaluation history status of each of the multiple users stored in the user information database illustrated in FIG. 7.

[0273] (1-2) Furthermore, the on / off operation of the favorite filter 20 is a different operation from the series of operations when the user selects in advance a community to participate in or a favorite talent, and is established in response to an operation by the user on the icon of the favorite filter 20 displayed on the user terminal 300. As a result, when displaying the home screen of Fig. 10, the community screen of Fig. 11(A), the distribution schedule screen of Fig. 27, etc., the user does not need to perform an operation to select a community to participate in or a favorite talent again, or an operation to transition to a screen for selection, but can switch and display content headings related to a previously selected community, or content associated with both a community and a talent, thereby improving operability and user convenience.

[0274] (1-3) As shown in Fig. 15 and other examples, the favorite filter 20 is always displayed whether the favorite filter 20 is in an on-display state or an off-display state. This makes it easier and simpler to switch to a display screen that extracts content associated with the favorite talent.

[0275] (1-4) The multiple types of content that can be provided to the user include communities corresponding to groups A and B of the group 1 in FIG. 5, and community P, which is an attribute (third attribute) different from the talent (or the unit of the group 2, etc.) and is always in a participation state regardless of the user's selection, and content associated with feature 61 in FIG. 10 that is displayed to all users regardless of the community in which the user is participating. The content heading 60 of the content posted to the community P and the content heading 60 of the feature 61 are displayed on the home screen in FIG. 10 regardless of the participating community or favorite talent selected in advance by the user, regardless of whether the favorite filter 20 is on or off. In addition, since the community P is displayed on the channel list screen in FIG. 12, if the user selects the community bar 81c of the community P, the community screen of the community P (FIG. 11(A)) can be displayed. This allows content headings related to attributes different from the attribute selected in advance by the user to be displayed, making it possible, for example, for the administrator to notify the user of information that he or she wants to inform all users regardless of the switching state.

[0276] (1-5) The multiple types of content that can be provided to the user include content that is not associated with a related talent, but is associated only with a participating community (for example, article IDa99 in FIG. 14 and FIG. 25), and when the display state of the favorite filter 20 is on, the content heading of the content that is associated only with the participating community and not with a related talent is not displayed. As a result, when the favorite filter 20 is on, the content heading of the content that is not associated with a favorite talent is not displayed, making it easy for the user to identify information associated with a favorite community and talent.

[0277] (1-6) As described with reference to Figures 5, 6, etc., the favorite talents that the user can select in advance are multiple talents who belong (are classified) to one of multiple groups A, B, etc. of the group 1 in Figure 5. This makes it possible to specify information that is further narrowed down to information on the talents that the user likes from information about the groups into which the talents are classified.

[0278] (1-7) As described with reference to Figs. 5 and 6, the favorite talent that the user can select in advance can be selected for each belonging group 2, which is a smaller unit than belonging group 1. In other words, the selection can be made in units made up of multiple talents. This makes it possible to specify information that is further narrowed down from information about groups that classify talents to information about units made up of multiple characters that the user likes.

[0279] (1-8) As described with reference to the home screen example of FIG. 10, the multiple types of content that can be provided to the user can be classified into one of multiple categories including the recommended topic 62, and can be displayed on the user terminal 300 by classifying them into multiple categories as shown in FIG. 10. In the recommended topic 62, whether the recommended filter 20 is on or off, the content headings 60 related to a predetermined number of contents associated with both the participating community and the recommended talent that are selected and stored in advance by the user are displayed so that the user can identify them. In categories other than the recommended topic 62, such as popular user posts 63, commemorative broadcasts 64, and goods 65, the content headings 60 according to whether the recommended filter 20 is on or off are displayed so that the user can identify them, as described with reference to FIG. 16. By displaying the recommended topic 62, some of the content associated with the participating community and recommended talent previously selected by the user can be displayed without switching the display state, so the user can identify the content associated with the preferred community and talent without the trouble of switching the display state.

[0280] (1-9) In addition, the content headings 60 of the recommended topic 62 on the home screen illustrated in Fig. 10 can be displayed with priority, for example, above the content headings 60 related to content classified into other categories, regardless of whether the recommended filter 20 is on or off. This makes it easier for users to identify content associated with their favorite communities and talents.

[0281] (1-10) As described with reference to Fig. 12, by the user selecting the community bar 81 on the channel list screen of Fig. 12 from among the communities to participate in that the user has previously selected, it becomes possible to display a content screen for each community as exemplified in Fig. 11(A). This allows the user to further select a preferred community from among the communities to participate in that the user has previously selected, and to display the content heading 70 for each selected community, thereby enabling the user to further extract any information as necessary even from among the preferred information, thereby improving convenience.

[0282] (1-11) As described with reference to Fig. 24 to Fig. 26, the distribution server 100 and the user terminal 300 perform a reception effect such as that shown in Fig. 24(A) or Fig. 24(B) each time they receive a tap action from the user on the icon 708 of the content. The reception effect includes a display of a fan mark or a talent effect corresponding to a related talent associated with the content (article ID) that received the action from the user, as exemplified in the content-specific effect table in Fig. 25. As a result, the reception effect by the tap action includes an effect related to the talent, so that it is possible to encourage the user to take a tap action.

[0283] (1-12) In addition, when a tap action is received from the user a predetermined number of times (e.g., 100 times), a special effect such as a luxurious effect or a talent effect as exemplified in Fig. 24(B) is performed. This makes it possible to encourage the user to take a tap action, since a special effect is performed when the user performs a tap action a predetermined number of times.

[0284] (1-13) The multiple types of content that can be provided to the user include content that is associated with a talent ID in the content database of Fig. 14 by being associated with a related talent, and for content that is associated with a related talent, related talent 88 that displays the icon, name, etc. of the talent associated with the content is displayed regardless of whether the recommended filter 20 is on or off. This allows the user to identify the related talent associated with the content regardless of whether the recommended filter 20 is on or off, improving user convenience. It can also provide an opportunity to learn about new talents, etc.

[0285] (1-14) As described with reference to Figures 14, 17, and 18, the multiple types of content that can be provided to users include posted content posted by users. When a related talent is associated with the posted information in steps S310 and S311 of Figure 18, for example, by a selection operation on the related talent bar 40 of Figure 17 when the user posts, the content generated by the posted information is associated with a talent ID as exemplified in the content database of Figure 14. This makes it possible to associate a talent with a user post, making it easy for users to share information they like.

[0286] (1-15) The multiple types of content include posted content (such as articles with posting authority "user" in FIG. 14) posted by users through the user posting process described with reference to FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, and the users include multiple specific users corresponding to each of the talents in FIG. 5. Regarding posted content on which a specific user has taken an action such as a tap action or comment, a special action 79 is displayed on the home screen in FIG. 10, the content heading (60, 70) on the community screen in FIG. 11(A), or the content screen in FIG. 13 together with the icon of the special user. This allows the user to easily identify that the posted content is on which a specific user has taken an action. This improves convenience for users who are looking for information on talents.

[0287] (1-16) When content associated with a favorite talent previously selected and stored by a user is posted based on the user information database in Fig. 7 and the content database in Fig. 14, the distribution server 100 and the user terminal 300 send the user a push notification that content associated with the favorite talent has been posted. This makes it easier for the user to identify content information related to the favorite talent. Furthermore, if a specific user takes an action on the content posted by the user, the user can feel a sense of specialness.

[0288] (1-17) As described with reference to FIG. 27, the distribution server 100 acquires attribute identification information 96a of the channel account to be distributed, attribute identification information 96b of the handle included in the summary field 95 of the distribution screen in the external web service 400 in FIG. 27(C), title 97, information of thumbnail image 99, and the like, by using the API provided by the external web service 400. Since the acquired information includes the attribute identification information 96, a talent ID corresponding to the attribute identification information 96 is identified, and the distribution schedule screen of FIG. 27(A) or FIG. 27(B) including the content heading 90 generated based on the identified talent ID is displayed on the user terminal 300. For example, if the information acquired from the external web service 400 includes the attribute identification information 96 corresponding to the talent "AAA", a content heading 90 associated with the talent ID "t1" of the talent "AAA" is generated. Information for identifying the content heading 90 is generated and stored by the content management unit 132. Therefore, content headings 90 of broadcasts related to participating communities (groups) preselected by the user from among groups corresponding to the channel account are displayed. Furthermore, by performing a selection operation on the favorite filter 20, it is possible to narrow down the display to content headings 90 of broadcasts in which the favorite talent appears. This makes it possible to easily identify external posts such as broadcasts provided by the external web service 400 by optimizing them to the user's preferences.

[0289] (2-1) In the above-mentioned embodiment, as described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4, 7, 8, 19 to 23, etc., the distribution server 100 provided in the communication system 1 updates the evaluation history status such as the level and accumulated points of the user in response to external evaluations, which are evaluations from other than the user himself / herself, on the content and comments posted by the user, as illustrated in Fig. 22, based on a program that allows the actions accepted from the user terminals 300 operated by each of the multiple users to be reflected in the user terminals 300 of the multiple users so that each of the multiple users can recognize the actions, as well as a program (hereinafter, simply referred to as a program). Also, as illustrated in Fig. 19, the actions that the user can take are controlled so that a user who does not have the predetermined level cannot take a specific action that can be taken by a user whose evaluation history status is at a predetermined level. Also, for example, even if a user who has a predetermined level of 80 or more, which is a specific situation, takes a specific action of posting a content with an embedded link that is restricted for a user who has a level of 59 or less, the content with the embedded link can be displayed on the user terminals 300 of users who have a level of 59 or less and are not in a specific situation. This allows the actions that users can take to be controlled according to external evaluations, which are evaluations from people other than the user who took the action. In addition, a specific action accepted from a user in a specific situation can be reflected to multiple users (even if the user is not in the specific situation), making it possible to maintain good public order within the community.

[0290] (2-2) As described in steps S402 to S406 in Fig. 23, the account management unit 133 allows a user who has increased in level and is in a specific situation to take a specific action according to the level. By allowing a user who is in a specific situation according to external evaluation to take a specific action, actions that can be taken by users who are not in a specific situation are restricted, so that it is possible to encourage users to take actions that will put them in a specific situation in which they can take a specific action, and it is possible to maintain good public order in the community.

[0291] (2-3) As described with reference to FIG. 19, specific actions that can be taken are determined in stages according to the level. For example, if the user is at level 60 or above, there is no restriction on links to the content posted as a specific action, and if the user is at level 80 or above, the user can create a plan as a specific action. As exemplified in steps S404 to S406 of FIG. 23, these specific actions allow users whose level has increased from 59 to 60 to be free of link restrictions on the content posted by the user, and allow users whose level has increased from 79 to 80 to create plans by the user, so that users who have not reached a predetermined level are restricted from taking specific actions. As a result, by allowing specific actions to be allowed for users who have reached a predetermined level and are in a specific situation in stages according to the level, it is possible to encourage users to take actions aimed at a higher level, and the peace and order of the community can be maintained in a good state.

[0292] (2-4) As described in steps S407 to S411 in Fig. 23, the account management unit 133 restricts a user whose level has dropped and who is no longer in a specific situation from taking a specific action that was permitted according to the level. This restricts a user whose level has dropped and who is no longer in a specific situation according to an external evaluation from taking a specific action, so that the user can be encouraged to take an action that can maintain or improve the specific situation, and public order in the community can be stabilized.

[0293] (2-5) As described with reference to FIG. 19, the specific actions that can be taken are determined in stages according to the level. For example, if the level is 59 or lower, the link restriction on the posted content, which is the specific action, is not permitted to be lifted, so there is a link restriction on the posted content. If the level is 79 or lower, the specific action of creating a plan is not permitted, so there is a restriction on creating a plan. As exemplified in steps S409 to S411 in FIG. 23, these specific actions restrict the links on the posted content that were permitted for a user whose level has been reduced from 60 to 59 by leveling down. In addition, for a user whose level has been reduced from 80 to 79 by leveling down, the creation of a plan that was permitted is restricted, so that a user who is no longer at a predetermined level is restricted from performing a specific action. In this way, by gradually restricting the specific actions permitted for a user who is no longer in a specific situation, it is possible to prevent the number of actions that can be taken from becoming extremely small, while encouraging actions that can maintain and improve the specific situation, and it is possible to maintain good public order in the community.

[0294] (2-6) As described with reference to Fig. 8, the user history status 55, which displays the level and accumulated points as information on the user's evaluation history status, is not disclosed to other users, but can be viewed by the user himself / herself on the My Page screen. This makes it possible to notify the user himself / herself of information related to the evaluation history status that is updated according to external evaluations, so that the user can be made aware of his / her own situation and be encouraged to make an effort to improve the public order of the community.

[0295] (2-7) As described with reference to Fig. 22, external evaluations that may update the evaluation history status of a user include points given by the administrator based on a favorable impression, and negative evaluations. In this way, since the external evaluations include evaluations from the administrator, who is a third party different from the user, personal feelings are unlikely to be involved in the external evaluations, and the external evaluations can be fair.

[0296] (2-8) As described with reference to Fig. 22 and the like, external evaluations that can update the evaluation history status of a user include evaluations such as favorable actions and reports from other users other than the user who took the action among multiple users who use the community app. In this way, since the external evaluations include evaluations from other users other than the user who took the action, the public order within the community can be made to match the intentions of all users.

[0297] (2-9) As described with reference to Fig. 19 etc., restriction processing such as hiding is performed on the user terminal 300 etc. of each of a plurality of users for content and comments that are restricted by, for example, hiding or reporting, from users who are permitted to take the specific action of "moderator invitation" of level 90 or higher, or users who are permitted to take the specific action of "report count" of level 70 or higher. This restricts user actions to actions that are restricted by users whose evaluation history status is in a specified status, making it possible to prevent restriction processing from being performed indiscriminately on user actions.

[0298] (2-10) In addition, the reflection of the action that is the object of regulation from the predetermined number of users for which a specific action of the "report count" described with reference to Fig. 19 etc. is permitted is restricted in the user terminal 300 of each of the multiple users. As a result, since the action to be regulated is accepted by the predetermined number of users whose evaluation history status is in the predetermined status, it is regarded as a nuisance action and the reflection of the action is restricted, so that nuisance behavior can be efficiently restricted without impeding free exchange and communication.

[0299] (2-11) As described with reference to FIG. 19 etc., depending on the level, which is the evaluation history status of each of a plurality of users, for example, if the user is at level 50-59, a bonus E may be awarded, and if the user is at level 100, a bonus S, which is rarer than the bonuses A-E, may be awarded. With this configuration, a bonus may be awarded depending on the evaluation history status, so that users can be conscious of reaching an evaluation history status where a bonus may be awarded.

[0300] (2-12) Multiple users belong to the same fan community, and actions that users can take include, for example, promotional activities such as posting videos and merchandise related to the group they support or the talents who belong to the group. The distribution server 100 changes the external evaluation according to the number of views of the video and the profit contribution to merchandise sales due to the promotional activities, and updates the evaluation history status of the user. This can motivate users to promote themselves, thereby revitalizing the community.

[0301] <Modification> Modifications to the above-described embodiment are listed below.

[0302] (About content information) In the above-described embodiment, the content headings (60, 70, 90) in Fig. 10, Fig. 11, Fig. 27, etc. are exemplified as content information related to content (e.g., news articles, information posted by users, etc.). However, without being limited thereto, the content information related to the content may be, for example, explanatory information on the screen of the content itself exemplified in Fig. 13. For example, the information includes the poster 71, the contents 74b, the related talent 88, the special action 79, the number of tap actions 78, etc., which are various information displayed on the content screen itself in Fig. 13.

[0303] (About attribute selection processing) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which a participating community and a favorite talent can be selected in steps S102 to S104 in FIG. 9 at the time of initial login. The selection of participating communities and favorite talent at the time of initial login may require selection of both in step S103, or may allow operation of selecting neither (selecting zero attributes). Also, only either participating communities or favorite talent may be selected, or selection of either one may be required. For example, even if a favorite talent is selected, if the user does not participate in a participating community corresponding to the group 1 to which the favorite talent belongs, information about the favorite talent may not be extracted and displayed on the content screen. That is, even if the favorite filter 20 is turned on, the content heading of a talent belonging to a group corresponding to a community in which the user does not participate is not displayed. Alternatively, the user may not be able to select a favorite talent unless a participating community is selected. For example, the user may not be able to proceed to the screen for selecting a favorite talent unless one of the participating communities is selected.

[0304] In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which, when it is determined in step S101 of Fig. 9 that this is an initial login, the selection screen for communities to join and favorite talent exemplified in Fig. 6 is displayed in step S102. At this time, all of the community to join settings in Fig. 6(A) or favorite talent settings in Fig. 6(B) may be selected in advance (by default).

[0305] In the above-described embodiment, in steps S101, S102, etc. in Fig. 9, an example has been described in which an attribute selection screen is displayed on the user terminal 300 in step S102 if it is the first login, but it may not be displayed on the screen at the first login, and the initial attribute selection may be performed later from My Page, etc. Also, until the user later edits on My Page, etc., at the time of the first login, the user may be in a state of participating in all communities.

[0306] In the above-described embodiment, when the user does not log in for the first time (NO in step S101 in FIG. 9), the determination that the participating community or the favorite talent has been selected in step S107 after the setting editing screen in FIG. 6 is displayed is based on the timing of the selection operation on the icon or the like. However, the present invention is not limited to this. By moving to another screen by operating the home icon 13 or the like displayed at the bottom of the application screen, the attribute selected in the attribute selection screen in FIG. 6 may be deemed to have been selected by transmitting and receiving information as if the attribute has been determined, and the process may proceed to step S108. Alternatively, instead of or in addition to an operation on the display of each participating community or each talent on the attribute selection screen in FIG. 6, a determination icon or the like may be displayed, and the selection may be determined to have been made when an operation is performed on the determination icon (when information transmitted in response to the operation is received). In addition, when an operation is performed on the determination icon, a special performance may be performed on the user terminal 300.

[0307] (Regarding the display of special actions on the home screen, community screen, etc.) In the above-described embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 11(A) and the like, for content in which there is a comment or tap action from a special user corresponding to a talent, a special action 79 is displayed in the content heading 70 together with the icon of the special user. When the talent who performed the action on the content is a favorite talent previously set by the user, the display mode of the special action 79 displayed in the content heading 70 or the like may be different from that when the talent who performed the action is not the favorite talent, and the content heading 70 itself may be displayed in a different mode from that when the talent who performed the action is not the favorite talent. Alternatively, when the talent who performed the action on the content is a related talent associated with the content, the display mode of the special action 79 displayed in the content heading 70 may be different from that when the talent who performed the action is not the related talent, and the content heading 70 itself may be displayed in a different mode from that when the talent who performed the action is not the related talent. The different modes include, for example, modes with different colors, modes with different message contents, modes with or without a message, and the like.

[0308] (Regarding the display of comments on the content screen) In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which, in the content screen described with reference to FIG. 13 and the like, when each comment 87 is a comment from a special user corresponding to a talent, the display mode or the display order can be changed. Instead of or in addition to this, when a talent (special user) who has made a comment on the content is a favorite talent previously set by the user, the display mode of the comment 87 of the favorite talent may be displayed in a different manner than when the talent who performed the action is not the favorite talent. Or, the comment may be displayed at the top of each comment 87. Or, when a talent who has made a comment on the content is a related talent associated with the content, the display mode of the comment 87 of the related talent may be displayed in a different manner than when the talent who performed the action is not the related talent. The different manner may be, for example, a manner in which the color is different, the content of the message is different, or the presence or absence of a message. Or, the comment may be displayed at the top of each comment 87.

[0309] (About categories displayed on the home screen) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the feature 61 is displayed on the home screen described with reference to FIG. 10 regardless of whether the user has selected any participating community and any favorite talent. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the feature 61 may not be displayed. For example, only content posted to participating communities selected in advance by the user (or including communities in which the user is always in a participating state regardless of selection) may be displayed on the home screen. Alternatively, the feature 61 may be displayed on a screen different from the home screen on which the content headings 60 are displayed for each category.

[0310] In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the recommended topic 62 is displayed on the home screen of Fig. 10 if the user has selected a recommended talent. However, this is not limiting, and the recommended topic 62 may not be displayed even if the recommended talent is selected. For example, the content heading 60 associated with the recommended talent may not be extracted in any category unless a selection operation is performed on the recommended filter 20 on the home screen of Fig. 10. Alternatively, the recommended topic 62 may be displayed on a screen different from the home screen on which the content headings 60 are displayed for each category.

[0311] (Notification to users) In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which a push notification is given when a content associated with a favorite talent previously selected by a user is posted. In addition, when a comment is made on the content from a talent who is a special user, a notification (display on a notice screen, push notification, etc.) may be given to general users. Alternatively, a notification may be given only when a comment is made from the favorite talent. Alternatively, when a comment is made from a favorite talent previously set by a user, the notification mode may be different from when a comment is made from a talent who is not a favorite talent. The change in the notification mode may mean, for example, that in the case of a notification from a favorite talent, the notification icon 15 displayed at the bottom of the app screen is highlighted.

[0312] In addition, when a user posts (content or comment) and other users, including special users, make a favorable comment or tap action, the user who posted the content may be notified (displayed on a notification screen, or by push notification, etc.) In this case, for example, notifications are normally sent once an hour, but when an action is performed by a special user who is a celebrity or a special user who is a favorite celebrity, the notification may be sent in real time.

[0313] In addition, if a user has selected a favorite talent for each unit, the user may be notified by push notification when content associated with one of the talents included in the unit is posted, or when content associated with the unit is posted.

[0314] (About attribute extraction processing) In the above embodiment, when the favorite filter 20 is turned on, the content headings (60, 70) associated with the favorite talent selected by the user in advance are extracted and displayed. However, if multiple people are selected as favorite talents, the talents may be further narrowed down for each favorite talent. For example, if the talents with the talent IDs "t1", "t2", and "t3" are selected, when the favorite filter 20 is turned on, "t1", "t2", and "t3" may be individually selected. Alternatively, if the favorite talents are selected in advance by unit, the unit may be individually selected. Furthermore, by selecting a more special talent (the most favorite talent) from among the favorite talents in advance, further filtering may be performed by the most favorite talent. In this way, after extracting all the favorite talents with the favorite filter 20, it may be possible to select them individually (further narrow down) by operating a specific icon or the like, and multiple filtering steps such as first, second, and third filtering may be possible.

[0315] In addition, if a favorite talent has been selected in advance on a unit basis, when content is posted in which any of the talents in the unit is associated with a related talent, the favorite filter 20 may be turned on so that the content heading of the content associated with any of the talents in the unit previously selected by the user can be extracted and displayed.

[0316] It should be noted that even if the community is different from the community corresponding to the group to which the talent belongs, it may be possible to associate any of the talents. For example, the talent ID "t1" is a talent belonging to "Group A" of the group 1, but the talent "t1" may be associated with content posted in "Community B" corresponding to "Group B". Therefore, if a user who has selected the talent ID "t1" also participates in "Community B", turns on the "Favorite Filter 20" on the home screen or the content screen in "Community B", the content associated with the talent ID "t1" will be extracted and displayed. This allows the user to obtain information about the favorite talent without missing it, even if there is a collaboration project between different groups and the posting is only made in the community corresponding to one of the groups. It should be noted that even if the user does not participate in "Community B", the content associated with the favorite talent may be displayed on the home screen.

[0317] (Prescribed conditions for attribute extraction process) In the above embodiment, as the predetermined condition for turning on or off the favorite filter 20 described with reference to Figures 15, 16, etc., an example was described in which the predetermined condition is met when the user taps on the icon of the favorite filter 20 displayed on the user terminal 300 to turn it on. However, the predetermined condition is not limited to this, and it is sufficient that the favorite filter 20 can be switched on and off according to the user's intention, and for example, it may be possible to switch by voice instruction or by vibrating the user terminal 300 itself (for example, by shaking it).

[0318] (Regarding the memory state of the Favorite Filter 20 in the attribute extraction process) In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the on state of the favorite filter 20 is stored and maintained after an operation on the favorite filter 20 is performed, even when the content screen or home screen on which the favorite filter 20 was on is returned to after the content screen of FIG. 13 is displayed after the application is started. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the favorite filter 20 may be set to either on or off whenever a different screen is displayed. For example, after the community screen of FIG. 13 is displayed from the community screen of FIG. 11 (or the home screen of FIG. 10) with the favorite filter 20 on or off, the favorite filter 20 may be set to off or on when the user returns to the community screen of FIG. 11 (or the home screen of FIG. 10). Alternatively, the favorite filter 20 may be turned on in the home screen of FIG. 10 (or the community screen of FIG. 11), the community screen of FIG. 11 (or the home screen of FIG. 10) is displayed, and then when the user returns to the home screen of FIG. 10 (or the community screen of FIG. 11), the favorite filter 20 may be in an off or on state.

[0319] (User submission processing) In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the example of the user posting screen in FIG. 17 is divided into FIG. 17(A), which is a posting screen for inputting characters and uploading images, and FIG. 17(B), which is a screen for selecting a category and related talent. However, this is not limited to this, and FIG. 17(A) and FIG. 17(B) may be displayed on one screen for input or selection. For example, scrolling may be possible, and transition to another screen may not be required. Also, posting may be possible without inputting characters or posting an image. Or, even if there is no title, posting may be possible as long as characters are input or an image is uploaded.

[0320] Also, while an example has been described in which the selection of a category and associated talent is optional, both may be mandatory. Alternatively, "no category" or "no associated talent" may be selectable, or selection may be possible for each unit in the belonging group 2 in FIG. 5. Furthermore, when selection is made for each unit, the talent IDs of the individual talents belonging to the unit and a unit ID for identifying the unit may be associated with the content. Alternatively, only the unit ID may be associated.

[0321] (Regarding evaluation history status update processing) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which a notification is given in steps S406 and S411 in Fig. 23 that a specific action has been permitted or restricted. However, this is not limiting, and the user may not be notified in steps S406 and S411. Alternatively, a notification may be given only in one of two ways, such as a notification being given when an action is permitted in step S406, but not a notification being given when an action is restricted in step S411. For example, by not notifying the user when a restriction is imposed, it is possible to avoid upsetting the user.

[0322] (Other examples of evaluation history status) In the above embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 19, an example has been described in which the level of a user increases step by step from the initial setting level according to external evaluation, and each time a specific situation (e.g., level 60, level 80, etc.) occurs, a specific action that can be taken is permitted according to the level. However, this is not limited to this, and for example, the specific actions in FIG. 19 may be permitted in the initial setting for all users, and as the level decreases, the specific situation gradually disappears and the specific action that can be taken may be restricted. In addition, the initial setting level is not limited to a lower limit of 1 and an upper limit of 100, but may start from 80, etc., and the specific action that can be taken may be permitted or restricted in stages according to the change in level.

[0323] In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the fluctuation of the user's level and accumulated points is due to external evaluation from outside the user. However, in addition to this, the accumulated points may be increased by the user tapping on the posts or comments of other users, or by making comments to other users in addition to this. This will encourage users to be more active in the community, thereby revitalizing the community.

[0324] In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which when a content or comment posted by a user is hidden or reported, the points are decreased, and actions are gradually restricted. Alternatively or in addition to this, a reflection restriction point may be set in the evaluation history status as a criterion for restricting the reflection of actions in the community app, separate from the points (variable cumulative points) that affect the level. For example, a user whose posted content, comments, etc. have been hidden or reported by other users to a predetermined number (for example, 20 in either case or in total), may have his / her actions restricted (reflection restriction). For example, content, comments, etc. posted by a user subject to reflection restriction may not be displayed to other users for a certain period of time, or content, comments, etc. may not be posted at all for a certain period of time.

[0325] The reflection restriction may be performed according to the level that changes depending on the number of points in the above-mentioned Figures 22 and 23. For example, a negative level lower than 1 may be set, and the reflection restriction may be performed on users who reach a negative level. Alternatively, the default level at the start of the community application may be set to 10, and restrictions may be imposed each time the level becomes lower than 10.

[0326] (For favorable actions from users in a given situation) In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the action contents such as the special action that can be taken according to the level described with reference to FIG. 19 are changed has been described. Instead of or in addition to this, it is also possible to make it possible for other users to recognize that the user is at a high level. It is considered that a user at a high level has a high tendency to take actions that make the atmosphere in the community positive and has a high degree of reliability. For this reason, the display mode of the content in which a favorable action (including a tap action or a favorable comment) has been performed by a user at a high level (for example, level 90 or higher) may be changed. Alternatively, the display mode may be changed only when a favorable action is received from a plurality of users with a high degree of reliability (for example, a predetermined number such as 5 users). For example, the display mode of the content heading 60 in the home screen of FIG. 10, the content heading 70 in FIG. 11(A), or the mode of the number of tap actions 78 may be changed in color or a mark (for example, special action 79, etc.) indicating that an action has been taken by a user with a high degree of reliability may be displayed. Alternatively, in the content screen illustrated in FIG. 13, a display that highlights comments (higher display or color change) may be performed. In addition, when content that has received favorable actions from multiple highly reliable users or when there is a comment, a push notification or a notice may be displayed.

[0327] In addition, a user who posted a content or comment that received a favorable action from a highly reliable user may be notified of the action from the highly reliable user. For example, a push notification may be sent to the user device of the user, or a notification may be displayed within the app.

[0328] In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which the content itself is hidden from the user terminal 300 of each of a plurality of users, or the content posted by the restricted users is hidden from the user terminal 300 of each of the users, for the content or comments themselves that are restricted by non-display or report, or for the users, for a predetermined number of users (e.g., 5 users) with level 70 or higher that are the target of the "report count" in FIG. 19. The condition of the number of users in a predetermined situation (e.g., level 70 or higher) who have hidden or reported the content or comments themselves that are restricted by the restriction process and the restriction process of the users who posted the restricted content may be different. For example, a restriction process may be performed in which the restricted content or comments are hidden from all users from a first number (e.g., 5 users) of users with level 70 or higher that are the target of the "report count", and a restriction process may be performed in which all content posted by the users who have been reported is hidden from all users for users who have hidden or reported the posted content, for a second number (e.g., 20 users) that is greater than the first number.

[0329] In addition, content or comments posted by a user who has accumulated a certain number of hidden or reported content by users with a level of 70 or higher, which is subject to the "report count," can be made invisible to all users. For example, content or comments posted by a user who has been hidden or reported by five users with a level of 70 or higher can be made invisible to all users.

[0330] Note that the users who are not displayed may not include the users who posted the comments or content. This allows the user to know (be aware) that the content or comment posted by the user is subject to restrictions, for example, by the lack of action from other users, even though the content or comment posted by the user is reflected on the user's own device.

[0331] (Notification of information related to evaluation history status) In the above embodiment, an example was described in which each user can check their own "level" and "accumulated points" in the user evaluation history status 55 of the My Page exemplified in FIG. 8. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the level and accumulated points, which are information related to the evaluation history status of the user, may be notified not only to the user himself or any other users, but may be checked only by the administrator on the administrator terminal 200 or the like. In this way, since information related to the evaluation history status updated according to external evaluation is not notified to any users but is notified to the administrator, the administrator can grasp the information related to the evaluation history status of the user and use it for management while preventing the user's actions from being excessively suppressed. In addition, the user can use the fan community more comfortably without getting excited or depressed about his or her own "level".

[0332] In the above-mentioned embodiment, information related to the evaluation history status described with reference to FIG. 23 and the like may be notified to the user as feedback. For example, the increase or decrease in points or the increase or decrease in level updated according to external evaluation during a predetermined period (e.g., one day or one week) may be fed back to the user as a result of today's (or this week's) actions. Alternatively, instead of or in addition to this, a sentiment analysis may be performed, for example, by AI, on the content posted by the user during a predetermined period or the text of comments (actions taken by the user), and the user may be notified of the percentage of positive words, the percentage of negative words, or the percentage of words not classified into any category (for example, displayed on a pop-up screen or a notice page at a predetermined time). This allows the user to objectively know the tendency of the actions taken by the user himself, and encourages the user to take actions to improve public order in the community.

[0333] (Regarding external evaluation) In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which the points of a user are reduced when an action such as a content or comment posted by a user is hidden or reported. In addition to this, for example, when hiding, a reason for hiding may be selected or input on a screen such as FIG. 11(B). A user may hide an action of another user due to personal reasons such as being a rival user, and may hide an action that is not likely to have a negative impact on the community and deteriorate public order. Therefore, a non-display that does not have a negative impact on the community may not affect the number of points of the user, and only a non-display that has a negative impact may affect the number of points. For example, the non-display options may be determined in advance as having an impact on points and not having an impact on points, and an administrator may check the reason for hiding and operate to affect the number of points for a non-display that is determined to have a negative impact.

[0334] In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which the points of a user change according to external evaluations such as a tap action or a comment on the content or comment posted by the user. The number of posts of the content posted by the user may be limited. For example, as an example of an external evaluation for which points are increased, the number of views of a distributed video through the content posted by the user and the profit contribution to the support target such as the number of goods purchased are exemplified. However, since there is a risk that content will be posted in a profusion in an attempt to increase points, a limit may be imposed on the posting of content, such as once a day. In addition, for users with a higher level and higher reliability, the upper limit of the number of content posts per day may be increased.

[0335] [Software implementation example] The various control blocks of the control unit of a computer such as a server or a terminal in the above-mentioned embodiment may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or may be realized by software using a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In the case where the control block is realized by software using a CPU, the computer equipped with the control unit includes a CPU that executes instructions of a program, which is software that realizes each function, a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a storage device (these are referred to as "recording medium") in which the program and various data are recorded so as to be readable by the computer (or CPU), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) in which the program is expanded. The object of the present invention is achieved by the computer (or CPU) reading and executing the program from the recording medium. As the recording medium, a "non-transient tangible medium", for example, a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, etc., can be used. The program may be supplied to the computer via any transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast wave) capable of transmitting the program. Note that one aspect of the present invention may also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[0336] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, not the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0337] 1 communication system, 2 network, 100 distribution server, 200 administrator terminal, 300 user terminal, 400 external web service system

Claims

1. a program that enables an action accepted from a user terminal operated by each of a plurality of users to be reflected in the user terminal of each of the plurality of users so that the action can be recognized by each of the plurality of users; Computer, A means for updating an evaluation history status of a user in response to an external evaluation, which is an evaluation by a person other than the user, on an action received from the user; The system functions as a means for controlling actions that a user may take, so that a user whose evaluation history situation is a specific situation cannot take a specific action that a user whose evaluation history situation is not a specific situation, The control means is a program that, when the multiple users include a user who is not in the specific situation, enables an action received from a user in the specific situation to be reflected on the terminal of each of the multiple users including the user who is not in the specific situation, even if the action is the specific action.

2. A method for controlling a computer to enable an action accepted from a user terminal operated by each of a plurality of users to be reflected in the user terminal of each of the plurality of users so that the action can be recognized by each of the plurality of users, updating an evaluation history status of the user in response to an external evaluation, which is an evaluation by a person other than the user, on the action received from the user; and controlling actions that can be taken by a user such that a specific action that can be taken by a user whose evaluation history situation is a specific situation cannot be taken by a user whose evaluation history situation is not the specific situation; The control step is performed when the plurality of users includes a user who is not in the specific situation, and even if an action received from a user in the specific situation is the specific action, the method enables the action to be reflected on the terminal of each of the plurality of users including the user who is not in the specific situation.

3. A system including a computer that performs processing to enable an action accepted from a user terminal operated by each of a plurality of users to be reflected in the user terminal of each of the plurality of users so that the action can be recognized by each of the plurality of users, A means for updating an evaluation history status of a user in response to an external evaluation, which is an evaluation by a person other than the user, on an action received from the user; a means for controlling actions that can be taken by a user such that a specific action that can be taken by a user whose evaluation history situation is a specific situation cannot be taken by a user whose evaluation history situation is not the specific situation; The control means, when the plurality of users includes a user who is not in the specific situation, enables an action received from a user in the specific situation to be reflected on the terminal of each of the plurality of users including the user who is not in the specific situation, even if the action is the specific action.

Images