Program, information processing apparatus, and information processing method

Abstract

To provide a program and so on for matching preferably users in response to evaluation of users on a social networking service.SOLUTION: The present invention is directed to a program for use in a social networking service (SNS). The program makes a computer functioning as a means for receiving an input of posts relating to evaluation of a plurality of articles from a plurality of users of the SNS including a first user, and first specifying means for specifying a second user approximate to the first user in similarity in evaluation of the plurality of articles among the plurality of users.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a program used in a social networking service (SNS) based on user evaluation, etc.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a system for recommending products based on user evaluations has been known (Patent Document 1). For example, Patent Document 1 describes a program for determining recommended products based on the behavior history of users with similar sentiment tendencies by estimating the sentiment tendency for one or more evaluation items defined for each product category.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, with the means described in Patent Document 1, since the sentiment tendency is estimated using various evaluation target items set for products, it is considered difficult to evaluate the user's intuition and potential attitude, etc.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a program for suitably matching users according to user evaluations on a social networking service.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The program according to the embodiment is a program used in a social networking service (SNS), and causes a computer to function as means for receiving input of posts regarding evaluations of a plurality of products from a plurality of users of the SNS including a first user, and first specifying means for specifying a second user whose similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products approximates that of the first user from among the plurality of users.

[0007] The information processing apparatus according to the embodiment is an information processing apparatus that provides a social networking service (SNS), and includes means for receiving input of posts regarding evaluations of a plurality of products from a plurality of users of the SNS including a first user, and means for specifying a second user whose similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products approximates that of the first user from among the plurality of users.

[0008] The information processing method according to the embodiment includes a step of receiving, by an information processing apparatus that provides a social networking service (SNS), input of posts regarding evaluations of a plurality of products from a plurality of users of the SNS including a first user, and a step of specifying a second user whose similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products approximates that of the first user from among the plurality of users.

[0009] The program, information processing apparatus, and information processing method according to the embodiment can further cause, for example, one or more of the following to function additionally. · Causing the computer to further function as means for providing information on products highly evaluated by the second user among the plurality of products to the first user. · Causing the computer to further function as means for displaying posts of the second user on the terminal of the first user. · Causing the computer to further function as means for displaying information on products highly evaluated by the second user on the terminal of the first user in response to a search on the SNS by the first user. · The specific means extracts a plurality of third users from among the plurality of users, whose similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products approximates that of the first user, and identifies the second user by receiving an input of a user selection operation by the first user from among the plurality of third users. · Further cause the computer to function as means for identifying a user set including the first user and the second user and having a high similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products, and means for notifying information regarding a specific product to the user set. · Further cause the computer to function as means for identifying a user set including the first user and the second user and having a high similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products, and means for outputting information regarding the user set to the outside. · The second specific means identifies a user set including the second user selected by the first user and the first user among the plurality of second users identified by the first specific means. · Further cause the computer to function as means for restricting a post displayed on the terminal of the first user on the SNS according to the similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products. · Function as means for receiving an input of a selection operation for selecting the plurality of products used for calculating the similarity from the first user.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a program or the like for suitably performing user matching according to evaluations of users on a social networking service.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 4

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Figure 7

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0013] 1. Meanings of Terms First, the terms will be explained.

[0014] (SNS) SNS is an abbreviation for Social Networking Service, and is a membership service of a website where users who subscribe to the service can communicate with each other. By enabling the formation of a somewhat closed community such as between friends, people with similar hobbies, or residents in the neighborhood, SNS enables close communication between users. Recently, the use of SNS for corporate and organizational publicity has also been increasing.

[0015] On many social networking services (SNS), users can have their own home pages and post their personal profiles and photos there. The home page may be equipped with a diary function that allows users to restrict the scope of public disclosure, or in some cases, users can expand the functions by installing applications. In addition, SNS has many functions, such as a message function similar to webmail for specific users, a chat function, and a group function that enables information and file exchanges only among specific users. Users can access SNS via the Internet using browsers or applications (hereinafter also referred to as "apps") installed on information processing devices (computers) such as personal computers and mobile phones (regardless of whether they are so-called feature phones or smartphones).

[0016] Examples of SNS include Facebook (registered trademark), X (formerly Twitter (registered trademark)), Instagram (registered trademark), LINE (registered trademark), Stand.fm (registered trademark), and so on.

[0017] (User) Unless otherwise specified, the user in this book refers to a person who joins and uses a predetermined SNS.

[0018] (Product) A product can include any type of product (goods), service, or item used in the provision of a service, such as a store like a restaurant, a brand, a photo, and so on.

[0019] (Evaluation of Product) Product Rating indicates the degree of satisfaction of users such as purchasers and users of products (including services as described above) with the product. The evaluation is performed, for example, by a multi-level evaluation such as a five-level evaluation against a predetermined index (a mark for estimating things, such as deliciousness, product durability, response of the store providing the service, likes and dislikes, etc.). "High evaluation" can mean, for example, in the case of a five-level evaluation, when an evaluation value of "4" or "5", which is higher than the average evaluation value of "3", is given. Note that the evaluation of the product may be directly given by the user in the form of a five-level evaluation or the like as described above, or may be given by selecting icons such as "like", "good", "bad", "bad" for posts of other users including the product. Also, in a comment on some of one's own posts or posts of other companies, the comment string given by the user may be input into an evaluation model that analyzes the user's sensibility (for example, can be generated by applying machine learning using learning data in which a comment string and an evaluation value are set) prepared in advance to estimate the evaluation value.

[0020] (Similarity to the evaluation of the product) The similarity is an index indicating the degree to which evaluations of products by users are similar. For example, when the sensibilities (for example, the sensibility of "like") are close among users, the similarity becomes high. The degree of similarity can be arbitrarily set in the program used in the SNS. The similarity can be calculated, for example, by vectorizing a plurality of evaluation values input by two users for a plurality of products, calculating the inner product thereof, and then normalizing it, but is not limited thereto. Note that when calculating the similarity in this way, when the value of the similarity is large, it can be evaluated that the sensibilities of both users are close.

[0021] (Computer) A computer (information processing device) is a machine that performs complex calculations according to given procedures. A computer is a device that can continuously perform input / output, calculations, conversions, etc. of digital data using an arithmetic unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). When a program with detailed processing procedures is given, it can execute various processes according to the said processing procedures. Also, in this embodiment, the computer can be connected to an SNS via the Internet. The computer in this embodiment can include, for example, a server, a personal computer (PC, including forms such as desktop and notebook), a mobile phone (regardless of whether it is a so-called feature phone or a smartphone), a tablet terminal such as an iPad (registered trademark), and the like.

[0022] 2. Configuration of the System An example of the configuration of the system used in this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, the system 1 includes user terminals 10A to 10N (hereinafter collectively referred to simply as "user terminals 10"), which are computers used by a plurality of users A to N (hereinafter collectively referred to simply as users), and a server 30. The user terminals 10 and the server 30 are connected to each other via the Internet (which can include an intranet or a mobile phone network in part) and can communicate with each other.

[0024] The server 30 is an information processing device that performs processing in response to requests sent from the user terminals 10 and provides responses to the user terminals 10, and is realized, for example, by a server computer. In particular, in this embodiment, the server 30 provides an SNS to the user in cooperation with applications installed on the user terminals 10 and the like.

[0025] 2.1 Hardware Configuration of the User Terminal 10 An example of the hardware configuration of the user terminal 10 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 2.

[0026] The user terminal 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a control unit 201, a storage unit 205, a communication interface (I / F) unit 209, an input unit 211, and an output unit 213, and each unit can be communicably connected to each other via a bus line 215.

[0027] The control unit 201 can include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc., and controls each component according to information processing. More specifically, for example, the CPU that can be included in the control unit 201 reads various application programs including an OS (Operating System) and an SNS app 207 (not shown) from the storage unit 205 into the RAM 203, and can execute various processes by executing various programs such as the SNS app 207. Note that the control unit 201 can also include a GPU (Graphic Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Array), etc. instead of or in addition to the CPU.

[0028] The storage unit 205 is, for example, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various programs such as the SNS app 207 executed by the control unit 201 and various data used therein.

[0029] The SNS app 207 is a program for providing an SNS to the user in cooperation with the server 30. By cooperating with the server 30, the SNS app 207 can, for example, display posts and advertisements of a large number of users using the SNS, receive input of new posts from the user operating the user terminal 10, and provide various search functions.

[0030] The communication I / F unit 209 is a communication module for communicating with other devices, such as server 30, by wire or wirelessly, for example. The communication method used by the communication I / F unit 209 for communication with other devices is arbitrary, but for example, it may be a public communication network such as the Internet.

[0031] The input unit 211 is a device for receiving various input operations related to SNS, etc. from the user, which can be realized by, for example, a mouse, keyboard, touch panel, etc. The output unit 213 is a device for notifying the user of various information related to SNS, etc. by display, sound, etc., such as a display and a speaker.

[0032] 2.2 Hardware Configuration of Server 30 Subsequently, an example of the hardware configuration of server 30 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 3.

[0033] The control unit 301 can include a CPU, a RAM 303, a ROM, etc., and controls each component according to information processing. More specifically, for example, the CPU that can be included in the control unit 301 reads various programs including an OS (not shown) and a control program 307 from the storage unit 305 into the RAM 303, and by executing the control program 307, it can execute various processes described later. Note that the control unit 301 can also include a GPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, etc. instead of or in addition to the CPU.

[0034] The storage unit 305 is an auxiliary storage device such as an HDD or an SSD, for example, and stores the control program 307 executed by the control unit 301 and various data used there.

[0035] The control program 307 performs various controls for providing SNS to each user who uses the SNS application 207 of the user terminal 10. The functional configuration and processing flow of the control program 307 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7.

[0036] The communication I / F unit 309 is a communication module for communicating with other devices, such as the user terminal 10, etc., by wire or wirelessly. The communication method used by the communication I / F unit 309 for communication with other devices is arbitrary, but for example, it may be a public communication network such as the Internet.

[0037] The input unit 311 is a device for receiving various input operations for various controls for providing SNS from an administrator, which can be realized by, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, etc. The output unit 313 is a device for notifying an administrator of various information related to SNS, etc., by display, sound, etc., such as a display and a speaker.

[0038] 2.3 Software Functional Configuration of the Control Program 307 Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 4, an example of the functional configuration of the control program 307 for providing SNS by the server 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the control program 307 includes an SNS control unit 410, an external output unit 420, and a database 430.

[0039] The SNS control unit 410 provides SNS to the user who operates the user terminal 10. The SNS control unit 410 may include a post input unit 411, a user management unit 413, a similarity calculation unit 415, and a display control unit 417.

[0040] The contribution input unit 411 collaborates with the SNS application 207 of the user terminal 10 and receives a large number of contributions from users. The contributions from users may include not only contributions regarding specific products (which may also include evaluations of the products), but also comments and evaluations on the contributions of other users regarding products. Specifically, for example, users can contribute information such as food that was recently bought and was good (or would have been good if not bought), food that was delicious (or tasted bad), places that were fun (or not fun), etc. via the SNS application 207 and the contribution input unit 411. The contributions from users (which may include evaluation information for products, etc.) are stored as contribution information 431 on the database 430. Note that the user's evaluation of a product may be the evaluation value (such as three stars) given by the user himself / herself for each product included in the contribution, or alternatively, a model for estimating the user's sentiment (like / dislike, etc., which can also be referred to as an evaluation) from the text (character string) input by the user may be prepared in advance, and the evaluation value calculated from the said estimation model may be used as the user's evaluation of the product in the said contribution.

[0041] The user management unit 413 manages user information 433, which is information of each user who uses the SNS, on the database 430. Specifically, when a user starts using the SNS, the user's information is registered in the user information 433, and corrections to the user information 433 are made in response to requests from the user. In addition, information such as the user's operation history on the SNS may also be included in the user information 433.

[0042] Also, the user management unit 413 may receive inputs of various settings related to the SNS from each user and manage the setting information on the user information 433. For example, when a user can select a plurality of products used by the similarity calculation unit 415 to calculate the similarity between users, the information may be stored in the user information 433.

[0043] The similarity calculation unit 415 calculates the similarity between users who use SNS. The similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit 415 is an index indicating whether the evaluations of a plurality of products by each user are similar from the posts made by each user. That is, by calculating the similarity, the similarity of the preference tendencies (what kind of products are preferred) of users for products can be understood. As described above, the similarity calculation unit 415 can calculate the similarity, for example, by vectorizing a plurality of evaluation values input by two users for a plurality of products, calculating the inner product thereof, and then normalizing it. Users with a high similarity are considered to have similar preferences. The information on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit 415 can be included in, for example, the user information 433.

[0044] In addition, it is also conceivable that a plurality of products used for calculating the similarity between users can be arbitrarily selected by the users. As described above, in that case, since the information on the plurality of products selected by the users is stored in the user information 433, the similarity calculation unit 415 calculates the similarity using the evaluations of the users for the plurality of products.

[0045] Also, the similarity calculation unit 415 may cluster the users based on the calculated similarity. As a result, a group of users (cluster) with similar preference tendencies for products is generated. In this case, the cluster to which the user, who is the operator, belongs includes the user and one or more users with a high similarity to the user. By generating clusters in this way, the control program 307 can provide information highly evaluated by a plurality of users belonging to the cluster to other users in the same cluster, or provide advertisements (the form of posts is also conceivable) for a group of users belonging to the same cluster (that is, having similar preferences), and also provide marketing information regarding the group of users belonging to the cluster. The information on the cluster to which the user belongs can be included in the user information 433. At this time, it is also conceivable that the user management unit 413 accepts from the user, who is the operator, the selection of the users actually to be included in the user group specified as the cluster.

[0046] The display control unit 417 cooperates with the SNS application 207 of the user terminal 10 to cause the display device, which is the output unit 213 of the user terminal 10, to display a display screen related to the SNS. More specifically, it causes one or more posts of each user who uses the SNS to be displayed. At this time, the display control unit 417 may increase the display priority of posts of users with a high degree of similarity to the user operating the SNS application 207 (including cases where it is a group of users. For example, users with a similarity above a threshold value or a group of users belonging to the same cluster generated based on the similarity can be referred to as users with a high degree of similarity), posts related to products that the users with a high degree of similarity have highly evaluated (for example, an evaluation value above a threshold value), and advertisements. Whether the degree of similarity is high can be determined, for example, by whether the similarity value is above a threshold value. Also, the display control unit 417 searches for each post on the SNS in response to a request from the user operating the SNS application 207, and may cause posts of users with a high degree of similarity to the user (including cases where it is a group of users) and posts related to products that the users with a high degree of similarity have highly evaluated (which may include advertisements) to be displayed. In this way, by the display control unit 417 preferentially displaying posts of users with a high degree of similarity, that is, users whose preferences are considered to be similar, the present system 1 can provide information on products highly evaluated by users with similar sensibilities, and can suppress the display of information from users who are not considered to have high sensibilities, that is, so-called stealth marketing or arbitrary users such as sakura.

[0047] Also, the display control unit 417 may control to cause information related to a specific product to be displayed in a form such as an advertisement or the like to a group of users (a cluster consisting of a plurality of users) categorized as having a high degree of similarity by the similarity calculation unit 415 in a form such as an advertisement or the like or in a form such as a post by a specific company.

[0048] Alternatively, the display control unit 417 may also restrict the display from users who are considered to have a low similarity to the user operating the SNS application 207. As a result, it is possible to actively eliminate the display of information from arbitrary users such as stealth marketing or so-called cherry blossoms.

[0049] As described above, when the display control unit 417 causes each user using the SNS to display one or more posts, the display control unit 417 displays the posts of one or more users with a high similarity to the user operating the SNS application 207. However, it is also conceivable to make the user to be the display target selectable by the operating user. Specifically, for example, the user management unit 413, in cooperation with the SNS application 207 of the user terminal 10, presents a plurality of users determined to have a high similarity by the similarity calculation unit 415 to the operating user, and allows the operating user to select one or more users whose priority is increased during display. In this case, the information of the user (the user to be the display target) selected by the operating user is stored in the user information 433. The display control unit 417 can display the posts related to the user with a high similarity and selected by the operating user by referring to the user information 433.

[0050] The external output unit 420 outputs various information stored in the database 430 to the outside. More specifically, it is conceivable to output to the outside the user information 433 related to the group of users determined to have a high similarity, or the information on the characteristics commonly possessed by the group of users determined to have a high similarity. As a result, for example, the administrator providing the SNS can provide information on user preferences and sensibilities to a marketing company.

[0051] As described above, the database 430 manages various information such as post information 431 and user information 433.

[0052] Flow of Processing of Control Program 307 Next, with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, a specific example of the processing flow of the control program 307 shown in FIG. 4 will be described.

[0053] 3.1 Processing flow related to SNS posting and display First, the processing flow of the control program 307 related to posting to and displaying on the SNS from the user will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the processing flow of posting to and displaying on the SNS from the user by the control program 307.

[0054] When the display control unit 417 of the control program 307 receives a posting display request from the SNS application 207 of the user terminal 10 (YES in S501), it reads the posting information 431 to be displayed on the user terminal 10 from the database 430 and transmits it to the user terminal 10 (S503). At this time, as described above, the display control unit 417 may increase the priority of postings of users with a high similarity to the user who operates the user terminal 10 (including cases where it is a group of users), and postings related to products highly evaluated by such highly similar users, and select the posting information 431 to be displayed on the user terminal 10. Further, at this time, if the operator user has previously accepted users (including cases where it is a group of users) whose display priority is to be increased from among a plurality of highly similar users (for example, users with a similarity equal to or higher than a threshold value, the top X users in terms of similarity, etc.), the display control unit 417 may increase the display priority of the selected users and select the posting information 413 to be displayed on the user terminal 10. Alternatively, the display control unit 417 may display postings (including advertisements) provided by the company for the user group (user group with similar preference tendencies) to which the user belongs, calculated by the similarity calculation unit 415. Similarly at this time, if the selection of a plurality of users belonging to a highly similar user group has been accepted, postings may be displayed for the user group selected by the user. It is also conceivable to lower or exclude the priority of postings from users considered to have a low similarity and select the posting information 431 to be displayed on the user terminal 10.

[0055] Also, at this time, the user can post information such as foods that were good (or would have been good) to buy recently, delicious (or not delicious) foods, and enjoyable (or not enjoyable) places via the SNS app 207 using the SNS app 207 and the post input section 411. At this time, when the post input section 411 of the control program 307 receives post information related to a new post from the SNS app 207 of the user terminal 10 (YES in S505), the post information is added / stored in the post information 431 managed on the database 430 (S507).

[0056] The processes of S501 to S507 are repeated until the process with the user terminal 10 ends (NO in S509).

[0057] 3.2 Flow of Processing for Calculating Similarity between Users Subsequently, with reference to FIG. 6, the flow of processing for calculating the similarity between users will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the flow of processing for calculating the similarity between users by the control program 307.

[0058] The similarity calculation unit 415 first reads the user information 433 and the post information 431 from the database 430 (S601), and calculates the similarity between users based on this information. More specifically, after reading the posts in which each user has made an evaluation of a product from the post information 431, the similarity of the evaluations of the product between users is calculated. Thereby, the similarity of the preference tendencies of each user for products (the tendency to prefer what kind of product groups) can be understood. Also, based on the similarity of each user calculated in this way, the similarity calculation unit 415 can group a plurality of users with close similarity as a user group (user cluster), and include the information in the user information 433 (S605). As described above, it is also conceivable to accept the selection of users to be in the same cluster from among the clusters to which the user as the operator belongs.

[0059] 3.3 Specific Example of Information Processing A more specific diagram showing the above information processing is shown in FIG. 7.

[0060] First, step 701 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. The SNS application 207 of the user terminal 10 receives a post from the user, for example, about food that was recently good or bad to buy, delicious or not delicious, a place that was fun or not fun, that is, a post of like or dislike (described as like / dislike in FIG. 6).

[0061] Next, step 702 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. In the server 30, the post input unit 411 receives post information related to the post input from the user terminal 10 and registers it as post information 431 in the database 430. At this time, the post input unit 411 classifies each post based on sentiment (like, dislike, etc. Sentiment may be evaluated using an evaluation model generated by machine learning from the text included in the post, or may be evaluated based on the evaluation value (such as three stars) given by the user to each product) on a predetermined axis, and attaches an evaluation value so that the similarity calculation unit 415 can calculate the similarity and registers it in the database 430. The similarity calculation unit 415 matches users whose similarity to the evaluation is approximate from the evaluation values (sentiment information) attached to each product based on the registered post information 431. Based on the matching (identifying users with similar sentiment), the process of step 703 described later is performed.

[0062] Finally, step 703 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. Through personalized search, user terminal 10 receives from server 30 suitable search results excluding stealth marketing (stema) and sakura. Here, stema refers to an advertising or promotional act that is carried out without the consumer noticing the advertisement or promotion. Also, sakura refers to a person who pretends to be a customer to praise goods or make expensive purchases in order to stimulate the customer's desire to buy. At this time, server 30 can display on user terminal 10 with high priority the products highly evaluated by the second user determined to have similar preferences in step 702. In this way, by displaying information (including posts and advertisements) such as products highly evaluated by users considered to have similar preferences to the user, it becomes possible to exclude stemas and sakuras that send information without considering the user's preferences.

[0063] Here, personalized search is a search that gives optimal search results in accordance with customer attributes, interests, hobbies, behaviors, etc. There is a word "customize" that is similar to personalize, but the difference between customize and personalize lies in "who performs the optimization". Customize is to set according to the information the customer wants and the customer's preferences so that it is easy to use. On the other hand, personalize is for the side providing information or content to set something optimized according to the customer. In this specific example of information processing, personalized search is executed by the information processing in server 30 in step 702.

[0064] Note that the scene of displaying personalized information on user terminal 10 is not limited to search. For example, even on the normal screen where the user browses posts on the SNS, it is possible to preferentially display the posts of users whose sensibilities are similar (high similarity) to the user (regardless of whether the posts are related to products).

[0065] 4. Summary As described above, in System 1, users who use SNS are identified (matched) with users who have similar preferences (similar evaluation tendencies for products). Moreover, by actively providing information about such users with similar preferences (especially information about products highly evaluated by users with similar preferences), users can receive information about products that they are likely to like.

[0066] Also, by such a method, since the display priority of information about users and products other than those considered to have similar preferences is relatively lowered, the display of information provided by stealth marketing (stealth) or so-called Sakura is suppressed, and as a result, the influence of stealth and Sakura can be suppressed. If a user who was judged to have similar preferences gives a high evaluation to something they don't like for stealth marketing, the similarity between users will decrease, and the display of information (such as posts) provided by such users will be suppressed.

[0067] Note that, as described above, the display of information about users and products other than those considered to have similar preferences may be actively restricted. In this case, it is possible to further reduce the influence of stealth and Sakura.

[0068] Advertisers can obtain an opportunity to provide information (including in the form of posts and advertisements) to users who are likely to like the product, so it is possible to obtain a new advertising base. Also, by providing information about a group of users who are likely to like the product to an external marketing company, the marketing company can also improve the product and plan marketing.

[0069] 5. Others The above embodiments are merely illustrative in every respect and should not be construed in a limiting sense. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various other forms without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0070] 1... System, 10A to 10N (10)... User terminals, 30... Server, 201... Control unit, 203... RAM, 205... Storage unit, 207... SNS application (app), 209... Communication interface (I / F) unit, 211... Input unit, 213... Output unit, 215... Bus line, 301... Control unit, 303... RAM, 305... Storage unit, 307... Control program, 309... Communication interface (I / F) unit, 311... Input unit, 313... Output unit, 410... SNS control unit, 411... Post input unit, 413... User management unit, 415... Similarity calculation unit, 417... Display control unit, 420... External output unit, 430... Database, 431... Post information, 433... User information

Claims

1. A program used in a social networking service (SNS), wherein the computer is caused to function as means for receiving input of posts regarding evaluations of a plurality of products from a plurality of users of the SNS including a first user, first specifying means for specifying a second user among the plurality of users whose similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products approximates that of the first user, a program.

2. The computer is further caused to function as means for providing the first user with information on products highly evaluated by the second user among the plurality of products, the program according to Claim 1.

3. The computer is further caused to function as means for causing a terminal of the first user to display posts of the second user, the program according to Claim 1.

4. The computer is further caused to function as means for causing a terminal of the first user to display information on products highly evaluated by the second user in response to a search on the SNS by the first user, the program according to Claim 1.

5. The specifying means extracts a plurality of third users among the plurality of users whose similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products approximates that of the first user, and specifies the second user by receiving an input of a user selection operation by the first user from among the plurality of third users, the program according to Claim 1.

6. The computer is further caused to function as second specifying means for specifying a user set including the first user and the second user and having a high similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products, means for notifying the user set of information regarding a specific product, the program according to Claim 1.

7. The computer is further caused to function as second specifying means for specifying a user set including the first user and the second user and having a high similarity in evaluations of the plurality of products, means for outputting information regarding the user set to the outside, the program according to Claim 1.

8. The second specifying means specifies a user set including the second user selected by the first user and the first user among the plurality of second users specified by the first specifying means, the program according to Claim 6 or Claim 7.

9. The computer is further caused to function as Means for restricting the posts displayed on the terminal of the first user on the SNS according to the similarity to the evaluations of the plurality of products. The program according to claim 1, which functions as such.

10. The computer is further Means for receiving an input of a selection operation from the first user for selecting the plurality of products used for calculating the similarity. The program according to claim 1, which functions as such.

11. An information processing apparatus for providing a social networking service (SNS), comprising: Means for receiving an input of a post regarding evaluations of a plurality of products from a plurality of users of the SNS including a first user; Means for identifying a second user whose similarity to the evaluations of the plurality of products is approximate to that of the first user from among the plurality of users. An information processing apparatus comprising the above.

12. An information processing apparatus for providing a social networking service (SNS) performs A step of receiving an input of a post regarding evaluations of a plurality of products from a plurality of users of the SNS including a first user; A step of identifying a second user whose similarity to the evaluations of the plurality of products is approximate to that of the first user from among the plurality of users. An information processing method for performing the above.

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