Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program that allow for grasping an influence of sharing of an article by a target user on a support to a subject of support.SOLUTION: In a support system in which a service server, a plurality of user terminals and an article distribution server are connected so as to be communicable with each other via a communication network, the service server as one example of an information processing apparatus has an operation acceptance section 34, an aggregating section 42 and a notifying section 43. The operation acceptance section 34 accepts a share operation for sharing an article with another user as a support action to a subject of support identified from the article, from a target user who has browsed the article. The aggregating section 42, after the operation acceptance section 34 accepts the share operation of the target user, aggregates the number of other users who have made an imparting operation to impart a predetermined value to the subject of support based on the article shared by the target user. The notifying section 43 notifies the target user of an aggregation result of the number of other users who have made the imparting operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] An example of a technology relating to the frequency of cheering actions by a person (user) who supports a sports player or an artist, or a history of cheering actions that have been performed thus far, is the technology described in Patent Document 1. The technology described in Patent Document 1 calculates energy points based on the user's actions toward a certain artist, and can calculate contribution points to the artist based on the purchase amount of products and services related to the artist and the energy points. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-220029 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] There are various types of cheering behavior, for example, sharing an article about the object of support with other users. A user who shares an article (hereinafter, the target user) tends to be interested in cheering behavior by other users that originates from the article that the user shared. Therefore, it is desirable for the target user to be able to understand how much the sharing of the article he or she has done has contributed to supporting the object of support (in other words, the impact of sharing the article), which is expected to stimulate the target user's motivation to continue supporting. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program for understanding the influence that a target user's sharing of an article has had on the support for a support target. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] An information processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention is an information processing device having an operation receiving unit that receives a share operation from a target user who has viewed an article to share the article with other users as an act of support for a support target identified from the article, a counting unit that, after the operation receiving unit receives the share operation from the target user, counts the number of other users who have performed an assigning operation to assign a predetermined value to the support target based on the article shared by the target user, and a notification unit that notifies the target user of the counted result regarding the number of other users who have performed the assigning operation. Effect of the Invention

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, a target user who shared an article can be informed of the number of other users who performed a donation operation based on the shared article. This allows the target user to understand how much impact his or her article sharing had on the value given (donation) to the support target. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on which articles and objects are displayed. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on a share destination of an article. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for adding value. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a conceptual diagram of a cheering system. [Diagram 5] 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 1 is a block diagram showing functions of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of registered information regarding candidates for support targets. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a share record. [Figure 9]FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an attachment record. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for notifying the results of tallying the number of article shares. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for notifying the results of counting the number of people to whom value has been assigned and the values. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of information processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a flow when an adding operation is accepted in the information processing flow according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a flow when a share operation is received in the information processing flow according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] An information processing device, an information processing method, and a program according to the present invention will be described below with reference to preferred embodiments (hereinafter, referred to as "present embodiments") shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0009] The embodiment described below is merely one of the specific examples given to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. In other words, the present invention may be modified or improved from the embodiment described below without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In addition, the present invention naturally includes its equivalents.

[0010] In addition, the screen examples shown in the drawings referenced in the following description are merely examples, and the screen configuration examples, the content of the information displayed, and the GUI (Graphical User Interface), etc. can be freely designed according to the system design specifications and user preferences, and can be changed as appropriate.

[0011] Additionally, in this specification, the terms "person" and "entity" include one or more individuals, or a team, group, or organization to which multiple individuals belong.

[0012] In the following, a specific example will be described in which the person who corresponds to the "target of support" is an athlete or a team to which the athlete belongs (hereinafter referred to as "athlete, etc."). However, the target of support is not limited to athletes, etc., but may be, for example, an artist (singer), a musical band, an actor, an entertainer, a painter or other artist, or a person who performs, etc., and the present invention is applicable to cases in which any of these are supported.

[0013] <Outline of the support service of this embodiment> An overview of a support network service (hereinafter referred to as a "support service") provided using the information processing device of this embodiment will be given. The support service is provided by a service operating company. A user who uses the support service can view articles distributed by various information media (strictly speaking, articles available through a communication network) through a terminal such as a smartphone or a personal computer, as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on which an article is displayed.

[0014] In this embodiment, the articles are, for example, sports-related articles including sporting event results, sports player activity status, etc. Also, information media that distribute articles include newspaper companies, news agencies, television stations, radio stations, publishers of magazines, etc., operators of portal sites that distribute online news, operators of SNS (Social Networking Service) that allow article submissions, individuals or companies that run blogs, sports organizations, and companies that manage sites that introduce sports players, etc.

[0015] Articles can be distributed under any conditions. For example, articles can be distributed periodically at a specified time like online news, or articles containing keywords set by the user can be searched online and distributed.

[0016] Furthermore, users who use the cheering service can cheer for an athlete or the like identified from an article they have viewed. To be more specific, as shown in Fig. 1, a user views an article on a terminal screen, and when cheering for an athlete featured in the article, the user touches or clicks cheering buttons B1, B2 displayed together with the article. The cheering buttons B1, B2 are objects displayed on the screen to accept cheering actions for the target of cheering, and two types are provided in this embodiment.

[0017] On the other hand, the support button B1 is a button for accepting an operation (share operation) to share an article that the user has viewed with other users. By touching or clicking the support button B1, the user can share the same article that the user viewed with other users, for example, the user's friends. A friend is another user who has accepted an application from the user to share information such as an article with the user. Incidentally, friends also fall under the category of users of the support service. In addition, the people with whom a user shares an article are not limited to specific users associated with the user, such as friends, and the article may be shared with unspecified users, for example, via a social networking site such as Twitter (registered trademark) or a personal blog.

[0018] Other users who are friends can view the article shared by the user through their own terminals. Specifically, the share notification shown in Figure 2 is displayed on the friend's terminal screen. Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on which the share notification is displayed.

[0019] When the friend performs a predetermined response operation in response to this share notification, the same article as the article viewed by the user who performed the share operation (for example, the article shown in FIG. 1) will be displayed on the friend's device. Note that the procedure for sharing an article is not limited to the above, and may be the same as the procedure for sharing an article on a social networking site, for example.

[0020] In addition, a friend can share an article that has been shared by a user and that the friend has viewed (a shared article) with another user (specifically, a friend of a friend), thereby disseminating (spreading) the article to many users.

[0021] In addition, when one user is a target user, a group of articles including an article shared by the target user and articles shared by other users starting from that article will be referred to as a "group of shared articles of the target user" below. For example, if an article shared by user A is viewed by three users B, C, and D, and the same article is shared by user B and viewed by user E, the articles shared by user A and user B, i.e., the articles viewed by users B to E, correspond to the group of shared articles.

[0022] The other cheering button B2 is a button for accepting an operation (granting operation) to grant a predetermined value to an athlete or the like identified from an article viewed by the user. The predetermined value is, for example, points that can be used in the cheering service. For example, when a user makes a donation to a specified organization, the user may purchase and acquire the above-mentioned points from the organization that operates the cheering service. The user can then grant the acquired points to the athlete or the like that is the target of the cheering. In this embodiment, the predetermined value is valuable points, but is not limited to this, and the predetermined value may be any money, including electronic money, that can be used for electronic transactions such as electronic payments. In the following, the predetermined value will simply be referred to as "value".

[0023] When the user touches or clicks the cheering button B2, the input screen shown in Fig. 3 is displayed on the user's terminal. The input screen displays the remaining amount of value currently possessed, and is provided with an input field for a predetermined value to be imparted. The user decides the value to be imparted (specifically, the number of points) within the range of the remaining amount of value at the current time, and inputs it in the input field. As a result, a value according to the input value is imparted (donated) to the sports player or the like being cheered on.

[0024] In addition, in this embodiment, when a user performs a donation operation, a reward is also given to the information medium that is the source of the article that triggered the donation operation, and the reward is determined based on the value of the value given by the donation operation. In other words, the value given (donated) by the user is distributed between the sports player or the like that is the target of support and the information medium that distributed the article, and value is given to each distribution destination. The recipients of the value may include parties other than those mentioned above, such as a sports promotion organization. In addition, a portion of the value given by the user (strictly speaking, the amount of money obtained by converting a portion of the value into cash) may be used to fund the operation of the support service.

[0025] Incidentally, in this embodiment, cheering buttons B1, B2 are displayed as objects for accepting cheering actions from users (viewers) who have viewed an article, but this is not limited to this, and objects other than buttons (for example, a drop-down list, etc.) may also be displayed.

[0026] <About the support system> The communication system for the support service (hereinafter referred to as the support system S) will be described with reference to Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 4, the support system S is composed of a service server 10, a user terminal 12, and an article distribution server 14, and these devices are connected to each other via a communication network 16 so that they can communicate with each other. In Figure 4, for convenience of illustration, the number of user terminals 12 is shown to be three, but the number of user terminals 12 may be any number, and it is sufficient to have at least one user terminal 12 in order to configure the support system S.

[0027] The service server 10 is an information processing device according to this embodiment, and is a computer used by users of the support service when they support the support target. The service server 10 stores various data necessary for providing the support service, and executes various information processing related to the support service using the stored data.

[0028] To explain an example of information processing by the service server 10, the service server 10 executes a predetermined process on the article data received from the article distribution server 14. Specifically, the service server 10 executes a process of identifying a support target from the article data, and incorporating data for displaying support buttons B1, B2, which are objects for receiving support actions for the identified support target, into the article data. The service server 10 then transmits the processed article data to the user terminal 12.

[0029] The service server 10 also accepts an operation performed by the user through the user terminal 12 as an act of cheering. The service server 10 then executes a process corresponding to the accepted operation. Specifically, when a share operation is accepted as an act of cheering, the service server 10 executes a series of processes related to sharing an article, such as notifying a friend that an article viewed by the user has been shared. When an assignment operation is accepted, the service server 10 identifies the value input by the user, and then executes a series of processes for assigning a value according to the input value to the cheering target.

[0030] The user terminal 12 is a device operated by the user when using the support service, and is composed of a personal computer, a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet terminal, a television receiver, a wearable terminal, or the like. An application program for using the support service is installed in the user terminal 12. The user has an account for the support service, and when using the support service, the user starts the application program and accesses (logs in to) the service server 10. At this time, the user may be asked to input login information (e.g., account name and password, etc.), but the user may be asked to input login information only the first time the user logs in.

[0031] After logging in, the user can view the article through the user terminal 12. Furthermore, if the user decides to support a sports player or the like featured in the viewed article, the user can operate the user terminal 12 to support the sports player or the like.

[0032] Specifically, the user terminal 12 displays an article on a display. At this time, two types of cheering buttons B1 and B2 are displayed on the display together with the article, as shown in Fig. 1. When the user decides to cheer on an athlete or the like identified from the article being viewed (for example, an athlete or the like introduced in the article), the user selects either a share operation or a give operation, and touches or clicks one of the two types of cheering buttons B1 and B2 that corresponds to the selected operation. When the user selects the imparting operation, the input screen shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display, and the user inputs the value to be imparted in the input field on the input screen.

[0033] The article distribution server 14 is a server computer that distributes articles to be viewed by users in the support service. The articles may be distributed in the form of digital data, which the article distribution server 14 transmits to the service server 10 and then transmitted from the service server 10 to each user terminal 12. Alternatively, the article distribution server 14 may transmit article data directly to each user terminal 12.

[0034] In this embodiment, the article data is written in a markup language that can be expanded by the browsing function of the user terminal 12, and tags are embedded in the data. A tag is an element that characterizes an article, such as a heading of the content published in the article. Some tags are set by specifying a specific person's name or organization's name. Here, a tag that specifies a specific player (individual) is called a "unique tag," and a generic tag that does not specify a specific player is called a "predetermined tag."

[0035] Each article has a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) set as link information indicating its location, and the article can be identified based on the URL, and the information medium from which the article originated can also be specified from the URL. In addition to the URL, the link information of a shared article also includes an identification number of the share operation performed to share the article (see Figure 8).

[0036] <Configuration of the information processing device according to this embodiment> Regarding the hardware configuration of the service server 10, which is the information processing device of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the service server 10 has a processor 21, a memory 22, a communication interface 23, a storage 24, an input device 25 and an output device 26, and these devices are electrically connected via a bus 27.

[0037] In addition, the service server 10 has installed therein, as software, a program for an operating system (OS) and an application program for providing a support service. These programs correspond to the "program" of the present invention. When the processor 21 operates according to the above programs, the service server 10 functions as an information processing device of the present invention and executes a series of processes for providing a support service.

[0038] The processor 21 may be configured with a central processing unit (CPU), a micro-processing unit (MPU), a micro controller unit (MCU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), or the like. The memory 22 may be configured with semiconductor memory such as a Read Only Memory (ROM) and a Random Access Memory (RAM). The communication interface 23 may be, for example, a network interface card, a communication interface board, etc. The standard of data communication by the communication interface 23 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include communication by wireless LAN based on Wi-fi (registered trademark), communication by a 3G, 4G or 5G mobile communication system, and communication based on LTE (Long Term Evolution). Storage24 offers a wide range of storage media including flash memory, HDD (Hard Disc Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), FD (Flexible Disc), MO disk (Magneto-Optical disc), CD The storage 24 may be configured by a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), a Secure Digital card (SD card), a Universal Serial Bus memory (USB memory), or the like. The storage 24 may be built in the housing of the service server 10, or may be attached to the server body in an external form. Furthermore, the storage 24 may be configured by an external computer (e.g., a database server) connected to the body of the service server 10 so as to be able to communicate with the server body. The input device 25 may be, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc. The output device 26 may be, for example, a display, a speaker, etc.

[0039] To explain the configuration of the service server 10 from a functional perspective, the service server 10 has the functional units shown in Fig. 6, specifically, an article acquisition unit 31, a support target identification unit 32, an article processing unit 33, an operation reception unit 34, an information accumulation unit 35, a share processing unit 36, and an assignment processing unit 37. The service server 10 of this embodiment further has a memory unit 39, a share record generation unit 40, an assignment record generation unit 41, a counting unit 42, and a notification unit 43, as shown in Fig. 6.

[0040] Each of the above-mentioned functional units is realized by cooperation between the hardware devices of the service server 10 described above, the OS installed in the service server 10, and an application program for providing support services. Each functional unit will be described below.

[0041] The article acquisition unit 31 acquires articles sent from each information medium via the article distribution server 14. (To be precise, article data) is received and acquired via the communication network 16. The article acquisition unit 31 may acquire articles, for example, at a predetermined time every day, or may acquire articles when a request to send an article is received from a user.

[0042] The cheering target identification unit 32 identifies a cheering target from the article acquired by the article acquisition unit 31. Specifically, when a fixed tag is embedded in the article data, the cheering target identification unit 32 identifies a specific player specified by the fixed tag. The cheering target identification unit 32 determines whether the identified specific player corresponds to a candidate whose information is registered in the information storage unit 35, and if the specific player corresponds to the candidate, the cheering target is set as the cheering target. That is, in this embodiment, the cheering target is identified by searching for a candidate whose registered information is included in an article as the cheering target from among a plurality of candidates whose information is registered in the information storage unit 35. The candidates are people (players) who have been contracted as candidates to be cheered for, and information about the candidates is registered in advance and stored in the information storage unit 35.

[0043] On the other hand, if a predetermined tag is embedded in the article data, the cheering target identification unit 32 identifies the cheering target based on the article, and more specifically, identifies a person other than the specific player (an individual designated by the fixed tag) as the cheering target based on the predetermined tag. A person other than the specific player is, for example, the team to which the specific player belongs or other players belonging to the team. Note that there is no particular limitation on the specific procedure for identifying a support target from a predetermined tag that does not specify a specific player. One example is to set a team or player associated with a word or the like included in the predetermined tag, and when information on the set team or player is registered in the information storage unit 35, the team or player is set as a support target.

[0044] When both a fixed tag and a specified tag are embedded in the article data, a specific player determined from the fixed tag and a person other than the specific player set based on the specified tag may each be identified as a target to be cheered for, or only one of them (for example, only people other than the specific player) may be identified as a target to be cheered for.

[0045] In the present embodiment, the support target identification unit 32 identifies the support target from the fixed tag and the predetermined tag embedded in the article data, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the support target may be identified from the text of the article or the image (photo or video) in the article. Specifically, among the keywords registered in the information storage unit 35, candidates that are included in the article in a predetermined number or more may be identified as the support target. Alternatively, a person may be identified from the image in the article using a known face recognition technology, and the identified person may be identified as the support target.

[0046] The article processing unit 33 executes a process for displaying, on the article reader's side, objects (i.e., cheering buttons B1, B2) for accepting cheering actions for the cheering target identified from the article by the cheering target identification unit 32. In this embodiment, the article processing unit 33 executes a process for embedding, into the article data, tag data for displaying the cheering buttons B1, B2 in the article in order to display the cheering buttons B1, B2 together with the article. In this embodiment, the cheering buttons B1 and B2 are displayed together with the article, but this is not limited to this. For example, the cheering buttons B1 and B2 may be displayed when the user views the article after it is displayed and performs a specified operation.

[0047] The operation acceptance unit 34 accepts a cheering action performed by the user through the user terminal 12, that is, a share operation or a give operation. To be more specific, when the user clicks or touches the cheering button B1, data indicating the operation is transmitted from the user terminal 12, and the operation acceptance unit 34 accepts the user's share operation by receiving the data from the user terminal 12. Similarly, when the user clicks or touches the cheering button B2, the operation acceptance unit 34 accepts the user's give operation.

[0048] The information storage unit 35 is a database that stores registration information about a plurality of candidates. As shown in FIG. 7, the registration information includes the player ID, name, sport, team, keywords related to the candidate player (position or nickname during the game, etc.), and other personal information. In addition to the registration information, the information storage unit 35 also stores the cheering record so far for each of the plurality of candidates. The cheering record is the number of times that the cheering buttons B1, B2 were displayed together with the article when the candidate was identified as a cheering target in the past, and the total value of the value that was granted (donated) when the candidate was identified as a cheering target in the past, etc.

[0049] When the operation receiving unit 34 receives a share operation, the share processing unit 36 ​​sends a share notification of the article to the friend of the user who performed the share operation, and when the friend responds to the notification, sends the article to be shared (strictly speaking, the article data) to the friend. Here, the article data sent to the friend also has embedded therein tag data for displaying an object (i.e., cheering buttons B1, B2) for accepting cheering actions for the cheering target specified in the article. Therefore, when the shared article is displayed on the friend's side, the cheering buttons B1, B2 are displayed on the friend's side along with the article.

[0050] In this embodiment, the share processing unit 36 ​​sends the article shared by the user, but this is not limited to the above, and the share processing unit 36 ​​may notify the friend only of the URL of the article shared by the user. In this case, the friend accesses the notified URL and directly obtains the shared article without going through the service server 10.

[0051] By the way, in the following explanation, the user who performed the share operation will also be referred to as the "sharing user," and the user who views the article shared by the share operation (i.e., the sharing user's friend) will also be referred to as the "shared user."

[0052] When the operation reception unit 34 receives an awarding operation, the awarding processing unit 37 executes a process for having the user input the value to be awarded via the input screen shown in Fig. 3, and awarding the value according to the input value to the support target. Specifically, the awarding processing unit 37 generates award data indicating a value according to the input value, and adds the value to be awarded to the support target by the value indicated by the award data. As a result, points or money according to the added value are donated to the support target at a later date. In addition, the granting processing unit 37 subtracts the value input by the user from the remaining amount of value held by the user who performed the granting operation.

[0053] When the operation receiving unit 34 receives an attachment operation, the reward determination unit 38 identifies the information medium that distributed the article being viewed by the user (i.e., the viewer of the article) when the attachment operation was performed. To explain in detail, when the operation receiving unit 34 receives an attachment operation, an attachment record related to the attachment operation is recorded in the memory unit 39. The stored attachment record includes the value of the value to be attached (i.e., the value of the value input by the user) and an article distributor ID associated with the article viewed by the user who performed the attachment operation. The article distributor ID corresponds to medium identification information, and is information for identifying the information medium that distributed the article viewed by the user who performed the attachment operation.

[0054] Then, the reward determination unit 38, using the storage of the grant record as a trigger, determines a reward according to the article distributor ID included in the stored grant record based on the input value of the value included in the grant record. (i.e., the value to be assigned). The value determined as the reward will be assigned to the information medium indicated by the article distributor ID at a later date.

[0055] The storage unit 39 stores a share record and an assignment record. The share record is record information generated when a user performs a share operation as a cheering act. As shown in FIG. 8, the storage unit 39 stores a share record for each share operation performed by each user up to now. The assignment record is record information generated when a user performs an assignment operation as a cheering act. As shown in FIG. 9, the storage unit 39 stores an assignment record for each assignment operation performed by each user up to now. The share records and the grant records will be explained in detail later.

[0056] When the operation receiving unit 34 receives a share operation from a user, the share record generating unit 40 generates a share record and stores the share record in the storage unit 39. The share record generating unit 40 generates a new share record every time the operation receiving unit 34 receives a share operation from a user.

[0057] The share record includes an article ID, a user ID, link information, and a sharer ID, as shown in Fig. 8. The article ID is identification information of the article being shared, and the same article ID is set for the same article. The user ID is identification information of the user who performed the share operation, and the same user ID is set for the same user.

[0058] The link information includes a URL of an article to be shared by a share operation accepted by the operation accepting unit 34 (the portion shown as "http: / / sptkj001", "http: / / sptkj002", etc. in FIG. 8) and identification information of the share operation accepted by the operation accepting unit 34 (the portion shown as "S001", "S002", etc. in FIG. 8). The identification information of the share operation is set for each share operation, and in this embodiment, for example, is added to the end of the link information as a query string in a display format such as " / ?id=S001" (see FIG. 8).

[0059] The sharer ID is information for identifying the sharer user when a user (a shared user) who has viewed an article shared by the sharer user performs a share operation, and corresponds to, for example, the identification information of the share operation performed by the sharer user. In addition, for share operations where there is no sharing user (i.e., a share operation that is performed because you are the one initiating the sharing of an article for the first time), the sharing user ID will naturally not be set and will be omitted.

[0060] The article ID, user ID, link information, and sharer ID contained in the same share record are associated with each other. Therefore, in the share record that is generated when a share operation is received from a user (a shared user) who viewed an article shared by the sharer user, the link information is associated with the sharer ID. This makes it possible to identify the sharer user from the share record. Taking the share record in the second line from the top of Fig. 8 as an example, this share record is a record of a share operation performed by a user with a user ID of U002 and a user origin ID of S001. As can be seen from the link information of the share record in the first line from the top of Fig. 8, S001 is a share operation performed by a user with a user ID of U001. In other words, user U002 viewed an article shared by share origin user U001 and performed a share operation.

[0061] When the operation receiving unit 34 receives an granting operation from a user (i.e., when a value is granted to a support target), the grant record generating unit 41 generates a grant record and stores it in the storage unit 39. The grant record generating unit 41 generates a new grant record every time the operation receiving unit 34 receives an granting operation from a user.

[0062] As shown in Fig. 9, the assignment record includes an article ID, a user ID, an assignment ID, a destination of the value, the value of the assigned value, a sharer ID, and the article distributor ID described above. The article ID is identification information of the article that triggered the user (i.e., the viewer of the article) to perform the assignment operation, and the same article ID is set for the same article. The user ID is identification information of the user who performed the assignment operation, and the same user ID is set for the same user. The assignment ID is identification information of the assignment operation accepted by the operation acceptance unit 34, and is set for each assignment operation.

[0063] The recipient of the value is the sports player or the like to whom the value is assigned by the user who performed the assigning operation, in other words, the support target identified from the article indicated by the article ID. The value of the assigned value is the value entered by the user who performed the assigning operation regarding the value to be assigned to the support target.

[0064] The sharer ID is information for identifying a sharer user when the operation receiving unit 34 receives an attachment operation from a user who viewed an article based on link information notified at the time of sharing an article (i.e., a sharee user who viewed the article shared by the sharer user), and corresponds to, for example, identification information of a share operation performed by the sharer user. In other words, the attachment record generating unit 41 identifies the sharer ID based on the identification information of the share operation included in the above link information. In addition, for an attachment operation where there is no sharing user (i.e., an attachment operation performed by a user who viewed an article that has not been shared), the sharer ID will naturally not be set and will be omitted.

[0065] The article ID, user ID, grant ID, value grant destination, value of the granted value, sharer ID, and article distributor ID included in the same grant record are associated with each other. Therefore, in the grant record generated when an grant operation is received from a user who viewed an article shared by a sharer user (in other words, a user who viewed an article based on link information), the grant ID, value grant destination, value of the granted value, etc. are associated with the sharer ID. This makes it possible to identify the sharer user who shared the article that triggered the grant operation from the grant record and the above-mentioned share record. Taking the attachment record in the second line from the top of Fig. 9 as an example, this attachment record is a record of an attachment operation performed by a user with a user ID of U002 and a user origin ID of S001. As can be seen from the link information of the share record in the first line from the top of Fig. 8, S001 is a share operation performed by a user with a user ID of U001. In other words, user U002 viewed an article shared by the share origin user U001 and performed an attachment operation.

[0066] After the operation receiving unit 34 receives a share operation from any user (hereinafter referred to as the target user) who has viewed an article, the counting unit 42 counts the number of other users who have performed a support action for the support target based on the article shared by the target user. In more detail, the counting unit 42 counts a group of shared articles of the target user including the article shared by the target user and articles shared by other users starting from that article. The counting result of the group of shared articles indicates the number of times the article shared by the target user has been shared.

[0067] In addition, the counting unit 42 performs a first count to count the number of other users who performed a granting operation based on the group of shared articles of the target user, and a second count to count the value granted by other users who performed a granting operation based on the group of shared articles of the target user.

[0068] In the first counting, the counting unit 42 counts the number of other users who performed a granting operation based on the group of shared articles of the target user, based on the sharer ID in the granting record stored in the memory unit 39. In the second counting, the counting unit 42 counts the total value of value granted to the support target by other users who performed a granting operation based on the group of shared articles of the target user, based on the value of the value to be granted and the sharer ID in the granting record stored in the memory unit 39.

[0069] In this embodiment, the counting unit 42 performs the counting of the article share group and the first and second counting for each support target. This makes it possible to obtain, for each support target (specifically, each of the multiple candidates whose information is registered in the information storage unit 35), the number of times the article was shared, the number of users who viewed the article shared by the target user and performed the granting operation, and the total value of the value granted by the granting operation.

[0070] The notification unit 43 generates data indicating the tally results and transmits the data to the user terminal 12 of the target user in order to notify the target user of the tally results by the tally unit 42, specifically, the tally of the article share group, the first tally, and the second tally. As a result, each tally result is displayed on the screen of the user terminal 12 of the target user, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11. On the screen shown in Fig. 10, the tally result of the article share group is notified to the target user. As a result, the target user can know the number of times the article he or she has shared has been shared.

[0071] 11, the target user is notified of the results of the first and second counts, i.e., the number of other users who viewed the article shared by the target user and performed a granting operation, and the total value of the value granted in the granting operation. This allows the target user to know the number of users who performed a granting operation based on the article shared by the target user, and the total value of the value granted.

[0072] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as described above, the tallying unit 42 tallys up the article share group, and the results of the first tally and the second tally are calculated separately for each support target, and the notification unit 43 notifies the target user of each tally result for each support target. This allows the target user to know, for each support target, the number of users who performed a granting operation based on the article shared by the target user. Note that notifying the tally result for each support target means notifying the target user of the tally result for each support target when multiple support targets are identified from the target user's shared article group. In addition to aggregating a group of shares based on the shares of a single user, it is also possible to aggregate a group of article shares based on the shares of multiple users (for example, all users or users belonging to a specified group) and notify the results of the aggregation.

[0073] <Information processing flow according to this embodiment> Next, the processing flow regarding the cheering action triggered by browsing an article, among the information processing flows by the cheering system S, will be described with reference to FIGS. The process flow described below employs the information processing method of the present invention. In other words, each step in the process flow described below corresponds to a component of the information processing method of the present invention.

[0074] In the following, an arbitrary user is set as a target user, and a processing flow for the target user is described. In the following, the description is given on the assumption that the target user is logged in to the support service.

[0075] The process flow starts with a computer (hereinafter simply referred to as a computer) serving as the service server 10 receiving and acquiring an article from the article distribution server 14 (S001). The computer refers to the article data and determines whether the article data contains either a fixed tag or a predetermined tag, or whether the article data contains both a fixed tag and a predetermined tag (S002 and S003).

[0076] When the article data includes a fixed tag, the computer searches for the specific player specified by the fixed tag from among the candidates whose information is registered in the information storage unit 35 (S004). Similarly, when the article data includes a predetermined tag, the computer searches for players other than the specific player based on the predetermined tag from among the candidates whose information is registered in the information storage unit 35 (S004). Also, when the article data includes both a fixed tag and a predetermined tag, the computer searches for the specific player specified by the fixed tag and players other than the specific player based on the predetermined tag from among the candidates whose information is registered in the information storage unit 35 (S005).

[0077] After that, the computer determines whether or not there are multiple candidates found in steps S004 and S005 (S006). If there is only one candidate found, the computer specifies that one candidate as a support target (S007).

[0078] On the other hand, if there are multiple candidates found, the computer identifies a candidate that satisfies a predetermined condition as a candidate to be supported (S008). Here, the predetermined condition is a condition related to the frequency of appearance of the searched candidate in an article. The computer refers to the article, determines the frequency of appearance (e.g., the number of times a name is mentioned, etc.) of each of the multiple candidates found, and identifies the candidates with the highest frequency of appearance up to Nth (N is a natural number equal to or greater than 1) as candidates to be supported.

[0079] The conditions (predetermined conditions) set for identifying a support target from among multiple candidates are not limited to conditions related to the frequency of appearance in an article. For example, the predetermined conditions may be conditions related to past support records, specifically, the number of times that the support buttons B1, B2 have been displayed together with an article by being identified as a support target in the past. In this case, the computer may refer to the past support records stored for each candidate in the information storage unit 35, determine the number of times that the support buttons B1, B2 have been displayed so far for each of the multiple candidates found, and identify the candidates with the most number of display times up to Nth (N is a natural number equal to or greater than 1) as support targets. Conversely, the candidates with the least number of display times up to Nth may be identified as support targets. Alternatively, the predetermined condition may be a condition related to the total value of the value granted (donated) in the past by being identified as a support target. In this case, the computer may refer to the past support records recorded for each candidate in the information storage unit 35, determine the total value of the value granted so far for each of the searched candidates, and identify the candidates in the order of the largest total value to the Nth place as the support target. Conversely, the candidates in the order of the smallest total value to the Nth place may be identified as the support target.

[0080] After the support target is specified, the computer executes a process for displaying an object (i.e., support buttons B1, B2) for accepting a support action for the support target on the article reader side (S009). By the process of this step S009, tag data for displaying the support buttons B1, B2 is embedded in the article data.

[0081] Then, the computer transmits the article that has been subjected to the above processing (the processed article) to the user terminal 12 of the target user (S010). At this point, the computer updates the information on the number of times the support buttons B1, B2 were displayed for the candidate identified as the support target in step S007 or S008 among the past support records recorded in the information storage unit 35 by incrementing it by +1.

[0082] On the user terminal 12 side, the article sent from the computer is displayed on the screen (S011). At this time, cheering buttons B1, B2 for accepting a cheering action for the support target are displayed together with the article. Then, the target user who has viewed the article on the screen clicks or touches one of the cheering buttons B1, B2 to perform a cheering action for the support target identified from the article (S012). In response to this, the user terminal 12 generates data indicating whether the cheering action performed by the target user is a share operation or a give operation, and transmits the data to the computer (S013).

[0083] When the target user performs the assigning operation, the process flow proceeds as shown in Fig. 13, and first, the computer accepts the assigning operation of the target user (S021). On the other hand, the input screen of Fig. 3 regarding the value to be assigned is displayed on the user terminal 12 of the target user, and the target user (i.e., the viewer of the article) inputs the value of the value to be assigned on the input screen (S022).

[0084] As the target user inputs the value, the computer identifies the value input by the target user and the support target to which the value is to be granted, and executes a process for granting the support target a value corresponding to the value input by the target user, i.e., an granting process (S024). Specifically, the computer adds a value to be granted (donated) to the support target by a value corresponding to the input value of the target user, while subtracting a value corresponding to the input value from the remaining amount of value held by the target user.

[0085] In addition, in conjunction with the execution of the granting process, the computer generates a grant record indicating the contents of the granting process and stores it in the storage unit 39 (S023). The grant record generated in this step S023 includes the target user ID, the ID of the article that triggered the target user to perform the granting operation, the granting operation ID, the value entered by the target user, and the support target to which the value is granted. Furthermore, the grant record includes the article distributor ID associated with the article viewed by the target user.

[0086] The computer also executes a granting process and a reward determination process (S025). In this step S025, a reward according to the article distributor ID in the grant record recorded in step S023 is determined based on the value of the value granted by the target user. The determined reward is granted to the information medium identified by the article distributor ID after a predetermined procedure.

[0087] Returning to step S013, when the target user performs a share operation, the process flow thereafter proceeds as shown in FIG. 14, and first the computer accepts the share operation from the target user (S031).

[0088] After that, the computer executes a share process (S032). In this step S032, the computer sets other users associated with the target user, such as friends, as share-destination users, and sends a share notification of the article to the share-destination users. Then, when the share-destination users respond to the share notification, the computer sends the article shared by the target user to the share-destination users. At this time, display tag data of the support buttons B1, B2 is also embedded in the article sent to the share-destination users. In other words, when the article is displayed on the share-destination users' side, the support buttons B1, B2 are displayed together with the article. When the share-destination users perform a supportive act for a support target identified from the article, they click or touch one of the support buttons B1, B2.

[0089] When the share process is executed, the computer generates a share record for the share operation by the target user and stores it in the storage unit 39 (S033). The share record generated and recorded in this step S033 includes the ID of the target user, the ID of the article shared by the target user, and link information of the article, and the link information includes an identification number (share ID) of the share operation by the target user.

[0090] When an article shared by a target user is viewed by a shared user (S034), if the shared user performs an act of cheering for a support target identified from the article, the computer accepts the act of cheering and executes the associated processing.

[0091] Specifically, when a share destination user performs a share operation (S035), the computer executes a share process in the same procedure as in step S032 (S036), and then generates a share record for the share operation performed by the share destination user and stores it in the storage unit 39 (S037). The share record generated in step S037 includes, in addition to the user ID and article ID, link information of the same article as the article shared by the share source user and information for identifying the share source user (i.e., the share source ID), and these pieces of information are associated with each other. The share source ID is identified based on the share ID included in the link information of the article viewed by the share destination user who performed the share operation.

[0092] On the other hand, when the sharing destination user performs a granting operation (S038), the computer executes a granting process (S039) in the same procedure as in step S023. Although not shown in FIG. 14, the computer may execute a reward determination process in the same procedure as in step S025 in addition to the granting process in step S039.

[0093] Furthermore, in conjunction with the execution of the granting process, the computer generates an grant record for the granting operation performed by the sharing destination user and stores the record in the storage unit 39 (S040). The grant record generated in step S040 includes the user ID, article ID, article distributor ID, and grant ID, as well as the value entered by the sharing destination user, the support target to which the value is granted, and information for identifying the sharing source user (i.e., the sharing source ID), and these pieces of information are associated with each other. The sharing source ID is identified based on the share ID included in the link information of the article viewed by the sharing destination user who performed the granting operation.

[0094] The above-mentioned steps S034 to S040 are repeated the same number of times as the number of other users who have viewed the article shared by the target user (that is, the users to whom the article is shared) (S041).

[0095] On the other hand, if the target user wishes to know the number of other users (shared users) who have performed a giving operation based on the article share performed by the target user, the target user operates the user terminal 12 to request the service server 10 to tally and notify the number of such other users (S042). Upon receiving the request from the target user, the service server 10 performs tallying of the article shares, the first tally, and the second tally (S043).

[0096] In order to explain each aggregation in an easy-to-understand manner, the following will use as an example a case in which the target user is user A, article X shared by user A is viewed by users B to E, user B further shares article X and user F views it, and users C, D, and F perform grant operations based on article X.

[0097] The computer tally up the group of shared articles of user A, including article X shared by user A and article X shared by user B starting from article X shared by user A. In the above example, users B to E viewed article X shared by user A, and user F viewed article X shared by user B, so the result of tallying up the group of shared articles of user A, the target user, i.e., the number of times article X was shared, is 5.

[0098] The computer also performs a first count to count the number of other users who performed a grant operation based on the shared article group of the target user. Specifically, the computer refers to the grant record for the grant operation performed based on the shared article group from the storage unit 39. Then, the computer counts the number of users who performed a grant operation based on the shared article group of the target user, using the sharer ID (i.e., information for identifying the sharer user) included in the grant record as a clue. In the above example, users C, D, and F are other users who performed a grant operation based on the shared article group of user A, so the count result is 3.

[0099] Furthermore, the computer performs a second calculation, and calculates the total value of the value that other users who performed the calculation operation based on the shared article group of the target user have assigned to the support target. Specifically, the computer refers to the assignment record for the assignment operation performed based on the shared article group from the storage unit 39. Then, the computer calculates (sums up) the value of the value assigned by each user who performed the assignment operation based on the shared article group of the target user, using the sharer ID (i.e., information for identifying the sharer user) included in the assignment record and the value of the assigned value as clues. In the above example, if users C, D, and F perform assignment operations based on the shared article group of user A, and assign values ​​of 500 P, 200 P, and 400 P, respectively, the calculation result is 1100 P.

[0100] After the results are tallied according to the above procedure, the computer generates data for notifying the target users of each of the tallied results, and transmits the data to the target users' user terminals 12. On the target users' side, the tallied results are displayed on the screens of the user terminals 12 (see Figs. 10 and 11), and the target users can grasp each of the tallied results through the screens.

[0101] <Summary> The service server 10, which is an information processing device according to this embodiment, is an information processing device having an operation reception unit 34, a counting unit 42, and a notification unit 43. The operation reception unit 34 receives a share operation from a target user who has viewed an article, in which the target user shares the article with other users as a supportive act for a support target identified from the article. After the operation reception unit 34 receives a share operation from the target user, the counting unit 42 counts the number of other users who have performed an adding operation to add value to the support target based on the article shared by the target user. The notification unit 43 notifies the target user of the counting result regarding the number of other users who have performed an adding operation. With the above configuration, a target user can understand how many users have assigned value to the item they are supporting, starting from the article they shared, in other words, how much impact their article sharing had on the value assigned (donations) to the item they are supporting.

[0102] In addition, in this embodiment, the tallying unit 42 tallies the number of other users who performed the giving operation based on the group of shared articles of the target user, including the article shared by the target user and the articles shared by other users starting from the article shared by the target user. In this way, by tallying the number of other users who performed the giving operation based on the group of shared articles of the target user and notifying the result, the target user can know how many users have given (donated) value starting from the article shared by the target user.

[0103] In this embodiment, the tallying unit 42 performs a first tally of the number of other users who performed a giving operation based on the shared article group, and a second tally of the value given by the other users who performed a giving operation based on the shared article group. The notification unit 43 notifies the target user of the respective tallying results of the first tally and the second tally. With the above configuration, the target user can grasp the number of users who have assigned value (donated) to the support item starting from an article that the target user shared, and the total value assigned to the support item (total donation amount).

[0104] In this embodiment, the counting unit 42 performs the first count and the second count for each support target, and the notification unit 43 notifies the target user of the counting result for each support target. This allows the target user to know the number of users who have given value (donations) to the support targets starting from an article shared by the target user, and the total value of the value given to the support targets, for each support target.

[0105] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the operation receiving unit 34 receives a share operation from a user, article link information including a share ID is generated. Furthermore, when the operation receiving unit 34 receives a share operation from a user (a share destination user) who has viewed an article shared by a sharer user, the link information generated is associated with the sharer ID. Then, when the operation receiving unit 34 receives an add operation from a user who has viewed an article based on the link information, the sharer ID is stored in the storage unit 39 based on the share ID included in the link information, and the counting unit 42 counts the number of other users who have performed an add operation based on the shared article group based on the sharer ID stored in the storage unit 39. In the above configuration, for an article viewed by a sharing user, the sharing user can be identified from the link information of the article, etc. This makes it possible to identify the granting operations performed by other users based on the article shared by the target user, and from the identification result, it is possible to appropriately count the number of users who granted value to the support target starting from the article shared by the target user, etc.

[0106] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the operation receiving unit 34 receives an assignment operation from a user who viewed an article based on link information, the assigned value is associated with the sharer ID and stored in the storage unit 39. In this case, the tallying unit 42 tallies the total value of the value assigned to the support target by other users who performed an assignment operation based on the shared article group, based on the value value stored in the storage unit 39 and the sharer ID associated with the value value. In the above configuration, the value of the value given by the other user is associated with the user (the sharer user) who shared the article viewed by the other user. It is possible to identify the value of the value given in each giving operation and the sharer user who shared the article that triggered each giving operation. Furthermore, from the identification result, it is possible to appropriately calculate the total value of the value given to the support target starting from the article shared by the target user.

[0107] Furthermore, the information processing method according to this embodiment is an information processing method in which a computer accepts a sharing operation from a target user who has viewed an article to share the article with other users as an act of support for a support target identified from the article, and after accepting the sharing operation from the target user, the computer tallys up the number of other users who have performed an assigning operation to assign a predetermined value to the support target based on the article shared by the target user, and notifies the target user of the tally result regarding the number of other users who have performed the assigning operation. According to the above information processing method, the target user can know how many users have assigned value to the support target, starting from an article that the target user shared.

[0108] The information processing method according to this embodiment is realized by the service server 10 alone, or by a combination of the service server 10 and the user terminal 12. Here, the service server 10 may be a server computer for ASP (Application Service Provider), SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), or IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). In this case, a series of information processes related to the support service (excluding input and display of information) are executed by the service server 10, so that the user terminal 12 only needs to input information for using the support service and display information provided by the support service.

[0109] In addition, in this embodiment, a program that causes a computer that is the service server 10 to function as an information processing device has been described. This program is a program that is readable by a computer and causes the computer to accept a share operation from a target user who has viewed an article to share the article with other users as an act of support for a support target identified from the article, causes the computer to tally up the number of other users who, after accepting the share operation from the target user, performed an assignment operation to assign a predetermined value to the support target based on the article shared by the target user, and causes the computer to notify the target user of the tally result regarding the number of other users who performed the assignment operation.

[0110] The above-mentioned program may be obtained by reading it from a computer-readable recording medium, or may be obtained by receiving (downloading) it via a network such as the Internet or an intranet.

[0111] <Other embodiments> Up to this point, the information processing device, information processing method, and program of the present invention have been described using specific examples. However, the above-described embodiment is merely an example, and other embodiments may be possible.

[0112] In the above embodiment, the service server 10 functions as the information processing device of the present invention, but some of the functions of the service server 10 may be provided in the user terminal 12. For example, the article acquisition unit 31 and the support target identification unit 32 may be provided in the user terminal 12, in which case the user terminal 12 acquires an article directly from the article distribution server 14 and identifies the support target from the acquired article. After that, when the user terminal 12 reports the identified support target to the service server 10, the service server 10 generates tag data for displaying an object (i.e., support buttons B1, B2) for accepting a support action for the reported support target together with the article. When the tag data is transmitted from the service server 10 to the user terminal 12 and deployed in the user terminal 12, the support buttons B1, B2 are displayed together with the article on the screen of the user terminal 12.

[0113] In the above embodiment, a share operation and a grant operation can be performed as a cheering action for a cheering target, and the user clicks or touches one of the cheering buttons B1 and B2 that corresponds to the cheering action that the user specifies. That is, in the above embodiment, one of the share operation and the grant operation can be performed as a cheering action, but this is not limited to this, and both operations may be performed as a cheering action. Alternatively, the cheering action may be only the grant operation. Also, an operation other than the share operation and the grant operation (for example, an operation of sending a cheering message to the cheering target) may be performed as a cheering action. [Explanation of symbols]

[0114] 10 Service server (information processing device) 12 User terminal 14 Article distribution server 16 Communication Networks 21 Processors 22 Memory 23 Communication Interface 24 Storage 25 Input Devices 26 Output Devices 27 Bus 31 Article Acquisition Department 32 Support Target Specific Section 33 Article Processing Section 34 Operation reception section 35 Information Storage Unit 36 Share Processing Section 37 Granting Processing Unit 38 Remuneration Determination Department 39 Memory section 40 Share Record Generation Unit 41 Attachment Record Generation Unit 42 Counting Department 43 Notification Department B1, B2 Support button (object) S Support System

Claims

1. A processor is provided. The processor, Identifying a support target described in an article viewed by the target user based on a tag embedded in the article; receiving, from the target user, a sharing operation for sharing the article in which the support target is described with other users; storing information for identifying the user who has shared the article based on information generated when the sharing operation is received from a user who has viewed the article shared by the user who has shared the article, in a storage unit; After receiving the share operation from the target user, the number of other users who performed an assignment operation to assign a predetermined value to the support target identified from the tag of the article shared by the target user with the other users is tallied based on information for identifying the user who originated the share stored in the storage unit; notifying the target user of a count result regarding the number of other users who performed the granting operation; Information processing device.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein when there are multiple candidates when identifying the target of support based on the tag embedded in the article, the target of support is identified for each of the multiple candidates based on the frequency of appearance in the article.

3. A processor identifies a support target described in an article viewed by the target user based on a tag embedded in the article; A processor receives, from the target user, a sharing operation for sharing the article in which the support target is described with other users; The processor stores, in a storage unit, information for identifying the user who has shared the article based on information generated when the processor receives the share operation from a user who has viewed the article shared by the user who has shared the article; a processor, after receiving the share operation from the target user, counts the number of other users who have performed an assignment operation to assign a predetermined value to the support target identified from the tag of the article shared by the target user with the other users, based on information for identifying the user who originated the share stored in the storage unit; An information processing method, wherein a processor notifies the target user of a count result regarding the number of other users who performed the granting operation.

4. A processor is caused to identify a support target described in an article viewed by the target user based on a tag embedded in the article; A processor is caused to receive, from the target user, a sharing operation for sharing the article in which the support target is described with other users; causing the processor to store in the storage unit information for identifying the user who has shared the article based on information generated when the sharing operation is received from a user who has viewed the article shared by the user who has shared the article; a processor that, after receiving the share operation from the target user, counts the number of other users who have performed an assignment operation to assign a predetermined value to the support target identified from the tag of the article shared by the target user with the other users, based on information for identifying the user who originated the share stored in the storage unit; A program that causes a processor to notify the target user of a count result regarding the number of other users who have performed the granting operation.

5. A terminal and a server are provided, The server, Identifying a support target described in an article viewed by the target user on the terminal based on a tag embedded in the article; receiving, from the target user, a sharing operation for sharing the article in which the support target is described with other users; storing information for identifying the user who has shared the article based on information generated when the sharing operation is received from a user who has viewed the article shared by the user who has shared the article, in a storage unit; After receiving the share operation from the target user, the number of other users who performed an assignment operation to assign a predetermined value to the support target identified from the tag of the article shared by the target user with the other users is tallied based on information for identifying the user who originated the share stored in the storage unit; notifying the target user of a count result regarding the number of other users who performed the granting operation; system.

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