Action-Based Virtual Community System for Search Relevance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtual community systems fail to effectively group users performing similar actions on the internet, limiting collaboration and interaction among users engaged in the same activities.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that creates action-based virtual communities, allowing users to automatically connect with others performing the same actions, share information, and collaborate, while also providing a community server to manage and render services based on user actions, including search actions with relevant information and community statistics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users are grouped based on resources they are accessing, then users can connect with others visiting the same resource, but users performing similar actions on different resources cannot be grouped together
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the community formation process into two independent dimensions: resource-based segmentation (grouping users by the resource they access) and action-based segmentation (grouping users by the actions they perform). This allows users to be grouped in action-based communities even when accessing different resources, resolving the limitation of traditional resource-only based communities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension (user actions) to the traditional single dimension (resource access) of community formation. By monitoring and analyzing user actions such as searching, clicking, and browsing patterns, the system creates communities based on behavioral similarity rather than just resource co-access, enabling users performing similar actions on different resources to be grouped together.
2Productivity
If traditional search engines are used, then search queries can be processed, but search results do not benefit from community feedback and user interactions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where users within action-based communities can provide feedback on search results, share findings, and rate information quality. This community feedback is aggregated and used to improve search result ranking and relevance, allowing search effectiveness to benefit from collective community knowledge and experiences.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges traditional search engine functionality with community collaboration features. The search system combines automated search algorithms with human-generated content, community ratings, and collaborative filtering to produce more accurate and relevant search results, effectively combining machine processing with community intelligence.
3Ease of operation
If users are automatically joined to resource-based communities, then real-time collaboration is enabled, but collaboration among users performing similar actions is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the automatic community joining mechanism universal by applying it to both resource-based communities and action-based communities. Users are automatically joined to communities based on both the resources they access and the actions they perform, enabling broader collaboration scope while maintaining ease of operation through automated enrollment in multiple community types.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for creating a virtual community of users is disclosed The method includes the steps of providing a community server operable to create a virtual community based upon an action performed by a user, and rendering community services to the virtual community of users based on the action. In another aspect of the invention, a method of searching based on an action based virtual community includes the steps of providing a community server operable to create a virtual community based upon a search action performed by a user, and rendering community services to the virtual community of users based on the search action, the rendered community services including information related to returned search results and search result relevance based on other user's actions.