Social Network Content Integration via Third-Party Notifications

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users of social networking systems who follow users on third-party applications cannot directly view content from these users within their own social networking system accounts, due to the lack of a direct social connection and the content being hosted on a different platform.

Innovation Solution

The social networking system integrates content from third-party applications by obtaining notifications of postings from the third-party application and displaying them within the user interface, allowing followed users to specify user identifiers for content sharing, thus attributing the content to the correct identity on the social networking system.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the social networking system displays content from third-party applications, then the user experience is improved by providing a unified feed of relevant information, but the system complexity increases due to integration requirements between different platforms

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser experienceVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses an intermediary mechanism (content integration module) that acts as a mediator between the third-party application and the social networking system. This module receives content from the third-party application, processes it, and displays it within the social networking system interface, thereby improving user experience without requiring direct complex integration between the two systems.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system divides the content display functionality into separate modules: one module handles third-party application content integration, while another handles native social networking content. This segmentation allows each module to operate independently, reducing overall system complexity while still providing a unified user experience.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Loss of information

If the social networking system integrates content from third-party applications, then the information availability is improved, but the data security and privacy control become more challenging

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation availabilityVSAvoiddata security

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by obtaining user permission and establishing content sharing preferences before integrating third-party content. The followed user pre-configures which content should be shared and with whom, ensuring data security and privacy control are established before any information integration occurs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms where users can review and control what content from third-party applications appears in their social networking feed. Users can adjust their preferences and revoke permission at any time, providing ongoing control over information availability and security.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Adaptability or versatility

If the system displays content from followed users on third-party applications, then the content diversity is improved, but the difficulty of content attribution and user identification increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent diversityVSAvoidcontent attribution

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates a copy of the followed user's identity information from the third-party application and stores it within the social networking system. This copy includes the user's profile data and identification, allowing the system to attribute content correctly without directly accessing or displaying the original third-party application's user identification system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS9661086B2Incorporation of content from an external followed user within a social networking system

Publication Date: 2017.05.23 META PLATFORMS INC

AI summary

A following user follows a followed user on a third-party application. The followed user may additionally approve the inclusion of content posted by the followed user on the third-party application within an account of any following users on the social networking system. Subsequent postings by the followed user on the third-party application cause the third-party application to notify the social networking system of the posting. The social networking system in turn incorporates the posting of the followed user on the third-party application into a user interface that it displays to the following user.