Social Network Map Obscuring Digital Representations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Social networks fail to encourage users to expand their connections, leading to fewer established relationships and reduced engagement, as the activity stream does not effectively promote exploration of the network.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that maps and obscures digital representations of user accounts on a social network map, identifying a primary user account, determining relationships, mapping accounts to territories based on metadata, and adjusting obscurity levels to encourage exploration, with a digital fog mechanism and display attributes to incentivize interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the activity stream displays all user connections, then users have complete information about their network, but users are overwhelmed and less motivated to explore
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by displaying different levels of information detail for different regions of the social network map. Highly connected users appear with detailed information, while less connected users are shown with simplified representations. This allows the system to maintain information completeness for important connections while reducing visual complexity elsewhere, resolving the contradiction between having complete information and avoiding user overwhelm.
Solution Approach 2:
The social network is segmented into multiple levels of detail through the visual hierarchy system. The network map divides users into different categories (highly connected, moderately connected, less connected) and applies different display treatments to each segment. This segmentation allows users to focus on important connections while still having access to complete network information, improving engagement without losing information completeness.
2Loss of information
If the social network map shows all user accounts, then users can see their entire network, but users are not motivated to explore and expand connections
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-calculating and displaying connection paths and potential connection opportunities before users actively search for them. The visual hierarchy and path visualization prepare users with curated information about interesting connections, reducing the effort required to explore and expand their network, thus improving productivity without sacrificing network visibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediaries in the form of suggested connection paths and intermediary users that bridge gaps in the user's network. These intermediaries guide users through the network map, highlighting interesting connections and making the exploration process more productive. Users can see the entire network while being actively guided toward expansion opportunities.
3Loss of information
If the system displays detailed information about all user accounts, then users have comprehensive knowledge of their network, but the interface becomes complex and difficult to navigate
Solution Approach 1:
The interface employs dynamics by allowing users to adjust the level of detail displayed for different users and regions of the network map. Users can dynamically toggle between simplified and detailed views, and the system automatically adjusts detail levels based on interaction patterns. This dynamic approach maintains information completeness while managing interface complexity according to user needs and context.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial action by selectively displaying detailed information only for users and connections that are most relevant to the current user's interests and activities. Rather than showing equal detail for all users, the system provides partial detailed views focused on high-priority connections while using simplified representations for others, reducing interface complexity while preserving access to complete information when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
Mapping and obscuring digital representations of a number of user accounts on a social network map includes identifying a primary user account from a number of user accounts of a social network, determining, based on metadata associated with the user accounts, a relationship for each of the user accounts relative to the primary user account, mapping, based on the relationship for each of the user accounts relative to the primary user account, a digital representation of each of the user accounts to a territory on a social network map, determining, based on the relationship for each of the user accounts relative to the primary user account, an obscurity level for each of the user accounts, and obscuring, based on the obscurity level, the territory associated with the digital representation of each of the user accounts on a social network map from the primary user account.