Variable Social Network Service Bridge Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional social network services often lead to user fatigue due to the unrestricted expansion of social networks, causing users to share information with unwanted individuals and limiting their ability to customize the scope of their social interactions according to their purposes.
Innovation Solution
A variable social network service method and apparatus that allows users to determine whether they serve as a bridge, enabling the expansion or reduction of their social network scope, with options to set social networking permissions between different network subjects and allocate functions for couple matching, thereby allowing users to customize their social interactions based on their settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the social network expands unrestrictedly to connect more users, then the network coverage and potential connections increase, but user fatigue increases and users are exposed to unwanted information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic social network scope adjustment by allowing users to change their bridge status at different times. The system transitions from a static network structure to a dynamic one where the network scope can expand when the user serves as a bridge and contract when the user does not, thereby adapting to user needs while preventing fatigue from unrestricted expansion
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of network scope by introducing a bridge status mechanism. When the user is set as a bridge, the network scope expands to include second network subjects; when not a bridge, the scope is limited to first network subjects. This parameter change allows controlled expansion and contraction of the social network to balance connectivity with user comfort
2Quantity of substance
If the social network scope is expanded to include more users, then more information and connections are available, but users lose control over information exposure and privacy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the social network into different levels: first network subjects (direct connections) and second network subjects (connections through the bridge). By segmenting the network scope based on bridge status, the system allows users to control information exposure at different segments, enabling selective sharing with unwanted individuals while maintaining access to broader information when desired
3Adaptability or versatility
If the social network structure is made flexible to allow user customization, then user control and service adaptability improve, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bridge status mechanism as an intermediary control layer between the user and the social network structure. This intermediary simple binary state (bridge or not a bridge) manages the complexity of network customization, allowing users to control first network subjects' ability to connect with second network subjects without directly managing complex permission settings for each pair of users
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein is a variable social network service method and apparatus. The variable social network service method includes receiving, by a variable social network service apparatus, information on whether or not a user serves as a bridge from a user apparatus of the user, and determining, by the variable social network service apparatus, whether or not to expand a social network based on the user based on the information on whether or not the user serves as the bridge, wherein the variable social network service apparatus determines whether or not social networking is possible between a first network subject of the user and a second network subject of the user depending on whether or not the user serves as the bridge.