TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to social media. BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Social media relates to the interaction among people in which information and ideas are created, shared or exchanged in virtual communities and networks. Recently, social media, and in particular social networking, has become extremely popular. Certain studies indicate that over 2 billion people spend an average of 37 minutes a day on social media, which is more than any other internet activity.

[0003] There are several different categories of social media sites, each focusing on a different aspect of social media. Example of types of social media sites include collaborative sites such as Wikipedia, blogging sites such as Tumblr, content communities such as YouTube, and social networking sites such as Facebook.

[0004] A problem with social media sites of the prior art is that there is a clear fragmentation of sites, as each has its own functionality and purpose. As such, it is very time consuming for user to navigate between the different social media sites to view and share content.

[0005] Furthermore, each social media site generally has its own layout and unique way of doing things. As such, users must interact with different sites in different ways, which can lead to confusion and errors.

[0006] A further problem with social media sites of the prior art is that it can be difficult for a user to find relevant content, particularly when the user has many friends or connections. Posts from a single very active user or relating to a single particularly newsworthy topic, for example, can swamp a newsfeed, making other posts invisible.

[0007] A further problem with social media sites of the prior art is that they are not particularly well suited to business use and marketing. Often business pages on social media become complaint portals, as businesses find it difficult to interact with social media users in a relevant manner. [0008] Accordingly, there is a need for an improved social media system.

[0009] It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0010] The present invention is directed to social media systems, which may at least partially overcome at least one of the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.

[0011] With the foregoing in view, the present invention in one form, resides broadly in a social media dashboard including:

a news feed element including a plurality of displayed social media elements; and a user interface, wherein the user interface is configured to enable a user to select at least a first social media source and a second social media source of a plurality of social media sources, wherein the news feed includes social media elements from the first social media source and the second social media source.

[0012] Advantageously, the social media dashboard enables users to view content from a plurality of social media sources (e.g. social media sites), using a single newsfeed. The dashboard may provide a single way of interacting with the plurality of sites, which makes it easier and more efficient for a user to interact with the social media sites. Furthermore, the threshold for joining a new or niche social media site may be reduced, as the news feed may be automatically populated with posts from the new social media site, and as such may be easily viewed by the user.

[0013] Preferably, the social media elements may include at least one of a post, a tweet, a like, a comment, a pin, a place and a hashtag.

[0014] Preferably, the user interface is a graphical user interface. The user interface may comprise an interface of an interactive web page.

[0015] Preferably, the social media elements from the first social media source are interleaved with the social media elements from the second social media source. The social media elements may be interleaved according to a time, a relevancy, or a combination thereof. [0016] Preferably, the user interface is configured to generate a social media element, based upon input from the user, and post the generated social media element to the first social media source. As such, the dashboard may enable a user to not only view social media elements from the social media sources, but also interact with the social media sources by generating and publishing data.

[0017] The user interface may be configured to generate a social media element, based upon input from the user, and post the generated social media element to the first social media source and the second social media source. As such, the dashboard may enable a user to efficiently post data to a plurality of social media sources.

[0018] Preferably, the news feed further includes one or more data elements from a media channel. The media channel may comprise an RSS feed.

[0019] The user interface may include one or more filters elements, which enable the user to filter the social media elements. The filter elements may enable the user to filter the social media elements based upon a relationship between the user and the user that generated the social media element (e.g. everyone, friends or friends of friends), location (e.g. varying levels of locality, such as global, country, state, city or within a certain distance from the user), or social media source.

[0020] The dashboard may further include a trending element, for presenting trends in the social media elements to the user. The trends may be determined based upon all social media elements in the system 100, or based upon filter criteria entered by the user in the one or more filters elements.

[0021] The user interface may enable the user to filter the social media elements in the feed based upon the determined trends. For example, the user interface may allow a user to select (or deselect) a trend to add (or remove) social media elements relating to the trend to the newsfeed. Advantageously, this enables the user to customise his or her news feed based upon current trends.

[0022] According to another aspect, the invention resides in a social media method including:

retrieving, from a first social media source, one or more first social media elements; retrieving, from a second social media source, one or more second social media elements;

generating a news feed using the one or more first social media elements and the one or more second social media elements;

providing the news feed to a user.

[0023] Advantageously, the social method enables users to view content from a plurality of social media sources (e.g. social media sites), using a single newsfeed.

[0024] The method may comprise receiving, from the user, a selection including the first social media source and the second social media source. As such, the user may interactively add and remove social media elements from the news feed based upon the social media source.

[0025] Preferably, generating the news feed comprises interleaving the social media elements from the first social media source with the social media elements from the second social media source.

[0026] The method may further comprise generating a social media element, based upon input from the user, and posting the generated social media element to the first social media source. The method may comprise posting the generated social media element to the first social media source and the second social media source.

[0027] The method may comprise receiving, from the user, one or more filters selections, and generating the news feed based upon the one or more filters selections.

[0028] The method may comprise determining trends according to the social media elements, and presenting the trends to the user. The method may comprise filtering the social media elements in the news feed based upon the determined trends.

[0029] According to another aspect, the invention resides in a method of generating social media trending data including determining a trend in a plurality of social media elements based at least in part upon a popularity of terms in the plurality of social media elements, wherein the plurality of social media elements include a plurality of first social media elements from a first social media source and a plurality of first social media elements from a first social media source.

[0030] Trending across several social media sources may be more accurate than trending across a single source. Furthermore, by trending across several social media sources, it may be possible to uncover trends that are not observable in the single social media source. [0031] The terms may include words, phrases, themes and hashtags.

[0032] The method may further comprise:

retrieving, from a first social media source, the plurality of first social media elements;

retrieving, from a second social media source, the plurality of second social media elements.

[0033] The method may further comprise filtering the plurality of social media elements based upon one or more filter criteria, and generating the social media trending data based upon the filtered social media elements.

[0034] The filtering may be performed based upon a relationship between a user (or group of users) and the user that generated the social media element, a location associated with the social media elements, or the social media source.

[0035] In yet another form, the invention resides broadly in a social media dashboard including:

a news feed element including a plurality of displayed social media elements; a trending element, for displaying trending data associated with the plurality of social media elements; and a user interface, wherein the user interface is configured to enable a user to select at least one trend, wherein the news feed is generated according the social media elements and the selected trend.

[0036] The user interface may include one or more filters elements, which enable the user to filter the social media elements.

[0037] The trending data may be determined based upon the plurality of social media elements, or based upon filter criteria entered by the user.

[0038] In yet another form, the invention resides broadly in a social media system including a user interface comprising:

a media player; a social media newsfeed element configured to display a plurality of social media elements; and a social media notification element, configured to provide notifications to the user in relation to the social media newsfeed element; and wherein the user interface includes: a first configuration where the media player and the social media notification element are displayed and the newsfeed is not displayed;

a second configuration where the newsfeed is displayed; and wherein the user is able to switch the user interface between the first user configuration and the second user configuration.

[0039] Any of the features described herein can be combined in any combination with any one or more of the other features described herein within the scope of the invention.

[0040] The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0041] Various embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings, in which:

[0042] Figure 1 illustrates a social media system, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 2 illustrates a dashboard of the social media system of Figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 3 illustrates a social media method, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 4 illustrates a method of generating social media trending data, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0046] Figure 5 illustrates a schematic of a management server of the system of Figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform the invention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows:

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0048] Figure 1 illustrates a social media system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0049] The social media system 100 brings several social media platforms together in an easy to navigate dashboard, as described below, allowing a user to log in once and tweet, post, like, comment, pin, place and even hashtag all in the one convenient location. Furthermore, the system 100 collects data from the social media platforms and provides analysis of the data in the form of trending, which analysis can be useful in marketing.

[0050] The system 100 includes a management server 105, a plurality of social media sites HOa-l lOn, and a user device 115. Among other things, the management server 105 aggregates data from the plurality of social media sites HOa-l lOn for presentation to an end user 120 on the user device 115, as discussed below.

[0051] The end user 120 logs onto the system 100 by a webpage that is provided by the management server 105. The management server 105 then automatically logs on to the plurality of social media sites HOa-l lOn on behalf of the user 120. The user device 115, the management server 105 and the social media sites HOa-l lOn are coupled to each other by a communications network 125, such as the Internet.

[0052] A dashboard is then provided to the end user 120 on the user device 115, which enables the user to view data from the social media sites HOa-l lOn, but also interact with the data and generate new data which is returned to the social media sites 1 lOa-110η.

[0053] In particular, the user may tweet, post, like, comment, pin, place and hashtag directly in the dashboard. Each such interaction with the system 100 may be reproduced on one or more of the social media sites 1 lOa-110η. For example, a post may be reproduced on several of the social media sites HOa-l lOn, whereas a like may be posted only to the social media site 1 lOa-110η on which the corresponding liked content is posted. [0054] As discussed in further detail below, the system 100 is further able to monitor data from the plurality of social media sites HOa-l lOn, and provide statistics (trends) to the user. The users may be companies that use the statistics for marketing or other purposes.

[0055] The system 100 further enables the user to customise their social media data, by filtering data from the social media sites HOa-l lOn. For example, the system 100 enables a user to filter data based upon the source of the data, i.e. the social media site HOa-l lOn from which the data originated, based upon a location associated with the respective social media data, or based upon a relationship between the user and a user that generated the social media data.

[0056] The system 100 is designed to initially take advantage of the existing social media sites HOa-l lOn, rather than providing a directly competing social media site at a first instance. Users will, however, inherently and eventually use the system 100 rather than the individual social media sites HOa-l lOn directly, which will enable the system 100 to quickly become its own stand-alone social media system.

[0057] Figure 2 illustrates a dashboard 200 of the social media system 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0058] The dashboard 200 includes a news feed 205, comprising a plurality of social media elements 210. The plurality of elements 210 have been taken from the social media sites 110a- HOn and aggregated into a single news feed 205. The social media elements can include posts, photos, or any other suitable type of social media data.

[0059] The dashboard 200 further includes a data entry element 215, for enabling the user to enter data into the system. The data may, for example, include text or photos, and link to friends, places or the like. Once the data is entered, a corresponding social media element 210 is generated, and published in the news feed 205 and/or in a news feed of other users

[0060] A social media selection element 220 is associate with the data entry element 215, and enables a use to select on which sites of the social media sites 1 lOa-110η the corresponding social media element 210 will be published. The social media selection element 220 enables the end user 120 to select several sites for publication of the data. As such, the end user 120 is able to efficiently post in several social media sites, while still remaining in control of where his or her media is published. [0061] The dashboard further includes a filter panel 225, for filtering the data used to generate the news feed 205. The filter panel includes a people filter element 225a, a location filter element 225b, a source filter element 225c and a channel filter element 225d.

[0062] The people filter element 225a enables the user 120 to filter the news feed 205 based upon who created the corresponding social media entry 210. For example, the people filter element 225a can be used to filter the news feed such that social media entries 210 from all users are displayed, only entries from friends of the user 120, or entries from friends and friends of friends.

[0063] The location filter element 225b enables the user 120 to filter the news feed 205 based upon from where the corresponding social media entries 210 have originated. The location of a social media entry 210 may, for example, be determined from a registered location of the user that posted the social media entry 210, or a location otherwise associated with the social media entry 210. Examples of locations include global, i.e. all locations, from the country, state or city of the user 120, of within a specified distance from the user 120.

[0064] The source filter element 225c enables the user 120 to filter the news feed 205 based upon the social media site HOa-l lOn from which the site originated. For example, the user 120 may select to only display social media entries 210 from a subset of available social media sites 110a- 110η.

[0065] Finally, the channel filter element 225d enables the user 120 to select media channels, such as newspaper feeds, stock exchange data and the like, to be displayed in the news feed 205.

[0066] Many websites, especially ones with newsworthiness, have an associated RSS feed, that provide periodic data from the website. This channel filter element 225d enables users to include RSS feed from their favourite news and interest websites into the newsfeed. Therefore if a user likes to read The Australian newspaper online and view the latest in real estate, for example, the user can add feeds from The Australian newspaper and realestate.com.au using channel filter element 225d. As such, the user 120 no longer has to surf many sites to find and read their preferred content.

[0067] When the people filter element 225a, the location filter element 225b, the source filter element 225c and the channel filter element 225d are modified, the news feed 205 is updated in real time to reflect the changes. Also, a network tally 230 is provided to indicate how many people are included based upon the selections of the filter panel 225.

[0068] The dashboard 200 further includes a trending panel 235, which provides details of current trends in the data of the newsfeed. The trends shown in the trending panel 235 are updated according to the selections of the filter panel 225. As such, the user 120 is able to see trends from particular groups of people, regions, social networks or channels.

[0069] As the name suggests, the current trends are the most popular topics, stories or conversations, in real-time. Trending is an immensely useful tool because it caters directly to relevance, and relevance in any social situation is critical to being socially accepted.

[0070] The system 100 enables trending to be performed across several social media sites 110a- 11 On, which can provide more accurate trending data than if the social media sites are considered individually. For example, for local trends, only a small amount of data may be available in each of the social media networks. However, together, there may be sufficient data to detect trends.

[0071] Using the real-time filtering provided by the filter panel 225, the system 100 allows users to filter, read, interact and comment on any of their filtered choices. For example, current trends may relate to major events, current politics, or anything else that is being discussed on social media. The user 120 may then select one of the trends such that the news feed 205 is dedicated to that trend. Conversely, a user may be uninterested in a currently trending topic, and therefore choose to remove such discussions from the news feed 205.

[0072] In short, the filter panel 225 and the trending panel 235 enable real-time filtering that gives the user the complete control and flexibility in joining the most relevant social media conversations.

[0073] The current trends are determined automatically based upon an analysis of the content of the social media sites 110a- 1 lOe, and according to the filter criteria of the filter panel 225. The system 100 detects trends based on the popularity of sentences, key phrases, hash tags and/or individual words. Certain types and combinations of words may be given low trending scores (such as common words like 'the', 'be', 'to', 'of , 'and' and 'a'), whereas unusual words and unusual combinations of words may be given higher trending scores. Similarly, sentences, key phrases, hash tags and individual words from influential users may be given a higher weight than others.

[0074] Trending of the prior art generally relies on hash tagging, which allows a user to add or create a preferred 'trend' . The problem with this is that the trend is manufactured, and is reliant on several users actively entering the same hashtag.

[0075] For instance, a user may post a picture of their day on Sydney Harbour in a boat. To allow this post to trend according to the prior art, the user must tag the post with a made up tag like #sunnysydneyharbourboatride. For this made up tag to start trending, many people need to use the same hashtag. However, the chance of someone using the same hashtag is rare, and therefore the trend is not accurate. There may be many people posting about being on a boat on Sydney Harbour on a particular day, however others may tag their post #sydneyharbourboat, or another variation of the terms. As such, even though Sydney Harbour boat rides are popular in social media at that time (and thus may deserve to trend), the existing trending algorithms will not be able to determine the trend.

[0076] In clear contrast, the system 100 may determine in the same scenario that the terms Sydney, Sydney Harbour and Sydney Harbour Boat are all common in social media posts, and thus would all register as trends.

[0077] According to certain embodiments, the system 100 also analyses the users selected channels to determine trends. As trends in social media are often news related, indications of such trends may be provided from a news source.

[0078] The dashboard 200 further includes a favourites panel 240, providing links to favourite pages of the user 120, an advertising panel 245, providing advertising to the user 120, and a control panel 250, for enabling the user 120 to change settings, send personal messages, view and change friends lists, and receive notifications.

[0079] Finally, the dashboard 200 includes a media player element 255, for playing media. The media player element may comprise a music player, an online radio, or similar player, for playing music or other media via the Internet or locally.

[0080] Many users of social media platforms log on at various times during the day, but after short periods of time log out for various reasons including workplace regulations. However, many users spend a large part of their day listening to music. [0081] The media player element 255 ensures that users are logged on to the system for as long as possible. The media player element 255 may be played in a mini window in a corner of the user's desktop or mobile device. As such, the user 120 will remain logged on to the system 100, which allows the system 100 to send notifications to the user.

[0082] In other words, the system 100 may include a first configuration where the media player element 255 and the social media notification element are displayed and the newsfeed is not displayed (i.e. the mini window referred to above), and a second configuration where the newsfeed is displayed (i.e. the dashboard 200). The user 120 is able to switch the user interface between the first user configuration and the second user configuration, as needed.

[0083] Furthermore, media player element allows users to share and discuss music with each other. Music is a big social activity and the system enables the user to share their favourite music amongst their friends/connected groups.

[0084] According to certain embodiments, the system 100 monitors the music being played using the media player element 255, and determines trends based thereon.

[0085] Figure 3 illustrates a social media method 300, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method 300 provides aggregation of social media content from a plurality of social media sources, and enables the user to post social media content to the social media sources simultaneously.

[0086] At step 305, a selection including a first social media source and a second social media source is received from a user. The social media sources may comprise social media sites that have been selected by the user 120.

[0087] At step 310, first social media elements are retrieved from the first social media source, and at step 315 second social media elements are retrieved from the second social media source. The first social media elements may comprise posts, likes, comments or the like, as discussed above, and the first and second social media sources are generally different social media sites. The first and second social media elements may be retrieved using a user identifier and password of a user. As such, the first and second social media elements may be user specific.

[0088] At step 320, a news feed is generated using the first social media elements and the second social media elements, and at step 325, the news feed is provided to the user. As discussed above, the newsfeed may comprise part of a social media dashboard, such as the dashboard 200 of FIG. 2.

[0089] At step 330, a social media element is generated based upon input from user. The input from the user can include text, image or any other suitable type of data, and can be used to generate a post, a comment or the like.

[0090] At step 335, the generated social media element is posted to both the first social media source and the second social media source. As such, the user is able to efficiently post data to several social media sources simultaneously.

[0091] The method 300 enables the user 120 to interact with the social media sites in an efficient manner, both for consumption of media and generation of media.

[0092] Figure 4 illustrates a method 400 of generating social media trending data, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0093] At step 405, a plurality of first social media elements are retrieved from a first social media source and at step 410 a plurality of second social media elements are retrieved from a second social media source.

[0094] At step 415, the pluralities of first and second social media elements are filtered based upon filter criteria. As discussed above, the filter criteria can include a location, or any other suitable filter criteria.

[0095] At step 420, social media trending data is generated based upon the filtered first and second social media elements. The social media trending data can be generated based upon common words, phrases or the like in the filtered first and second social media elements/

[0096] Figure 5 illustrates a schematic of the management server 105, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0097] The management server includes a processor 505, a memory 510 coupled to the processor 505, and a data interface 515 coupled to the processor 505. The memory includes instruction code executable by the processor for performing the method 300 of FIG. 3 and or the method 400 of FIG. 4, and providing the dashboard of FIG. 2.

[0098] In particular, the instruction code may include instructions for operating a web server, user authentication, and other associated features of a social media system.

[0099] According to certain embodiments, the system 100 includes a business dashboard. The business dashboard may be similar to the dashboard 200, but from a business perspective rather than a user perspective.

[00100] The business dashboard may assist a business in interacting with existing and potential clients based upon real trends. This enables the business to take part in a discussion, and thus get relevant media exposure, without actively advertising. Such exposure has been shown to be more valuable than traditional, undirected advertising.

[00101] According to certain embodiments, a relationship between a business and a user is like a real 'bricks and mortar' business and a customer. The business is not charged to reach users that that have already interacted with the business (e.g. liked a page), but instead to advertise to a new audience. Furthermore, real-time trending data may be sold to businesses as part of a marketing package.

[00102] While the above description primarily relates to smartphones and portable devices, the system 100 may be accessible by personal computers, or any other suitable electronic device having a browser or other means to communicate with the management server 105.

[00103] The social media system 100 may also function as a stand alone platform, particularly if the user is not subscribed to other social media platforms, or does not wish to aggregate social media platforms for any reason.

[00104] According to certain embodiments, the social media platforms used may change over time. For example, Facebook and Linkedln may not be initially available, but added the social media system 100 gains traction and once support is provided by the relevant social media platform.

[00105] The filtering of content, described above, may be performed according to keywords within a trending hashtag. As such, not only may a hashtag create a trend, general words within a hashtag may be used to represent trends. For example, hashtags #SydneyHarbourBoat #SydneyHarbourBoating will trend individually if sufficiently popular using prior art systems, but the present invention enables trending of terms such as 'boating' or 'Sydney Harbour', which can be presented to the user as a trend filter. [00106] In the present specification and claims (if any), the word 'comprising' and its derivatives including 'comprises' and 'comprise' include each of the stated integers but does not exclude the inclusion of one or more further integers.

[00107] Reference throughout this specification to 'one embodiment' or 'an embodiment' means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearance of the phrases 'in one embodiment' or 'in an embodiment' in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more combinations.

[00108] In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims (if any) appropriately interpreted by those skilled in the art.