# US 10,311,524 B2 · Hashtag segmentation

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- Number: US 10,311,524 B2
- Document ID: US10311524B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/397,841
- Filed: 2017-01-04
- Published: 2018-07-05
- Granted: 2019-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2017-01-04
- Assignees: International Business Machines Corporation
- Applicants: International Business Machines Corporation
- Inventors: Robert H. Grant; Jeremy A. Greenberger; Zachary M. Greenberger; Trudy L. Hewitt
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10311524B2

## CPC

- H04L 51/216: Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
- G06Q 10/40: Business processes related to social networking or social networking services
- G06Q 10/44: Identification of trends within social networks, e.g. identification of trending topics
- H04L 51/52: for supporting social networking services
- H04L 67/561: Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

Segmenting hashtags is provided. A selection of a sub-hashtag contained within a hashtag is received from a client device via a network. A set of content linked only to the selected sub-hashtag within the hashtag is retrieved. The set of content linked only to the selected sub-hashtag is sent to the client device via the network.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer-implemented method for segmenting hashtags, the computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, by a computer, a hashtag from a client device via a network;
determining, by the computer, whether the hashtag contains two or more defined sub-hashtags, wherein the hashtag is a combination of the two or more defined sub-hashtags;
responsive to the computer determining that the hashtag contains the two or more defined sub-hashtags, segmenting, by the computer, the hashtag by inserting a character between defined sub-hashtags to form a combination hashtag that starts with a hash symbol and includes the character between the defined sub-hashtags without spaces;
presenting, by the computer, a user interface on the client device that allows a user of the client device to select the combination hashtag as a whole or select only one particular hashtag segment contained in the combination hashtag to receive content corresponding to user selection;
receiving, by the computer, the user selection from the client device via the network;
retrieving, by the computer, a set of content linked to the user selection; and
sending, by the computer, the set of content linked to the user selection to the client device via the network.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer uses natural language processing to analyze the hashtag and determine whether the hashtag contains the two or more defined sub-hashtags.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:
identifying, by the computer, a plurality of trending topics on one or more social media sites;
determining, by the computer, whether the hashtag includes a segment that corresponds to a trending topic in the plurality of trending topics; and
responsive to the computer determining that the hashtag includes a segment that corresponds to a trending topic in the plurality of trending topics, identifying, by the computer, the segment that corresponds to the trending topic in the plurality of trending topics as a sub-hashtag contained in the combination hashtag.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the character is a special character, and wherein the special character is selected from a group consisting of & and ^.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:
linking, by the computer, the user selection to the set of content that corresponds to the user selection only.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining, by the computer, a confidence ranking corresponding to each hashtag segment in the hashtag;
determining, by the computer, whether each respective hashtag segment meets criteria for finding content corresponding to the hashtag based on the confidence ranking of each respective hashtag segment; and
responsive to the computer determining that one or more respective hashtag segments meet the criteria for finding content corresponding to the hashtag, selecting, by the computer, those respective hashtag segments meeting the criteria for presentation in the user interface within the combination hashtag.

### Claim 7

A computer system for segmenting hashtags, the computer system comprising:
a bus system;
a storage device connected to the bus system, wherein the storage device stores program instructions; and
a processor connected to the bus system, wherein the processor executes the program instructions to:
receive a hashtag from a client device via a network;
determine whether the hashtag contains two or more defined sub-hashtags, wherein the hashtag is a combination of the two or more defined sub-hashtags;
segment the hashtag by inserting a character between defined sub-hashtags to form a combination hashtag that starts with a hash symbol and includes the character between the defined sub-hashtags without spaces in response to determining that the hashtag contains the two or more defined sub-hashtags;
present a user interface on the client device that allows a user of the client device to select the combination hashtag as a whole or select only one particular hashtag segment contained in the combination hashtag to receive content corresponding to user selection;
receive the user selection from the client device via the network;
retrieve a set of content linked to the user selection; and
send the set of content linked to the user selection to the client device via the network.

### Claim 8

A computer program product for segmenting hashtags, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform a method comprising:
receiving, by the computer, a hashtag from a client device via a network;
determining, by the computer, whether the hashtag contains two or more defined sub-hashtags, wherein the hashtag is a combination of the two or more defined sub-hashtags;
responsive to the computer determining that the hashtag contains the two or more defined sub-hashtags, segmenting, by the computer, the hashtag by inserting a character between defined sub-hashtags to form a combination hashtag that starts with a hash symbol and includes the character between the defined sub-hashtags without spaces;
presenting, by the computer, a user interface on the client device that allows a user of the client device to select the combination hashtag as a whole or select only one particular hashtag segment contained in the combination hashtag to receive content corresponding to user selection;
receiving, by the computer, the user selection from the client device via the network;
retrieving, by the computer, a set of content linked to the user selection; and
sending, by the computer, the set of content linked to the user selection to the client device via the network.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer uses natural language processing to analyze the hashtag and determine whether the hashtag contains the two or more defined sub-hashtags.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising:
identifying, by the computer, a plurality of trending topics on one or more social media sites;
determining, by the computer, whether the hashtag includes a segment that corresponds to a trending topic in the plurality of trending topics; and
responsive to the computer determining that the hashtag includes a segment that corresponds to a trending topic in the plurality of trending topics, identifying, by the computer, the segment that corresponds to the trending topic in the plurality of trending topics as a sub-hashtag contained in the combination hashtag.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the character is a special character, and wherein the special character is selected from a group consisting of & and ^.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising:
linking, by the computer, the user selection to the set of content that corresponds to the user selection only.