Filtering content in a social networking service

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed, cause a processor to perform steps comprising:

• receiving content items from authoring users of a social networking service;
• receiving, from the authoring users of the social networking service, user profile attributes comprising descriptive information about each authoring user;
• receiving, from a viewing user of the social networking service, user profile attributes comprising descriptive information about the viewing user;
• automatically creating, by a processor, groups relevant to the viewing user according to one or more rules, the groups comprising the viewing user and one or more of the authoring users of the social networking service, the one or more authoring users having one or more user profile attributes in common with one or more profile attributes of the viewing user;
• providing, to the viewing user, a user interface comprising:
• a content feed that includes a subset of the content items, and
• one or more selectable filters generated by the social networking service for the viewing user, each filter specifying one or more of the automatically created groups of users;
• receiving, from the viewing user, a selection of a filter of the one or more selectable filters, the selected filter associated with at least one group of users;
• and
• responsive to the selection of the filter, sending for presentation to the viewing user in the user interface an updated subset of content items for the content feed, the updated subset including content items received only from the one or more authoring users in the at least one group of users associated with the selected filter.

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed, cause the processor to perform steps comprising:
• receiving content items from authoring users of a social networking service;
• receiving, from the authoring users of the social networking service, user profile attributes comprising descriptive information about each authoring user;
• receiving, from a viewing user of the social networking service, user profile attributes comprising descriptive information about the viewing user;
• automatically creating, by a processor, groups relevant to the viewing user according to one or more rules, the groups comprising the viewing user and one or more of the authoring users of the social networking service, the one or more authoring users having one or more user profile attributes in common with one or more profile attributes of the viewing user;
• providing, to the viewing user, a user interface comprising:
• a content feed that includes a subset of the content items, and
• one or more selectable filters generated by the social networking service for the viewing user, each filter specifying one or more of the automatically created groups of users;
• receiving, from the viewing user, a selection of a filter of the one or more selectable filters, the selected filter associated with at least one group of users;
• and
• responsive to the selection of the filter, sending for presentation to the viewing user in the user interface an updated subset of content items for the content feed, the updated subset including content items received only from the one or more authoring users in the at least one group of users associated with the selected filter.