Method, user terminal, and server for recommending emoticons based on user's emoticon preference information

A user terminal for recommending emoticons based on emoticon preference information of a user, the user terminal comprising:

• a memory storing instructions;
• and
• a processor in data communication with the memory and configured to execute instructions to:
• acquire information on at least one preferred emoticon, wherein the at least one preferred emoticon is designated through an interaction of the user with an emoticon according to a predefined method and categorized into at least one specific type, including:
• a first type designated by the user as a user favorite, wherein the first type designation is based on a first level involvement of user interactions, wherein the first type designation includes a first group of user preferred emoticons selected based on the user favorite and the first level involvement of user interactions,
• a second type designated by the user, wherein the second type designation is based on a second level involvement of user interactions, wherein the second type designation includes a link created by the user, and wherein the link provides a direct access to a user preferred emoticon and/or an access to a second group of user preferred emoticons, and
• a third type designated based on one or more time periods when the user used the at least one preferred emoticon, wherein the third type designation is based on a third level involvement of user interactions, and wherein the third type designation includes a third group of user preferred emoticons selected based on the one or more time periods;
• acquire information on a matching text input into a conversation input window of a messenger application executed on the user terminal, wherein the matching text corresponds to at least one matching keyword in a keyword dictionary;
• identify at least one matching keyword corresponding to the matching text by referring to the keyword dictionary stored in a memory of the user terminal;
• identify one or more recommended emoticons from each of the first, second, and third groups of user preferred emoticons among the at least one preferred emoticon based on a correspondence relationship between the at least one preferred emoticon and the at least one matching keyword;
• determine positions of the one or more recommended emoticons of each of the first, second, and third groups of user preferred emoticons based on sequence information of the at least one matching keyword and the at least one specific type associated with the at least one preferred emoticon;
• display the one or more recommended emoticons of each of the first, second, and third groups of user preferred emoticons according to the determined positions;
• and
• display a matching keyword corresponding to the one or more recommended emoticons of each of the first, second, and third groups of user preferred emoticons, among the at least one matching keyword, in a form distinct from other matching keywords.

A method of recommending emoticons in a server based on emoticon preference information of a user, the method comprising:

• acquiring, by a processor of the server, information on at least one preferred emoticon of the user from a user terminal, wherein the at least one preferred emoticon is designated by an interaction of the user with the emoticon according to a predefined method and categorized into at least one specific type, including:
• a first type designated by the user as a user favorite, wherein the first type designation is based on a first level involvement of user interactions wherein the first type designation includes a first group of user preferred emoticons selected based on the user favorite and the first level involvement of user interactions,
• a second type designated by the user, wherein the second type designation is based on a second level involvement of user interactions, wherein the second type designation includes a link created by the user, and wherein the link provides a direct access to a user preferred emoticon and/or an access to a second group of user preferred emoticons, and
• a third type designated based on one or more time periods when the user used the at least one preferred emoticon, wherein the third type designation is based on a third level involvement of user interactions, and wherein the third type designation includes a third group of user preferred emoticons selected based on the one or more time periods;
• acquiring, by the processor, information on a matching text input into a conversation input window from the user terminal, wherein the matching text corresponds to at least one matching keyword in a keyword dictionary stored in a memory of the user terminal;
• and
• causing, by the processor, the user terminal to:
• identify at least one matching keyword corresponding to the matching text by referring to the keyword dictionary,
• identify one or more recommended emoticons from each of the first, second, and third groups of user preferred emoticons among the at least one preferred emoticon based on a correspondence relationship between the at least one preferred emoticon and the at least one matching keyword,
• determine positions of the one or more recommended emoticons of each of the first, second, and third groups of user preferred emoticons based on sequence information of the at least one matching keyword and the at least one specific type associated with the at least one preferred emoticon,
• display the one or more recommended emoticons of each of the first, second, and third groups of user preferred emoticons according to the determined positions, and
• display a matching keyword corresponding to the one or more recommended emoticons of each of the first, second, and third groups of user preferred emoticons, among the at least one matching keyword, in a form distinct from other matching keywords.