Chat room communication network implementation enabling senders to restrict the display of messages to the chat room chronological displays of only designated recipients
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorJames McArdle
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A participant in an instant messaging chat room may send restricted messages to only a set of selected participants in the chat room. Enabling a user at a display station to select a set of only users to receive a restricted message, and send the restricted message to this selected group of users, and displaying the restricted message only in the chronological displays in the stations of the set of recipient users, i.e. not displaying the restricted message in the displays of the other users in the chat room.
Claims20
In a chat room communication message network including a plurality of display stations operated by a plurality of users to selectively send messages to a central server and to receive, at each station, a chronological display of all sent messages, a system enabling a user at a display station to restrict the display of a message sent by said enabled user comprising:
- means enabling a user at a display station to select a set of only users to receive a restricted message;
- means enabling said enabled user to send said restricted message;
- and
- means for displaying said restricted message only in the chronological displays in the stations of said set of recipient users.
In a chat room communication message network including a plurality of display stations operated by a plurality of users to selectively send messages to a central server and to receive, at each station, a chronological display of all sent messages, a method enabling a user at a display station to restrict the display of a message sent by said enabled user comprising:
- enabling a user at a display station to select a set of only users to receive a restricted message;
- enabling said enabled user to send said restricted message;
- and
- displaying said restricted message only in the chronological displays in the stations of said set of recipient users.
A computer program having code recorded on a computer readable medium for enabling a user at a display station to restrict the display of a message sent by said enabled user in a chat room communication message network including a plurality of display stations operated by a plurality of users to selectively send messages to a central server and to receive, at each station, a chronological display of all sent messages, said program comprising:
- means enabling a user at a display station to select a set of only users to receive a restricted message;
- means enabling said enabled user to send said restricted message;
- and
- means for displaying said restricted message only in the chronological displays in the stations of said set of recipient users.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.