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US 2019/0058682 A1Published application
Panel discussions in a social media platform
AssigneeCakes Inc.
InventorsChristopher Rose MacAskill, Brian Martin Strong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
System and methods for facilitating interactive panel discussions online are described. In an embodiment, a networked computing platform allows users to set up interactive communications sessions as public, private, or panel discussions. In an interactive panel discussion, invited participants are able to post information such as messages, images, video, etc. Users that are not invited participants in the panel discussion can view the panel discussion and, in some situations, may be provided mechanisms for limited interaction, for example through limited reactions to panel conversation posts.
Claims39
A method for facilitating interactive panel discussions using an online discussion platform, the method comprising:
- maintaining, by a computing system, a database including:
- a listing of registered users, each of the registered users having registered user accounts with the online discussion platform;
- and
- a listing of active interactive discussion sessions hosted by the online discussion platform;
- receiving, by the computing system, from a user device, a request by a particular user to access a particular interactive discussion session hosted by the online discussion platform;
- determining, by the computing system, a role of the particular user relative to the particular interactive discussion session based on information in the received request and information in the database;
- and
- conditionally enabling, by the computing system, one of a plurality of predefined levels of access to the particular interactive discussion session for the particular user based on the determined role of the particular user relative to the particular interactive discussion session, wherein:
- if the role of the particular user is a registered invited user, enabling a first predefined level of access to the particular interactive discussion session for the particular user, the first predefined level of access enabling the particular user to view content in the particular interactive discussion session, submit reactions to content in the particular interactive discussion session, and submit new content to the particular interactive discussion session;
- if the role of the particular user is a registered non-invited user, enabling a second predefined level of access to the particular interactive discussion session for the particular user, the second predefined level of access enabling the particular user to view content in the particular interactive discussion session and submit reactions to content in the particular interactive discussion session, but restricting the particular user from submitting new content to the particular interactive discussion session;
- and
- if the role of the particular user is a non-registered user, enabling a third predefined level of access to the particular interactive discussion session for the particular user, the third predefined level of access enabling particular user to view content in the particular interactive discussion session, but restricting the particular user from submitting reactions to the content in the particular interactive discussion session and restricting the particular user from submitting new content to the particular interactive discussion session.
9 more elements
A method for configuring an interactive panel discussion with multiple user interaction tiers, the method performed by a computing system operating as part of an online communications platform configured to host a plurality of interactive panel discussions accessible to users via network-connected user devices, the method comprising:
- causing display, in a GUI at a first network connected user device, of an interactive element for configuring the interactive panel discussion, the interactive element including an option to invite users to participate as panelists in the interactive panel discussion;
- receiving an input entered by a first user via the GUI at the first user device, the input including identifiers associated with one or more invited users to participate as panelists in the interactive panel discussion;
- generating automatically a multi-tiered access rule for the interactive panel discussion based on the received input, wherein the multi-tiered access rule defines:
- a first access tier for a first set of users, the first set of users including any of the one or more invited users that have registered accounts with the online communications platform, the first access tier enabling the first set of users to view content in the interactive panel discussion, submit reactions to content in the interactive panel discussion, and submit new content to the interactive panel discussion;
- a second access tier for a second set of users, the second set of users including any other users with registered accounts except for the one or more invited users, the second access tier enabling the second set of users to view content in the interactive panel discussion and submit reactions to content in the interactive panel discussion, the second access tier restricting the second set of users from submitting new content to the interactive panel discussion;
- and
- a third access tier for a third set of users, the third set of users including any users without a registered account, the third access tier enabling the third set of users to view content in the interactive panel discussion, the third access tier restricting the third set of users from submitting new content to the interactive panel discussion and from submitting reactions to content in the interactive panel discussion;
- storing the generated multi-tiered access rule for the interactive panel discussion in memory accessible to the computing system;
- and
- initiating and hosting the interactive panel discussion using the multi-tiered access rule.
7 more elements
A system for facilitating interactive panel discussions, the system comprising:
- a database configured to store information used for facilitating interactive discussion session, the database including:
- a listing of registered users, each of the registered users having registered user accounts with the system;
- and
- a listing of active interactive discussion sessions hosted by the system;
- a session configuration module configured to:
- receive, from a host user, identifiers associated with one or more users invited by the host user to participate as panelists in an interactive panel discussion;
- and
- output the identifiers to an access rule engine;
- an access rule engine configured to:
- receive the identifiers from the session configuration module;
- and
- generate automatically a multi-tiered access rule for the interactive panel discussion based on the received identifiers and the listing of registered users in the database, wherein the multi-tiered access rule defines:
- a first access tier for a first set of users, the first set of users including any of the one or more registered users that have been invited by the host user to participate as panelists in the interactive panel discussion, the first access tier enabling the first set of users to view content in the interactive panel discussion, submit reactions to content in the interactive panel discussion, and submit new content to the interactive panel discussion;
- a second access tier for a second set of users, the second set of users including any other registered users that have not been invited by the host user to participate as panelists in the interactive panel discussion, the second access tier enabling the second set of users to view content in the interactive panel discussion and submit reactions to content in the interactive panel discussion, the second access tier restricting the second set of users from submitting new content to the interactive panel discussion;
- and
- a third access tier for a third set of users, the third set of users including any users that are not registered users, the third access tier enabling the third set of users to view content in the interactive panel discussion, the third access tier restricting the third set of users from submitting new content to the interactive panel discussion and from submitting reactions to content in the interactive panel discussion;
- and
- store the generated multi-tiered access rule for the interactive panel discussion in memory accessible to the system;
- and
- a session handler configured to:
- initiate the interactive panel discussion;
- manage access to the interactive panel discussion by applying the multi-tiered access rule.
19 more elements
A method for enabling access to interactive discussion sessions hosted by an online discussion platform, the method performed by an application installed at a network-connected user computing device, the method comprising:
- causing display, by the application, via a display device of the network-connected user computing device, of a first graphical user interface (GUI) comprising a graphical feed of a plurality of listings of interactive discussion sessions hosted by the online discussion platform;
- receiving, by the application, via an input device of the network-connected user computing device, a selection by a particular user of a particular listing from the plurality of listings in the graphical feed, the particular listing associated with a panel discussion involving a plurality of panelist, the plurality of panelists including users invited of the online discussion platform invited to participate in the panel discussion;
- in response to the selection, causing display, by the application, via the display device of a second GUI, the second GUI including:
- a first graphical element displaying a visual indication of identities of the plurality of invited panelists;
- a second graphical element displaying a visual indication of reactions to the panel discussion;
- a third graphical element displaying a plurality of content items posted by one or more of the invited panelists;
- and
- an option that conditionally enables the particular user to post content in the interactive discussion based on whether the particular user is included as one of the plurality of panelists.
5 more elements
A user computing device comprising:
- a display device configured to display visual outputs to a user;
- an input device configured to received inputs entered by a user;
- a network device configured for communication with other computing devices over a computer network
- a processor communicatively;
- and
- a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing an application including instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the user computing device to:
- display, via the display device, a graphical user interface (GUI) including:
- a graphical feed of one or more content items posted by one or more of a plurality of panelist users to an interactive panel discussion hosted by an online discussion platform, the plurality of panelist users invited by a host user that initiated the interactive panel discussion;
- wherein each of the one or more content items includes a reaction input element that conditionally enables the user to input limited reactions to content items based on whether the user is a registered user with an account with the online discussion platform;
- and
- a content input element that conditionally enables the user to post content in the interactive panel discussion based on whether the user is one of the plurality of panelist users.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.