Methods and apparatus for determining social relevance in near constant time

A computer system comprises:

• a database server configured to store a plurality of social network relationships;
• a graphing system separate from and coupled to the database server, wherein the graphing system includes a processor and random access memory, wherein the random access memory is configured to store at least a portion of the plurality of social network relationships from the database server, wherein the processor is configured to compute a social map for a user in response to at least the portion of the plurality of social network relationships in the random access memory, and wherein the random access memory is configured to store the social map for the user, the social map including a plurality of different social distances between a plurality of users in a computer network;
• and
• a server separate from and coupled to the database server and to the graphing system, wherein the server is configured to receive an indication of the user and to provide the indication of the user to the graphing system, wherein a first profile is provided for a first user and includes a first social distance between the first user and a second user, and wherein a second profile is provided for the first user and includes a second social distance between the first user and the second user, the first social distance and the second social distance being different, wherein the first social distance is reduced between the first and second users as a result of a weighting factor that is determined by a frequency of communications between the first and second users, a responsiveness by the first user in answering communications from the second user, and by a manual adjustment made directly to the weighting factor by the first user;
• wherein the server is configured to receive a social relationship-based query from the user;
• wherein the server is also configured to process the social relationship-based query from the user using at least a portion of the social map for the user stored in the random access memory of the graphing system, wherein the social map is computed during log-in time for the user and a cached copy of the social map is stored in a cache, and wherein, while the user is logged into a session, an evaluation of the cached copy of the social map is performed in order to identify dirty bits, which are indicative of the cached copy of the social map being stale and requiring an update to be performed during the session, the server being configured to:
• send the cached copy of the social map, in response to the user initiating a query for data drawn from the social network;
• compute a revised social map for the first user in the graphing system, in response to the indication of the user and in response to a request to modify the social map, the revised social map being stored for the first user in the random access memory of the graphing system.

A method for a computer system including a database system, a graphing system, and a server system comprises:

• storing a plurality of social network relationships for a plurality of users including a first user, in the database system;
• copying at least a portion of the plurality of social network relationships from the database system to the graphing system, the graphing system being separate from and coupled to the database system, wherein the portion of the plurality of social network relationships are stored in random access memory of the graphing system;
• receiving an indication of the first user in the server system, the server system being separate from and coupled to the database system and to the graphing system;
• sending the indication of the first user from the server system to the graphing system;
• computing a social map for the first user in the graphing system, in response to the indication of the first user and in response to at least the portion of the plurality of social network relationships stored in the random access memory, the social map including a plurality of different social distances between a plurality of users in a computer network, wherein a first profile is provided for the first user and includes a first social distance between the first user and a second user, and wherein a second profile is provided for the first user and includes a second social distance between the first user and the second user, the first social distance and the second social distance being different, wherein the first social distance is reduced between the first and second users as a result of a weighting factor that is determined by a frequency of communications between the first and second users, a responsiveness by the first user in answering communications from the second user, and by a manual adjustment made directly to the weighting factor by the first user;
• storing the social map for the first user in the random access memory of the graphing system receiving a request to modify the social map from the first user, wherein the social map is computed during log-in time for the user and a cached copy of the social map is stored in a cache, and wherein, while the user is logged into a session, an evaluation of the cached copy of the social map is performed in order to identify dirty bits, which are indicative of the cached copy of the social map being stale and requiring an update to be performed during the session;
• sending the cached copy of the social map, in response to the user initiating a query for data drawn from the social network;
• and
• computing a revised social map for the first user in the graphing system, in response to the indication of the user and in response to a request to modify the social map, the revised social map being stored for the first user in the random access memory of the graphing system.