Method and system for identifying obsolete discussion threads in a forum

A computer system for identifying obsolete discussion threads in a forum comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• and
• software instructions stored in the memory for causing the computer system to:
• extract a plurality of keywords from a discussion thread, wherein the discussion thread comprises a plurality of postings posted by a plurality of users;
• assign a keyword score to each of the plurality of keywords from the discussion thread;
• identify a change event issued by a government entity, wherein the change event is a change to a legal requirement that affects a topic of the forum;
• extract a keyword from a website presenting the change to the legal requirement, wherein the website is separate from the forum;
• compare the keyword from the website with the plurality of keywords from the discussion thread to identify a matching keyword in the plurality of keywords;
• reduce, by a constant amount, the keyword score of the matching keyword to a reduced score based on the matching keyword matching the keyword from the website;
• aggregate the keyword score assigned to each of the plurality of keywords to obtain a total score for the discussion thread, wherein aggregating comprises using the reduced score for the matching keyword;
• and
• display a warning on a user interface comprising the discussion thread when the total score is below a first pre-specified threshold.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to:

• extract a plurality of keywords from a discussion thread in a forum, wherein the discussion thread comprises a plurality of postings posted by a plurality of users;
• assign a keyword score to each of the plurality of keywords from the discussion thread;
• identify a change event issued by a government entity, wherein the change event is a change to a legal requirement that affects a topic of the forum;
• extract a keyword from a website presenting the change to the legal requirement, wherein the website is separate from the forum;
• compare the keyword from the website with the plurality of keywords from the discussion thread to identify a matching keyword in the plurality of keywords;
• reduce, by a constant amount, the keyword score of the matching keyword to a reduced score based on the matching keyword matching the keyword from the website;
• aggregate the keyword score assigned to each of the plurality of keywords to obtain a total score for the discussion thread, wherein aggregating comprises using the reduced score for the matching keyword;
• and
• display a warning on a user interface comprising the discussion thread when the total score is below a first pre-specified threshold.