Real-time interaction during video viewing

A method for collaborative viewing of digital video content on a video hosting site, the method comprising:

• receiving over a network login credentials from a client device of a user of the video hosting site;
• updating a tracked status of the user to indicate that the user is currently logged in to the site;
• retrieving one or more online friend notifications, each notification identifying at least one friend of the user currently logged in to the site;
• providing the retrieved notifications to the client device of the user;
• providing a notification to one or more client devices of one or more of the currently logged-in friends that the user has logged in to the site;
• receiving from the client device of the user a request to watch a video;
• providing the video to the client device of the user in response to the request;
• providing a notification to the client devices of the currently logged-in friends that the user is watching the requested video;
• receiving a request from a client device of at least one currently logged-in friend to display the video;
• providing the video to the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend, the provided video displayable on the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend asynchronously from the display of the video on the client device of the user;
• receiving a request from the client device of the user to determine other viewers watching the video;
• responsive to receiving the request, automatically determining at least one currently logged-in friend or the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend to which the video content is also being sent;
• and
• providing over the network to the client device of the user an indication that the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend is displaying the video.

A video hosting system for facilitating real-time viewer interaction, the system comprising:

• a web server, adapted to receive requests for videos from users and provide the requested videos to the users over a network;
• an authentication module, coupled to the web server, adapted to receive login credentials from a user of the video hosting site;
• and
• an interaction engine, configured to:
• update a tracked status of the user to indicate that the user is currently logged in to the site;
• retrieve one or more online friend notifications, each notification identifying at least one friend currently logged in to the site;
• provide a notification of the currently logged-in friends to a client device of the user;
• provide a notification to one or more client devices of the one or more currently logged-in friends that the user has logged in to the site;
• responsive to an indication that the user is watching a video, provide a notification to the one or more client devices of the currently logged-in friends that the user is watching the video;
• receive a request from the client device of at least one currently logged-in friend to watch the video;
• provide the video to the client device of at least one currently logged-in friend, the provided video displayed for the at least one currently logged-in friend asynchronously from display of the video for the user;
• receive a request from the client device of the user to determine other viewers watching the video;
• responsive to receiving the request, automatically determine at least one currently logged-in friend or the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend to which the video content is also being sent;
• and
• provide over the network to the client device of the user an indication that the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend is displaying the video.

A computer program product for providing real-time collaborative viewing of digital video content on a video hosting site, the computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and including computer code adapted when loaded into memory to cause a processor to carry out the steps of:

• receiving over a network login credentials from a client device of a user of the video hosting site;
• updating a tracked status of the user to indicate that the user is currently logged in to the site;
• retrieving one or more online friend notifications, each notification identifying at least one friend of the user currently logged in to the site;
• providing the retrieved notifications to the client device of the user;
• providing a notification to one or more client devices of one or more of the currently logged-in friends that the user has logged in to the site;
• receiving from the client device of the user a request to watch a video;
• providing the video to the client device of the user in response to the request;
• providing a notification to the client devices of the currently logged-in friends that the user is watching the requested video;
• receiving a request from a client device of at least one currently logged-in friend to display the video;
• providing the video to the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend, the provided video displayable on the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend asynchronously from the display of the video on the client device of the user;
• receiving a request from the client device of the user to determine other viewers watching the video;
• responsive to receiving the request, automatically determining at least one currently logged-in friend or the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend to which the video content is also being sent;
• and
• providing over the network to the client device of the user an indication that the client device of the at least one currently logged-in friend is displaying the video.

A method for collaborative viewing of digital video content on a video hosting site, the method comprising:

• requesting, by a client device, to view a video, the video provided to the requestor from the video hosting site over a network, wherein the requestor is logged in to the video hosting site;
• selecting, by the client device, at least one user from a list of users contemporaneously logged in, with the requestor, to the video hosting site;
• inviting, by the client device, the selected user to view the video;
• transmitting a request from the client device of the user to determine other viewers viewing the video;
• and
• responsive to transmitting the request, receiving, by the client device, an indication that the selected viewer is viewing the video, the video displayable to the selected viewer asynchronously from the video displayed to the requestor.