Methods and systems for sharing photos in an online photosession

A computer program embedded in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to be executed by one or more processors, for sharing photos in an online photo session, the computer program comprising:

• program instructions for identifying a set of photos to share with viewing users from a photo-sharing website, the set of photos having been uploaded and stored on the photo-sharing website by a sharing user, program instructions for identifying further includes program instructions for generating a photo show with the identified set of photos for sharing in the online photo session;
• program instructions for selecting one or more viewing users for sharing the set of photos;
• program instructions for providing access information to the viewing users for accessing the photo show with the identified set of photos;
• and
• program instructions for enabling the one or more viewing users to view and interact with the set of photos of the online photo session in shared browsing, the viewing and interaction being propagated to all the viewing users and the sharing user in substantial real-time so as to provide a synchronized view of the photo show to the viewing and sharing users in the photo session,
• wherein the one or more viewing users and the sharing user have uniform level of control to interact with and manage the set of photos of the online photo session in the shared browsing, upon access and wherein the interaction includes,
• pausing the photo show in response to the interaction initiated by the viewing user, wherein the pausing is done automatically by an application executing an algorithm used for sharing the set of photos or explicitly by the viewing user;
• providing a change to the photo, wherein the change includes any one or a combination of annotation, comment or message chat related to the photo and directed toward a sharing user or other viewing users participating in the photo session, the change resulting in re-loading of the photo with the change in substantial real-time to enable the other viewing and sharing users with access to the online photo session to view the change during the photo show,
• wherein the instant message chat during the online photo session enabled through a lightweight built-in message system.

A method for sharing photos with other users in an online photo session, comprising:

• receiving a request for accessing the online photo session from a viewing user, the access request specifying sharing attributes associated with a shared browsing of the online photo session, the sharing attributes detailing amount of generated information history associated with the online photo session that the viewing user is authorized to view and share;
• retrieving the set of photos and any generated information history related to the online photo session from a database based on sharing attributes defined in the request, the retrieved information used to generate a photo show, the sharing attributes distinctly identifying one or more of temporal attributes, session attributes, spatial attributes or user attributes associated with the stored online photo session and the generated information history, wherein the database is a repository of information related to the online photo sessions including generated information history;
• and
• starting the shared browsing of the online photo session, the starting enables the viewing user to view and interact with the set of photos to generate comments, annotations and chat messages related to one or more photos in the online photo session, wherein the viewing and interaction provides the viewing user with a synchronized view of the photo show within the shared browsing of the photo session, wherein the interaction includes,
• pausing the photo show in response to the interaction initiated by the viewing user, wherein the pausing is done automatically by an application executing an algorithm used for sharing the set of photos or explicitly by the viewing user;
• providing a change to a photo, wherein the change includes any one or a combination of annotation, comment or message chat related to the photo and directed toward a sharing user or other viewing users participating in the photo session, the change resulting in re-loading of the photo with the change in substantial real-time to enable the other viewing and sharing users with access to the online photo session to view the change during the photo show,
• wherein the instant message chat during the online photo session enabled through a lightweight built-in message system.

A system for sharing documents in an online document view session, comprising:

• a client device with an interface configured to,
• a) upload one or more documents to a document sharing website;
• b) render a document show within an online document view session that includes the uploaded set of documents;
• c) include controls to select one or more viewing users to share the set of documents in the created online document view session;
• d) receive access information for accessing the identified set of documents, wherein the access information identifying sharing attributes specified by a sharing user;
• e) receive interactions from a viewing or sharing user at any one of the set of documents during rendering of the document show in a shared browsing, wherein the interactions include changes to the documents including any one or combination of annotations, comments, or instant message chats generated by the viewing or sharing users, wherein receiving interactions include,
• e1) pausing the document show in response to interactions received from the viewing or sharing user;
• e2) receiving the changes to the documents, wherein the changes related to the documents are directed toward the one or more viewing and sharing users, the instant message chat between the sharing and viewing users enabled through a lightweight built-in message system;
• and
• e3) re-loading the documents with the changes in substantial real-time, the re-loading enabling the viewing and sharing users with access to the online document view session to view the changes during the document show;
• and
• a server device for executing an application for sharing the documents with other users in the online document view session, the application including a sharing algorithm that is configured to,
• f) receive the uploaded set of documents and store with one or more of session attributes, spatial attributes, user attributes and temporal attributes;
• g) generate the document show for the set of documents in the shared browsing mode for sharing with the viewing users, the document show generated in accordance to the access information specified by the sharing user, the generated document show enabled for shared browsing so as to provide a synchronized view of the photo show to the viewing and sharing users in the online document view session;
• and
• h) gather and store information generated from the interactions including the comments, annotations and instant message chat in a history database, the generated interaction information used in subsequent mining and analysis.