System and methods to display icons based on messaging activity

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• identifying messaging activity information indicating a particular social network friend most recently messaged by a first player of an online game provided by a game networking system;
• determining a manner of displaying icons, based in part on the messaging activity information, for a communication user interface of the first player, each icon representative of a respective social network friend of the first player, wherein at least one of the respective social network friends corresponds to an additional player of the online game;
• generating first communication interface display data for display of the icons in the first manner in the communication user interface within a game user interface provided via the game networking system while the online game is loaded into the game user interface;
• receiving, via the communication user interface displayed at a client device of the first player, a request to communicate with a second player represented by a respective icon of the icons displayed in the first manner, wherein the second player is associated with the game networking system without being associated with the social networking system;
• and
• initiating a first communication session between the first player and the second player in response to the request to communicate with the second player, the communication session allowing communication via the game networking system between the first player and the second player within the communication user interface.

A computer system comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory device holding an instruction set executable on the processor to cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
• identifying messaging activity information indicating a particular social network friend most recently messaged by a first player of an online game provided by a game networking system;
• determining a manner of displaying icons;
• based in part on the messaging activity information, for a communication user interface of the first player, each icon representative of a respective social network friend of the first player, wherein at least one of the respective social network friends corresponds to an additional player of the online game;
• generating first communication interface display data for display of the icons in the first manner in the communication user interface within a game user interface provided via the game networking system while the online game is loaded into the game user interface;
• receiving, via the communication user interface displayed at a client device of the first player, a request to communicate with a second player represented by a respective icon of the icons displayed in the first manner, wherein the second player is associated with the game networking system without being associated with the social networking system;
• and
• initiating a first communication session between the first player and the second player in response to the request to communicate with the second player, the communication session allowing communication via the game networking system between the first player and the second player within the communication user interface.