JP2010004506A - Sns system and server for the sns system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a user-friendly SNS system that enables users to exchange comments only by transmitting and receiving e-mails. <P>SOLUTION: In the SNS system, if a server 5 receives e-mails transmitted from users' cell phones 2, then the server 5 creates a given user group and transmits a pictorial e-mail to the group. Upon receipt of reply text e-mails from the users who received the pictorial e-mail, the server adds the contents of the reply e-mails to the pictorial e-mail previously transmitted and transmits a pictorial e-mail to the users of the group. In this manner, the users use the SNS just by transmitting and receiving e-mails. Thus, an SNS is implemented that allows great ease of use and convenience even in a case where the users use cell phones in particular. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an SNS system and an SNS system server provided especially for mobile phones.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, SNS (Social Networking Service) is a service for communicating between users through a communication environment such as the Internet.
In such an SNS system, data is stored on the server side, and the user accesses the server using a personal computer and browses the data with a Web browser or the like.
Examples of data provided by the SNS include a self profile, an updateable diary, and an avatar (a person or character created by the user selecting each image part such as eyes, nose, and background).
As an SNS system for browsing using such a Web browser, for example, there is one described in Patent Document 1.
JP 2008-27095 A

Here, in recent years, mobile phones have become more sophisticated, and access to an SNS server from a mobile phone and use of the SNS are being performed.
However, when using SNS using a mobile phone, it is necessary to access the SNS server using a web browser, input login information, etc., and read out the information of the mobile phone. Therefore, there is a problem that the input operation of login information is troublesome, and it takes time to reach the login screen and communication for login processing.
Furthermore, since there is a restriction that a mobile phone starts a plurality of programs at the same time, for example, when a mobile phone receives an e-mail while using an SNS using a Web browser, the e-mail is displayed after closing the Web browser once. It was necessary to start a mail program and check the mail contents, and the operation was complicated.

  Then, in view of such a problem, the present invention has an object to provide an SNS system and an SNS system server with good operability.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, in a SNS system that transmits and receives mail between a user terminal and a server and communicates between registered users, the server receives the first mail transmitted from the terminal. Create an email containing the contents of the email and send it to the specified group of terminals formed by selecting the created email from the user and the user's terminal that sent the first email When a reply is received from the terminal of the user or the terminal of the user who sent the first mail, the contents of the mail received this time are added to the previously sent mail and the first mail is sent to the specified group of terminals. By sending it to the user's terminal, an email containing a series of all comment exchanges was created.

In addition, if the server is a predetermined group and the user has registered a profile at the time of SNS usage registration, the user, SNS, who is considered to have the same taste as the user who sent the first mail to the server Select at least one user among the most recent users who have registered for use, or if the user has registered other specific users as friends To do.
Alternatively, if the server is registered as a predetermined group and the profile is registered when the SNS is registered for use as a predetermined group when the mail is first transmitted to the user, A user who is considered to have the same taste as the user who sent the mail, the most recent number of users registered for use in the SNS, and the user has registered other specific users as friends In that case, at least one of the users is selected, and a reply is sent to the mail sent by the server as a predetermined group when sending mail to the user for the second time or later. It was assumed that it was a user.

In addition, when the user who transmits the first mail has registered a user group in advance as a mail transmission destination, the server transmits the mail of the user who transmitted the first mail to the user group registered in advance. And the user ’s terminal that sent the first email, and when a reply is received from a previously registered user group ’s device or the user ’s device that sent the first email, The contents of the mail received this time are added to the transmitted mail and can be transmitted to the terminal of the user group registered in advance and the terminal of the user who transmitted the first mail.
Alternatively, the mail of the user who sent the first mail is sent to the terminal of the predetermined user in the user group registered in advance and the terminal of the user who sent the first mail and registered in advance. When a reply is received from the terminal of a predetermined user in the user group or the terminal of the user who sent the first mail, the contents of the mail received this time are added to the mail sent last time, It can be transmitted to a terminal of a predetermined user in a user group registered in advance and a terminal of the user who transmitted the first mail.

Further, when the server receives a transmission stop mail from the user who sent the mail to the effect that the transmission of the mail is stopped, the contents are added to the user who requested the transmission stop thereafter. The sending of sent emails was to be stopped.
In addition, the mail that the user sends to the server is a text mail, and the mail that the server sends to the user is a picture mail.
Further, when the server receives an email indicating the use registration application from the user's terminal, the server sends an email with the avatar selected under the predetermined condition to the user's terminal that has applied for use registration. When you receive an email notifying that you do not accept the avatar from the user who applied for it, you will receive an email with an avatar that is different from the avatar you sent last time, and you will receive an email confirming acceptance of the avatar from the user who applied for usage registration Then, the accepted avatar is registered as the user's avatar.
In addition, when the server transmits a mail to a user, the mail address of another user's terminal is not disclosed.
Furthermore, the user's terminal is assumed to be a mobile phone.

According to the present invention, it is possible to exchange comments between users simply by sending and receiving mail, and it is possible to provide an SNS with extremely high operability.
Users who have been selected as a predetermined group and who are considered to have the same preferences or who have recently registered with the SNS are interested in the user who sent the mail first, or want to use the SNS immediately. Therefore, it can be said that the user is highly likely to reply to the comment. Therefore, by sending an email to such a user, it is possible to more efficiently provide an SNS in which comments are actively exchanged.
In particular, the possibility of obtaining comments from the user is increased by making the mail sent to the user after the second time a user who has replied to the mail sent by the server. It is possible to more efficiently provide an SNS for exchanging comments.

Comments can be exchanged through the SNS with a user group registered in advance as a mail transmission destination or with a predetermined user, so that an SNS highly convenient for the user can be provided.
Since the user can simply send a stop email, and after that, even if an additional message is added to the email that he / she wants to stop sending, the email can be stopped. It can be done easily.
By making the mail transmitted from the server a mail with a picture, the mail can be enjoyed by the user. On the other hand, the mail transmitted from the user to the server is a text mail, so that the capacity of communication data is reduced and the data can be transmitted quickly.

By sending an e-mail with an avatar added until an e-mail indicating acceptance is received at the time of application for use registration, the avatar can be easily changed by the user.
Moreover, since the user's mail address is not disclosed when sending mail from the server, privacy between users can be protected.
In particular, when a mobile phone is used as a user's terminal, the SNS can be used only by sending and receiving mail, so that it is possible to provide an SNS with high operability and convenience.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of examples.
The SNS system in the present embodiment uses the SNS by using the mail transmission / reception function of the mobile phone.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an SNS system.
Mobile phone 2 (2A to 2C) as a terminal operated by an SNS user, radio wave transmission device 3 that transmits radio waves to or receives radio waves from mobile phone 2, and mail for SNS The SNS system 1 is configured by the server 5 that performs distribution processing and the like, and the Internet 4 that connects the radio wave transmission device 3 and the server 5.
In FIG. 1, the mobile phone 2 is illustrated as three mobile phones 2A to 2C, but there are actually many mobile phones 2 and the radio wave transmission device 3 is also present for each mobile phone carrier. It is.

The mobile phone 2 is a terminal operated by an SNS user, and can browse data transmitted from the server 5 in the mail format, send mail, and the like.
The radio wave transmission device 3 transmits data transmitted from the server 5 in the mail format to the mobile phone 2 or transmits data in the mail format transmitted from the mobile phone 2 to the server 5.

The server 5 includes a mail transmission unit 51, a processing unit 52, and a database 53.
The mail transmission unit 51 performs processing related to mail transmission / reception.
The database 53 stores, for example, user profiles and email addresses, comments exchanged between users, avatars, and the like.
The processing unit 52 extracts the necessary data from the database 53 and creates content data that can be distributed in the mail format and sends it to the mail transmission unit 51 or the data sent from the mobile phone 2 in the mail format. Various processes are performed and necessary data is stored in the database 53.

By configuring the SNS system 1 as described above, for example, when a user of the mobile phone 2A intends to write a certain comment, a reply is made to a mail transmitted from the server 5 in advance, and the server 5 SNS communication using mail can be established by distributing a mail with a comment added to the user's mobile phone 2.
That is, the user can see comments written by other users and send comments to other people by simply sending and receiving e-mails of the mobile phone 2 when using the SNS.

Next, a specific example of provided content will be described.
First, the SNS member registration procedure will be described.
FIG. 2 shows the flow of member registration processing, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are examples of screens displayed on the mobile phone.
First, in step 100, in order for the user of the mobile phone 2 to register as a member in the SNS, a member registration mail is created and the member registration mail is transmitted to the server 5.

As the recipient of this member registration email, the user who wants to register inputs the address that he / she knew in advance through an advertisement, etc., or the address already introduced by the user who is already registered in the SNS Is.
This member registration e-mail is created with a normal text e-mail installed on a mobile phone. For example, you can enter a “nickname” to be used in the SNS in the subject field and enter free text in the body field. Keep it as
The free text input in the body text field can be taken in as a self-introduction sentence that is disclosed in the SNS, for example.

Next, in step 101, the processing unit 52 of the server 5 creates a member registration confirmation mail based on the member registration mail transmitted from the mobile phone 2 and the data stored in the database 53, and is carried through the mail transmission unit 51. Send back to phone 2.
As shown in FIG. 3 (a), this member registration confirmation e-mail includes "server 5 side e-mail address" in the sender field, "user's e-mail address" for applying for membership registration in the address field, and subject field. “Member registration confirmation” is described, and “Avatar” and “Yes” / “No” buttons for the user to decide whether or not to allow this avatar are incorporated in the text field.

This avatar is selected at random from the avatar data stored in the database 53 by the processing unit 52.
The registration confirmation email with this avatar is created using a mail function (for example, Deco-mail (registered trademark)) that can incorporate texts and figures in emails sent and received by mobile phones. . (Hereinafter, an email with text or a figure is called an email with a picture.)

When the user receives the registration confirmation mail, in step 102, the user determines whether or not to accept the avatar sent from the server 5 as his / her avatar.
If it is determined that the avatar is, for example, the user's favorite appearance and can be accepted, the process proceeds to step 105. If the avatar cannot be accepted and the avatar is desired to be changed, the process proceeds to step 103.
In step 103, the user presses a “No” button incorporated in the registration confirmation mail and transmits an email to the server 5 indicating that the avatar is to be changed.
When the user presses the “Yes” or “No” button, a reply mail is automatically created and sent.

When the server 5 receives an e-mail requesting that the avatar be changed, a member registration confirmation e-mail is recreated in step 104 and sent back to the mobile phone 2 through the e-mail transmission unit 51.
When the user receives the re-created member registration confirmation e-mail, the processing from step 102 described above is performed.
The processes in steps 102 to 104 are repeated until the user accepts the avatar.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 102 that the user can accept the avatar, in step 105, the user presses the “Yes” button incorporated in the registration confirmation email and sends an email indicating that the avatar is accepted. Transmitting to the server 5 When the server 5 receives the mail to approve the avatar, in step 106, the server 5 transmits a pictorial mail indicating completion of registration as shown in FIG. 3B to the user.
Thus, the user registers the nickname, his / her avatar, and the like in the server 5 and can use the SNS.

As described above, when the user registers with the SNS, it is only necessary to send and receive mail between the server 5 and the user (the mobile phone 2), so that the registration process is facilitated.
In addition, by incorporating the action of selecting and pressing the “Yes” / “No” button by the user at the time of member registration, it is possible to prevent a large number of member registrations from being automatically registered by malicious software, for example. be able to.

Next, a method for a registrant who has completed use registration of SNS to use “tweet to everyone” of SNS using mail will be described.
This “tweet to everyone” service creates a mail with multiple comments added to the first tweet by repeatedly sending and receiving the first tweeted user's mail within a given group. .

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of a service tweeted to everyone, and FIG. 5 is an example of a screen displayed on a mobile phone.
In step 200, the user creates a tweet mail and sends it to a mail address dedicated to the “tweet to everyone” service acquired in advance.
This mail is a normal text mail as shown in the screen A1 in FIG. 5, and a comment that everyone wants to tweet is written in the text column.
The e-mail address dedicated to this “tweet to everyone” service is acquired in advance from the server 5 at the time of registration in the user's SNS, for example.

When the processing unit 52 of the server 5 receives the tweet mail, it creates a tweet mail with a picture at step 201.
As shown in the screen A2 in FIG. 5, this picture-tweeted mail is generated by combining the body of the mail transmitted in step 200 with an avatar, a nickname, and the like.
The processing unit 52 obtains the nickname and avatar of the tweet mail sender by comparing the sender address of the tweet mail and the member information stored in the database 53, and generates a tweet mail with a picture.

Next, in step 202, the processing unit 52 creates a member of a group that is a transmission destination of the created pictorial tweet mail.
The members of this group are extracted from the users registered in the SNS stored in the database 53, and in addition to the tweeted users themselves, for example, the members who are considered to have the same taste from the profile etc. The top several names, the top few most recent names registered as members of the SNS, all the members registered as the friends who tweeted in step 200 are the targets, and the like.

After the group members are extracted, in step 203, the processing unit 52 transmits a pictorial tweet mail (screens A2 and B2 in FIG. 5) to the mail addresses of all the extracted group members.
In FIG. 5, for simplification, the members of the group are illustrated as “two users who tweeted” and “users in the group”.

In addition, this tweeted mail is processed so that the mail addresses of the sender and other members in the group cannot be seen. For example, the following address on the server side is set in the sender column.
“Tubuaki- [thread number] @ AAAAA.jp”
This e-mail address is created by the server 5 for each tweet thread, and when the user replies to this e-mail address, the server 5 indicates to which tweet thread the e-mail reply is from the received e-mail. Can be determined.

Next, when a user in the group wishes to comment on the received picture tweet mail, a reply mail is created and transmitted in step 204.
This reply mail is a text mail as shown in screen B3 of FIG. 5, and a comment is written in the body text column.
The reply mail is created by, for example, pressing a reply button incorporated in the received tweet mail or by pressing a mail reply button provided on the mobile phone. The reply destination of the reply mail is an address that allows the server 5 to determine which tweet thread is the mail described above.

Next, in step 205, the processing unit 52 of the server 5 combines the received reply mail and the tweet mail transmitted in step 200, and the commented tweet mail in a thread form (screens A4 and B4 in FIG. 5). Is transmitted to the members of the group extracted in step 202.
As shown in screens A4 and B4 in FIG. 5, this threaded tweet email contains the user's avatar and comments sent back in response to the tweeted user's avatar and comments. It is a format.

The user who wants to reply to the mail with the picture tweet sent in step 205 creates a text mail and sends it to the server 5 as in step 204.
By repeating the processes in steps 205 and 206, an e-mail in which responses to the murmured comments are added one after another is generated.

As described above, communication can be made within the group by simply transmitting / receiving a tweeted mail with a picture when the user receives an e-mail and a text mail when the user replies the e-mail.
If you want to leave this series of tweet emails, for example, press the “Stop” button embedded in the tweet email with a picture and send the email to the specified address. Can be stopped.

In the above example, when a reply is made to the tweeted mail, the next destination to be transmitted by the server 5 is set to all the members of the group.
For example, a pictorial tweet mail may be transmitted only to a user who has replied to the tweet mail.

Next, the reliability of the user will be described.
This reliability is used, for example, when a user who receives a tweet mail of the “tweet to everyone” service determines whether or not the sender of the tweet mail is a reliable person.
FIG. 6 is an example of a display screen showing the reliability of the user.
In order to show the reliability of the user, a cushion 11 is displayed under the user's avatar 10.
The number of cushions 11 is increased according to the reliability of the user. When the number of cushions 11 exceeds a predetermined number (for example, 10), one special cushion with a different color may be displayed.
This reliability is determined by, for example, the frequency of replies from other users.

In the above description, the case where the mail is transmitted to the users in the group determined on the server 5 side has been described. However, it is possible to send and receive pictorial mails only to specific users for communication.
Also in this case, the mail addresses of both users are not disclosed.

This embodiment is configured as described above, and the user can use the SNS simply by sending and receiving mails. Therefore, even when the user uses a mobile phone, the operability is particularly good. A very high and convenient SNS can be realized.
In addition, this SNS system is not limited to the function of SNS demonstrated in the Example, A function other than this can be applied.

  It is a figure which shows the whole structure of an SNS system.   It is a figure which shows the flow of a member registration process.   It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on a mobile telephone.   It is a figure which shows the flow of a process of the service tweeted to everybody.   It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on a mobile telephone.   It is an example of a display screen which shows a user's reliability.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 SNS system 2, 2A-2C Cell-phone 3 Radio wave transmitter 4 Internet 5 Server 10 Avatar 11 Cushion 51 Mail transmission / reception part 52 Processing part 53 Database

Claims (18)

In an SNS system that communicates between registered users,
Multiple terminals of users who have the ability to send and receive mail,
A server having a function of sending and receiving mail,
The server
When the first mail transmitted from the terminal is received, a mail including the contents of the received mail is created, and a predetermined group of terminals formed by selecting the created mail from the users; To the user ’s device that sent the email,
When receiving a reply from the terminal of the predetermined group or the terminal of the user who sent the first mail, the contents of the mail received this time are added to the previously sent mail, and the first group of terminals Send to the device of the user who sent the email,
SNS system characterized by this. The server is the predetermined group,
If the user has registered his / her profile at the time of SNS usage registration, the user who is considered to agree with the user who sent the first mail to the server,
The most recent predetermined number of users who registered for use with SNS,
If a user registers another specific user as a friend,
The SNS system according to claim 1, wherein at least one user is selected. The server
As the predetermined group when sending an email to the user for the first time,
If the user has registered his / her profile at the time of SNS usage registration, the user who is considered to agree with the user who sent the first mail to the server,
The most recent predetermined number of users who registered for use with SNS,
If a user registers another specific user as a friend,
Select at least one user from
When sending emails to users for the second time or later, as the predetermined group,
A user who replied to the mail sent by the server,
The SNS system according to claim 1. If the user who sends the first email has a user group registered in advance as the email recipient,
The server
Send the email of the user who sent the first email to the terminal of the user group registered in advance and the terminal of the user who sent the first email,
When a reply is received from the terminal of the user group registered in advance or the terminal of the user who sent the first mail, the contents of the mail received this time are added to the previously sent mail, and the registration is performed in advance. Can be sent to the device of the selected user group and the device of the user who sent the first email,
Or
Sending the mail of the user who sent the first mail to the terminal of the predetermined user in the user group registered in advance and the terminal of the user who sent the first mail;
When a reply is received from the terminal of a predetermined user in the user group registered in advance or the terminal of the user who sent the first mail, the contents of the mail received this time are added to the mail sent last time. It is also possible to add and send to the terminal of a predetermined user in the user group registered in advance and the terminal of the user who sent the first mail,
The SNS system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. When the server receives a transmission stop mail from the user who sent the mail to the effect that the transmission of the mail is stopped,
5. The SNS system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein thereafter, the transmission of the mail whose contents are added to the mail is stopped for the user who has requested transmission stop. . The email that the user sends to the server is a text email,
The SNS system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the mail transmitted from the server to the user is a mail with a picture. When the server receives an e-mail for application for use registration from the user's terminal, the server transmits an e-mail with the avatar selected under a predetermined condition to the user's terminal that applied for use registration,
When an email notifying that the avatar is not accepted is received from the user who applied for the use registration, an email with an avatar different from the previously sent avatar is sent,
The SNS system according to claim 6, wherein when an email indicating acceptance of an avatar is received from a user who has applied for use registration, the accepted avatar is registered as the user's avatar. The SNS system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein when the server transmits mail to a user, the mail address of another user's terminal is not disclosed. The SNS system according to claim 1, wherein the user terminal is a mobile phone. In the server of the SNS system that communicates between registered users,
It has a function to send and receive emails to the user's terminal,
When the first mail transmitted from the terminal is received, a mail including the contents of the received mail is created, and a predetermined group of terminals formed by selecting the created mail from the users; To the user ’s device that sent the email,
When receiving a reply from the terminal of the predetermined group or the terminal of the user who sent the first mail, the contents of the mail received this time are added to the previously sent mail, and the first group of terminals Send to the device of the user who sent the email,
SNS system server characterized by the above. As the predetermined group,
If the user has registered his / her profile at the time of SNS usage registration, the user who is considered to agree with the user who sent the first mail to the server,
The most recent predetermined number of users who registered for use with SNS,
If a user registers another specific user as a friend,
The SNS system server according to claim 10, wherein at least one or more users are selected. As the predetermined group when sending an email to the user for the first time,
If the user has registered his / her profile at the time of SNS usage registration, the user who is considered to agree with the user who sent the first mail to the server,
The most recent predetermined number of users who registered for use with SNS,
If a user registers another specific user as a friend,
Select at least one user from
When sending emails to users for the second time or later, as the predetermined group,
Suppose that the user has replied to the mail sent by the server.
The server of the SNS system according to claim 10. If the user who sends the first email has a user group registered in advance as the email recipient,
Send the email of the user who sent the first email to the terminal of the user group registered in advance and the terminal of the user who sent the first email,
When a reply is received from the terminal of the user group registered in advance or the terminal of the user who sent the first mail, the contents of the mail received this time are added to the previously sent mail, and the registration is performed in advance. Can be sent to the device of the selected user group and the device of the user who sent the first email,
Or
Sending the mail of the user who sent the first mail to the terminal of the predetermined user in the user group registered in advance and the terminal of the user who sent the first mail;
When a reply is received from the terminal of a predetermined user in the user group registered in advance or the terminal of the user who sent the first mail, the contents of the mail received this time are added to the mail sent last time. It is also possible to add and send to the terminal of a predetermined user in the user group registered in advance and the terminal of the user who sent the first mail,
The server of the SNS system according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein When you receive a stop email from the user who sent you an email to stop sending that email,
After this, transmission of the mail in which the content was added to the said mail is stopped with respect to the user who requested | required transmission stop, The SNS system of any one of Claims 10-13 characterized by the above-mentioned server. The SNS system server according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the mail transmitted to the user's terminal is a picture mail. When the user registration email is received from the user's terminal, an email with the avatar selected under the specified conditions is sent to the user's terminal that has applied for usage registration,
When an email notifying that the avatar is not accepted is received from the user who applied for the use registration, an email with an avatar different from the previously sent avatar is sent,
The server of the SNS system according to claim 15, wherein when an email indicating acceptance of an avatar is received from a user who has applied for use registration, the accepted avatar is registered as the user's avatar. The server of the SNS system according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein when a mail is transmitted to a user, a mail address of another user's terminal is not disclosed. The SNS system server according to claim 10, wherein the user terminal is a mobile phone.

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