JP2012064151A - Information providing server and information providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing server and an information providing method capable of encouraging users to exchange information significant for them.SOLUTION: The information providing server includes a reception part for receiving address information showing users to be communication partners and communication history information, an estimation part for estimating a social graph showing relations among users by using the address information, a propagation power calculation part for calculating a propagation power of a user, by investigating to which user in the social graph a piece of information acquired by a certain user is propagated, based on the communication history information, and a transmission part for transmitting information showing users whose propagation power is relatively high among the users included in the address information on the given users to the given users.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing server and an information providing method.

  A communication terminal such as a mobile phone has not only a function of transmitting and receiving voice signals and data signals but also various other functions. For example, a mobile phone has a built-in phone book, which saves the user from having to specify a destination. The phone book data is also managed by the operator's server, thereby supporting the phone book management. Furthermore, it is possible to use the telephone directory while using another application such as a scheduler in the communication terminal. For example, a partner registered in the schedule data is searched in the phone book, and when a hit is found, the destination telephone number can be extracted from the phone book and transmitted. It is conceivable to use not only a telephone book but also an e-mail address book. A conventional technique that utilizes telephone directory data together with a scheduler is described in Patent Document 1.

JP 2004-88479 A

  In this way, the user of the communication terminal has contact points with a large number of various users registered in the phone book or address book. Therefore, when a user has to obtain information about a certain matter, it is conceivable to consult a person who seems to be knowledgeable. For example, suppose user A of a communication terminal is trying to obtain information about a certain matter. It is assumed that user B who is an acquaintance of user A and registered in the telephone book has detailed information about the matter, and user A knew that. In this case, user A will be able to contact user B and obtain the requested information by designating user B's destination from the phone book.

  However, suppose that user A did not know that user B was very detailed about the matter. In this case, the user B who can provide meaningful information to the user A is registered in the phone book of the user A, but the possibility that the user A contacts the user B is extremely low. Even if the user A contacts the user B in another case, it is rare that the user B consults the user B about the matter of concern, and therefore, useful information cannot usually be obtained from the user B. Thus, in the case of the prior art, there is a problem that information meaningful to the user cannot be exchanged appropriately.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information providing server and an information providing method capable of prompting a user to exchange information meaningful to the user.

An information providing server according to an embodiment includes:
A receiving unit that receives destination information indicating a user who can be a communication partner and communication history information from each of a plurality of users;
An estimation unit that estimates a social graph indicating a connection between users using the destination information;
Based on the communication history information, by investigating to which user in the social graph the information acquired by a certain user has propagated, a propagation force calculation unit that calculates the propagation force of the certain user;
An information providing server comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit information indicating a user having a relatively high propagation power among users included in the destination information of the given user to the given user.

  According to one embodiment, it is possible to provide an information providing server and an information providing method capable of prompting a user to exchange information meaningful to the user.

The figure which shows the communication system used in an Example. The figure which shows the operation example in an Example. The figure which shows an example of a social graph. The figure for demonstrating the calculation method of propagation force. The figure which shows a mode that a telephone directory is displayed with the indicator which shows that it is an influencer. The figure which shows a mode that a user with strong propagation power is displayed for every specific category. The figure which shows a mode that a user with strong propagation power is displayed according to a user's request. The functional block diagram of the communication terminal used in an Example. The functional block diagram of the information provision server used in an Example.

  An information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention receives destination information from each of a plurality of users, estimates a social graph indicating a connection between users, and information acquired by a user is propagated to which user in the social graph. By investigating whether or not, the propagation force of the certain user is calculated. The information providing server transmits information indicating a user having relatively high propagation power among users included in the destination information of the given user to the given user.

  When a user's propagation power is high with respect to information of a certain content, the information is widely spread. Widely disseminated information is considered to contain useful content. Moreover, when information from a certain user is widely spread, it is considered that the user has a strong influence on various other users' ideas. Therefore, it can be said that a user with high propagation power is an influencer for a matter. Conventionally, it is information that can never be known who is an influencer in a user's telephone directory. According to the present embodiment, the information providing server notifies who is an influencer in the user's telephone directory. Thus, the user who has received the notification can obtain useful information by contacting an influencer who has a wealth of knowledge. Furthermore, when a specific person registered in the user's telephone directory is found to be an influencer, the user is more likely to contact that person. Thereby, in addition to the purpose for the user to obtain information, an effect of promoting communication between the user and the person can be expected.

  Examples will be described from the following viewpoints.

1. Communication system Example of operation 3. Communication terminal Information providing server

<1. Communication system>
FIG. 1 shows an outline of a communication system used in the embodiment. The communication system includes at least communication terminals 11 and 12, a communication network 20, and an information providing server 30. The communication terminals 11 and 12 may be any appropriate communication terminals capable of communicating information via the communication network 20. The communication terminal is typically a mobile terminal, but may be a fixed terminal. Specific examples of the communication terminal include, but are not limited to, a mobile phone, an information terminal, a smartphone, a notebook personal computer, a laptop computer, and a desktop computer. The communication network 20 may be any appropriate communication network that enables communication between the communication terminals 11 and 12 and the information providing server 30. The communication network 20 is typically a mobile communication network, but may be any appropriate communication network that is wireless or wired. The information providing server 30 transmits a signal to the communication terminals 11 and 12 in response to requests (requests) from the communication terminals 11 and 12 or at an appropriate timing. The transmitted signal may include any appropriate information, content, application, and the like. In the case of the present embodiment, in particular, the transmitted signal includes information that prompts meaningful communication for the users of the communication terminals 11 and 12, for example, who is a user who has a large information propagation power for a specific matter. Notice.

<2. Example of operation>
FIG. 2 shows an operation example performed between the user's communication terminal and the information providing server. Although only one communication terminal is illustrated for simplicity of illustration, there are actually a large number of communication terminals, and communication between communication terminals and communication between a communication terminal and a provider or the like is performed. When the user of the communication terminal performs some kind of communication, it is reported to the information providing server that such communication has been performed (step S21). Communication performed by the communication terminal includes, but is not limited to, telephone communication between users, exchange of data or files with users, exchange of data or files with providers, transmission / reception of e-mails, and the like. . Information reported to the information providing server includes destination information and communication history information.

  The destination information includes information on the communication partner (phone number, e-mail address or other identification information for identifying the other communication partner), information on the address of the visited site (for example, the address of the provider's site), and updated contents of the phone book. Information, information indicating updated contents of the address, and the like. Updating the phone book or address book includes adding users, deleting users, and modifying user information.

  The communication history information indicates a history of communication performed by the user. For example, the communication history information includes information related to incoming / outgoing calls (communication partner, communication date / time, etc.), transmission / reception of electronic mail (communication partner, communication date / time, data size, etc.), transmission / reception of information in a social networking service (SNS). Information (dates and times of transmission and reception, persons who responded to the transmitted information, etc.). The communication history information may further include information regarding the operation of the communication terminal.

  In step S22, the information providing server receives destination information and communication history information from various users, and updates the destination information and communication history information of each user. For example, when user A adds, modifies, or deletes user B in his / her telephone directory or address extension, destination information indicating the contents is reported from the communication terminal of user A to the information providing server, and the destination information of user A is Updated. In this embodiment, the telephone book includes a list of telephone numbers, and the address book includes a list of e-mail addresses. However, the use of such terms is not essential to the present invention, and the telephone numbers of users who can be communication partners. And an e-mail address may be included in the address book.

  In step S23, the information providing server estimates a social graph using each user's phone book and address book. The social graph is a graph showing connections between users, and the “connection” may be called a connection, a connection relationship, or a correlation. Therefore, the social graph may be referred to as a person correlation diagram or the like.

  FIG. 3 shows a social graph regarding users A, B, C, D, E, X, and Y. Nodes or vertices such as A, B, C... Represent users, and solid lines or edges between nodes indicate “connections”. For example, in the example shown in the figure, there is a “connection” between the users A and B, and they can communicate with each other. Such “connection” information can be acquired, for example, by examining who is registered in the phone book of user A and the phone book of user B. In the illustrated example, users B, C, X, and Y are registered in the phone book of user A. Users A and C are registered in the phone book of user B. Thereby, it is understood that there is a “connection” between the users A and B. A social graph as shown in FIG. 3 can be estimated by examining the telephone books of a plurality of users. When creating a social graph, you can use not only the phone book but also the address book.

  In step S24 of FIG. 2, the information providing server calculates the propagation power of information for each user using a social graph. The user's propagation power indicates to what extent the information acquired by the user propagates. A user with high or strong information propagation power plays a central role when the information spreads and has a strong influence on other users with respect to the information. Normally, information is widely spread because the information contains meaningful contents. Therefore, a user with strong information transmission power often sends some meaningful information, which has a great influence on the thinking and consumption behavior of other users. A user with such a strong information propagation capability is called an “influencer”. If there is a person in the user's phone book that corresponds to an influencer for a certain matter, the user can be notified of this by knowing that fact. .

The propagation power of information may be calculated by any appropriate method. For example, the following calculation method can be considered:
(1) Propagation force = (score according to the number of destinations)
(2) Propagation force = Σ [(score for transmission to destination) × (score for destination performing predetermined action) + (destination propagation force)]
FIG. 4 exemplifies how information is transmitted in the social graph shown in FIG. 3. The transmitted information indicates, for example, “Application P is useful”. Assume that the score is 1 when information is transmitted from one user to another. When the propagation force is calculated by the method (1), it is as follows.

Propagation power of user A = (score for transmission to user Y)
= 1 point.

Propagation power of user B = (score for transmission to user A)
+ (Score for transmission to user C)
= 1 + 1 = 2 points.

Propagation power of user C = (score for transmission to user D)
+ (Score for transmission to user E)
+ (Score for sending to user X)
= 1 + 1 + 1
= 3 points.

When the propagation force is calculated by the method (2), it is as follows. However, the score for a given action is
3 points when installing the specified application
2 points when the specified application is executed
5 points for purchasing the specified application
1 point if you send an inquiry or feedback,
4 points when browsing more detailed articles,
It is assumed that 4 points are given when viewing a detailed product description, and 0 points when nothing is done. The predetermined action is not limited to these, and any appropriate user action may be defined as the predetermined action. Information about the user performing some action can be acquired from the communication history information. Whether or not the user has performed a predetermined action may be determined based on, for example, whether or not the user has operated the communication terminal within a predetermined period after receiving some information. More generally, whether or not a predetermined action has been performed according to the received information is determined based on whether or not a causal relationship is recognized between the information received by the user and the subsequent user's action. The In the case of (2), [(score for transmission to destination) × (score for destination performing predetermined action) + (destination propagation power)] is calculated and added for each destination.

Propagation power of user A = (score for transmission to user Y = 1)
X (score for purchase by user Y = 5)
+ (Propagation force of user Y = 0)
Propagation power of user B = (score for transmission to user A = 1)
× (Score for installation by user A = 3)
+ (Propagation power of user A)
+ (Score for transmission to user C = 1)
X (Score for user C not doing anything = 0)
+ (Propagation power of user C)
Propagation power of user C = (score for transmission to user D = 1)
X (Score for user D not doing anything = 0)
+ (Propagation force of user D = 0)
+ (Score for transmission to user E = 1)
× (Score for purchase by user E = 5)
+ (Propagation force of user E = 0)
+ (Score for transmission to user X = 1)
× (Score for what User X did = 2)
+ (Propagation force of user X = 0)
It is. Therefore,
Propagation force of user C = 1 × 0 + 0 + 1 × 5 + 0 + 1 × 2 + 0 = 7 points
Propagation force of user A = 1 × 5 + 0 = 5 points Propagation force of user B = 1 × 3 + 5 + 1 × 0 + 7 = 15 points.

  Whether or not the information transmitted from the user to the user indicates the same content “application P is useful” can be determined by analyzing or analyzing the content of the transmitted and received information. When the content of information relates to an application, the category, type, name, function, etc. of the application can be determined by analyzing the explanatory text of the application. The information transmitted / received is not limited to information related to the application, and arbitrary information may be transmitted / received. Whatever information is exchanged, it is possible to determine whether or not the exchanged information includes the same content by analyzing the content of the information. For example, when information about news is transmitted and received, it is possible to determine whether or not the same content is included by analyzing news articles. When information about any product is transmitted and received, it is possible to determine whether or not the same content is included by analyzing the description of the product.

  In this way, the information providing server calculates the propagation power of each user's information using each user's communication history information and social graph information. The information providing server can determine the category of information by analyzing the content of information transmitted and received as described above, and calculate the propagation power of the user for each category of information.

  In step S25 of FIG. 2, the user of the communication terminal requests the information providing server to provide information about the influencer. This request may be performed while the user is conscious, or may be performed in the background without the user being conscious.

  In step S26, the information providing server determines whether or not a destination (person or organization) corresponding to the influencer exists in the telephone directory of the user who has made the request. Since influencers exist in various fields and categories, the presence or absence of influencers is confirmed according to the fields and categories. When such an influencer exists in the telephone directory, the information providing server notifies the user of that fact (step S27). When the information providing server provides information related to the influencer to the user, several forms are conceivable. At least the following cases 1-3 are considered.

(Case 1)
When the user displays the phone book on the display screen of the communication terminal, an indicator indicating that is displayed to the user corresponding to the influencer.

  FIG. 5 shows how the phone book is displayed with an indicator indicating that it is an influencer. User A's phone book is displayed on user A's communication terminal. User B, C, X, Y,... Are registered in the phone book of user A. User B has high propagation power to the extent that it corresponds to an influencer related to household electrical appliances. For example, the propagation force is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. An indicator [home appliance] indicating that the user B is an influencer related to the home appliance is displayed accompanying the user B. User X has a high propagation power to the extent that it corresponds to an influencer related to soccer. For example, the propagation force is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. An indicator [soccer] indicating that the user X is an influencer related to soccer is displayed accompanying the user X.

(Case 2)
When the user displays the phone book on the display screen of the communication terminal, a user with strong propagation power is displayed for each specific category.

  FIG. 6 shows a state in which a user with strong propagation power for each specific category is displayed on the display screen of the communication terminal. Similar to the case 1 of FIG. 5, the contents of the phone book of the user A are displayed on the communication terminal of the user A. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 6, users with strong propagation power for a specific category are displayed in order. Regarding home appliances, user B has the highest propagation power in user A's telephone directory, user K has the next highest propagation power, and user L has the next highest propagation power. The number of users to be displayed may or may not be limited to a predetermined number of people in descending order of propagation power. Or all the users who have the propagation power exceeding a predetermined threshold may be displayed.

(Case 3)
In case 1 and case 2 above, it is assumed that the display of FIGS. 5 and 6 is made when the user displays the phone book, but this is not essential to the present invention. For example, the influencer information may be displayed to the user in response to the user requesting the information providing server for any kind of influencer information.

  FIG. 7 shows a state in which users with strong propagation power are displayed in response to user requests. As shown on the left side, an inquiry screen is displayed on the user's communication terminal. The user makes an inquiry to the information providing server by inputting the category of the influencer desired to know. For example, the category “home appliance” is input. In response to this, the information providing server specifies a user having a high propagation power related to the home appliance in the user's telephone directory, and returns the user's information. As shown on the right side of FIG. 7, the user's communication terminal displays information received from the information providing server on the display screen, thereby providing the influencer information on the home appliance to the user.

  In any case 1-3, the user can easily know who is an influencer in his / her telephone directory. As a result, for example, when the user A wants to acquire knowledge about home appliances, the user A can immediately notice that the user B should be contacted.

  Furthermore, when displaying who is an influencer or who is a user with strong propagation power on the communication terminal, the user to be displayed and the propagation power of the user may be displayed.

  In step S26, it is not essential for the present embodiment that the information providing server specifies a destination (person or organization) corresponding to the influencer in the telephone directory. The information on the propagation power of each destination listed in the telephone directory is notified to the user who requested the influencer information, and the communication terminal of the user makes a comparison of the magnitude of the propagation power. It may be determined. That is, the process of determining the influencer in step S26 may be performed in the user's communication terminal.

<3. Communication terminal>
FIG. 8 shows a functional block diagram of a communication terminal used in the embodiment. FIG. 8 shows various functional elements included in the communication terminal that are particularly relevant to the operation of this embodiment. The illustrated communication terminal can be used as the communication terminals 11 and 12 in the communication system of FIG. The communication terminal includes a transmission / reception unit 81, a destination information management unit 82, a communication history information management unit 83, and a user interface 84.

  The transmission / reception unit 81 has a function of receiving a signal from the information providing server and a function of transmitting a signal to the information providing server. The received signal is, for example, a signal including information indicating who is an influencer. The signal to be transmitted is, for example, a signal for reporting communication history information by the communication terminal, a signal indicating update (correction or change) of destination information stored in the communication terminal, a signal for requesting provision of information on influencers, and the like. . The communication history information includes information related to transmission / reception of signals such as a call transmission history and a call reception history, a telephone communication partner, an e-mail transmission history and a reception history, an e-mail destination and a transmission source. The communication history information may include not only information related to such transmission / reception but also information related to operation of the communication terminal. Examples of such information include, for example, that an application has been downloaded, installed, activated or deleted on a communication terminal, that some operation has been performed in response to receiving the information (such as pressing or selecting a button). Is included.

The destination information management unit 82 manages information registered in the phone book and address book. In general, a telephone directory includes a list of telephone numbers, and an address book includes a list of e-mail addresses. However, the use of such terms is not essential to the present invention, and user destination information (phone numbers) that can be a communication partner. And / or email address) may be included in the address book.
The communication history information management unit 83 manages communication history information representing communication and operations performed through the communication terminal.

  The user interface 84 may be any suitable interface having a function of presenting information to the user and a function of accepting input from the user. The user interface may be a visual user interface or an auditory user interface. The user interface 84 is, for example, a display, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL display, a touch pad, a mouse, a stylus, a trackball, a microphone and a speaker, or any suitable combination thereof. However, it is not limited to these. Preferably, the user interface 84 is constructed by a display with a touch screen, a touch-sensitive transparent panel covers the display, and controls the display of the screen by the movement of the user's finger or stylus.

<4. Information provision server>
FIG. 9 shows a functional block diagram of the information providing server used in the embodiment. FIG. 9 shows various functional elements provided in the information providing server that are particularly related to the operation of this embodiment. The information providing server shown in the figure can be used as the information providing server 30 in the communication system of FIG. The information providing server includes a transmission / reception unit 91, a database 92, a social graph estimation unit 93, and a propagation force calculation unit 94.

  The transmission / reception unit 91 has a function of receiving a signal from the communication terminal and a function of transmitting a signal to the communication terminal. The signal to be transmitted is, for example, a signal including information indicating who is an influencer. The signal to be received is, for example, a signal for reporting communication history information by the communication terminal, a signal indicating update (correction or change) of destination information stored in the communication terminal, a signal for requesting provision of information on influencers, and the like. .

  The database 92 stores destination information and communication history information for each user. The destination information is information on the user's phone book and information on the user's address book.

  The social graph estimation unit 93 estimates a social graph indicating a connection between users based on destination information and communication history information of each user.

  The propagation force calculation unit 94 calculates the propagation force of each user's information based on the social graph by the method described above.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, they are merely exemplary and those skilled in the art will appreciate various variations, modifications, alternatives, substitutions, and the like. For example, the present invention may be applied to any appropriate communication system that provides some information to a user. Although specific numerical examples have been described in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, these numerical values are merely examples and any appropriate values may be used unless otherwise specified. Although specific mathematical formulas have been described to facilitate understanding of the invention, these mathematical formulas are merely examples, unless otherwise specified, and any appropriate mathematical formula may be used. The classification of the examples or items is not essential to the present invention, and the items described in two or more items may be used in combination as necessary, and the items described in one item may be combined with other items. It may be applied (as long as it is not inconsistent) to the matters described. For convenience of explanation, an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described using a functional block diagram, but such an apparatus may be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The software is available on random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk (HDD), removable disk, CD-ROM, database, server and any other suitable storage medium May be. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications, modifications, alternatives, substitutions, and the like are included in the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11, 12 Communication terminal 20 Communication network 30 Information provision server 81 Transmission / reception part 82 Destination information management part 83 Communication history information management part 84 User interface 91 Transmission / reception part 92 Database 93 Social graph estimation part 94 Propagation force calculation part

Claims (10)

A receiving unit that receives destination information indicating a user who can be a communication partner and communication history information from each of a plurality of users;
An estimation unit that estimates a social graph indicating a connection between users using the destination information;
Based on the communication history information, by investigating to which user in the social graph the information acquired by a certain user has propagated, a propagation force calculation unit that calculates the propagation force of the certain user;
An information providing server comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit information indicating a user having relatively high propagation power among the users included in the destination information of the given user to the given user. A receiving unit that receives destination information indicating a user who can be a communication partner and communication history information from each of a plurality of users;
An estimation unit that estimates a social graph indicating a connection between users using the destination information;
Based on the communication history information, by investigating to which user in the social graph the information acquired by a certain user has propagated, a propagation force calculation unit that calculates the propagation force of the certain user;
An information providing server comprising: one or more users included in the destination information of a given user and a transmission unit that transmits information indicating the propagation power of each of the one or more users to the given user.   When the information acquired by a certain user propagates to another user, and the information propagates from the other user to another user, the propagation power of the certain user propagates information to the other user. The information providing server according to claim 1, wherein the information providing server is calculated from contributions of both of the information and the propagation of information to the further user.   The information acquired by the certain user is transmitted to another user, and the information is classified according to whether the other user has operated the communication terminal of the other user in response to reception of the information. The information providing server according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the information has been transmitted to the user.   The transmission unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the transmission unit transmits information indicating the user having a relatively high propagation power to the given user in response to a request signal from the given user. Information providing server described in the section.   The propagation force calculation unit determines an information category by analyzing information exchanged between users, and to which user in the social graph the information acquired by a certain user has been transmitted. The information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a propagation power of the certain user is calculated for each category by checking each item.   The information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the destination information is expressed by a telephone directory indicating a user who can be a communication partner in a telephone.   The information providing server according to claim 1, wherein the destination information is represented by an address book indicating users who can be communication partners in electronic mail. From each of a plurality of users, receiving destination information indicating users who can be communication partners and communication history information,
Using the destination information, a social graph indicating the connection between users is estimated,
Based on the communication history information, by calculating to which user the information acquired by a user has propagated in the social graph, the propagation power of the certain user is calculated,
An information providing method comprising: transmitting information indicating a user having a relatively high propagation power among the users included in the destination information of the given user to the given user. From each of a plurality of users, receiving destination information indicating users who can be communication partners and communication history information,
Using the destination information, a social graph indicating the connection between users is estimated,
Based on the communication history information, by calculating to which user the information acquired by a user has propagated in the social graph, the propagation power of the certain user is calculated,
An information providing method comprising: transmitting to the given user information indicating one or more users included in the destination information of the given user and the propagation power of each of the one or more users.

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