JP2014067358A - Message display device, management server, message display control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To give a motivation to message browsing for a long time by giving interest to a user.SOLUTION: A message display device for displaying messages transmitted from one or more opposite users on a display part to provide a terminal user with the messages in a browsable manner includes a calculation part for calculating intimacy at least based on the number of times of messages transmitted from the opposite user in each opposite user, and a display control part for displaying user information about the opposite user on the display part in a display mode associated with the intimacy to the opposite user seen from a terminal user.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for allowing a plurality of users to browse messages transmitted from terminal devices of a plurality of users participating in a group.

  In recent years, services that allow browsing of messages using the Internet have become widespread. In such a service, a technique for selecting a message transmission destination based on link strength, which is a degree of connection between a plurality of users regarding a subject, is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-92579 A

By the way, a problem has arisen that the user cannot continue browsing (chatting) messages for a long time.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and one of its purposes is to provide a technique that makes it possible to motivate the user to be interested in browsing the message and continue it for a long time. is there.

  Means employed by the present invention to solve the above problems will be described. In order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, reference numerals in the drawings are appended in parentheses for convenience in the following, but the present invention is not intended to be limited to the illustrated forms.

  The message display device (20) according to the present invention displays a message transmitted from one or a plurality of other users on the display unit (205), and provides the terminal user with a viewable message display device (20). The calculation unit (234) for calculating for each partner user a familiarity based at least on the number of messages transmitted from the partner user, and the user information about the partner user, A display control unit (241) for displaying on the display unit in a display mode associated with the intimacy of the other user related to the user information.

According to the message display device (20) of the present invention, the user information of the partner user is displayed in a display mode corresponding to the density, so that the terminal user is interested in browsing the message. , Motivation to continue for a long time.
In the present description, the “message” sometimes refers to text information that is a text, but is not limited thereto, and may be a still image, a moving image, or a voice, or may include these. Therefore, “viewing a message” includes playback of moving images, sounds, and the like. “Calculation” includes reading from a storage unit such as a table in addition to calculation, calculation, and numerical conversion. The “message transmitted from the partner user” means a message transmitted (posted or transmitted) from the terminal device operated by the partner user based on the operation of the partner user.
“User information about the other user” in a broad sense is information about the user such as the gender, age, hobby, address, contact information, name (real name, pseudonym) of the other user. In a narrow sense, it is sender information as described below.

  In the present invention, the user information is sender information about the partner user, and the display control unit (241) associates the message with the sender information of the partner user who transmitted the message and displays the message. It is good also as a structure displayed on a part (205). The “sender information” is information sufficient to specify the sender of the message, and is, for example, the name of the sender, an image related to the person image, or the like.

  In the above configuration, a group composed of the terminal user and the one or more partner users is configured, and the display control unit (241) transmits from the partner user participating in the one group. The displayed message is displayed on the display unit (205), and the calculation unit (234) sums up the number of times of the message in each of the plurality of groups for the users participating in the plurality of groups. A closeness based on at least the number of times may be calculated. That is, when the partner user viewed from the terminal user participates in a plurality of groups, the familiarity of the partner user is based at least on the number of messages transmitted from the hand user to the plurality of groups. It is good also as a mode calculated by.

Here, the sender information includes image information and descriptive information, and the display control unit (241) displays the image indicated by the image information in the shade or brightness associated with the closeness. You may display on a part (205). The image information is, for example, profile image information, and a photographic image or an illustration image is used. The descriptive information is, for example, name information and is not limited to a real name, but is a nickname (screen name).
Note that descriptive information can be displayed in a certain display mode because it is not possible to specify the other user who sent the message when displayed in shades or brightness associated with intimacy as with image information. good.

In the present invention, the display control unit (241) may display the partner user on the display unit (205) in the order of familiarity.
Moreover, in this invention, when the said calculation part (234) satisfies predetermined conditions, you may make it reduce the familiarity of the other party user who satisfied the said conditions.

  The present invention is a management server (10) communicable with the terminal device (20), a reception unit (121) for receiving a message transmitted from the message display device (20) by the operation of the terminal user, It can also be conceptualized as a management server (10) including a transfer unit (125) that transfers the received message to the message display device (20) operated by the partner user.

Further, the present invention can be conceptualized not only as the message display device (20) and the management server (10), but also as a message providing method and a program that causes a computer to function as the message display device (20).
The program may be recorded on a recording medium. If this recording medium is used, the program can be installed in the computer, for example. Here, the recording medium storing the program may be a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM.
The program includes a recording medium provided inside or outside that can be accessed from a distribution server to distribute the program. The code of the program stored in the recording medium of the distribution server may be different from the code of the program that can be executed by the terminal device (20). That is, the format stored in the distribution server does not matter as long as it can be downloaded from the distribution server and installed in a form that can be executed by the terminal device (20). The program may be divided into a plurality of parts, downloaded at different timings, and combined in the terminal device (20), or the distribution server that distributes each of the divided programs may be different.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary operation | movement in embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the system containing the message display apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the management server in the system. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the terminal device which is a message display apparatus. It is a functional block diagram in the system. It is a figure which shows an example of the memory content of the terminal user information storage part of the terminal device. It is a figure which shows an example of the memory content of the group memory | storage part of the terminal device. It is a figure which shows an example of the memory content of the other party user information storage part of the terminal device. It is a figure which shows an example of the memory content of the message memory | storage part of the terminal device. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the terminal device. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the terminal device. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the terminal device. It is a figure which shows an example of the change conditions of intimacy. It is a figure which shows an example of the relationship between familiarity and a profile image. It is a figure which shows an example of the chat other party list screen in a terminal device. It is a figure which shows an example of the chat other party list screen in a terminal device. It is a figure which shows an example of the chat contribution and display screen in a terminal device. It is a figure which shows another example of the relationship between a closeness and a profile image. It is a figure which shows the example of the profile image in the example.

<Outline of Embodiment>
When a user executes an application program (chat application) on a terminal device such as a mobile phone, a one-to-one chat with a pre-registered partner, or a group with a plurality of opponents to form a group Chat is possible.
In such a chat, when a user of a terminal device (terminal user) operates the terminal device to select a group to be a chat partner, and performs an operation of transmitting (posting) a message, the message is managed. The data is transmitted to the terminal devices of the members constituting the group via the server. On the other hand, the message is stored in association with the group in the terminal device of the terminal user. Further, when a message is transmitted from a terminal device of any member of the group in which the terminal user participates, the message is received by the terminal user terminal device via the management server, and is sent to the group. Associated and stored. Therefore, in the terminal device of the terminal user, messages exchanged in the group in which the user participates are associated with the group and stored as a message history. When a certain group is selected in the terminal device of the terminal user, messages associated with the group are displayed in order of transmission date and time (post date and time) using the message history.
Thereby, the pseudo chat which shared one timeline among members will be performed. Here, when the message is displayed, the sender's name (kana, nickname, screen name, etc.) and profile image (photograph or illustration) can be identified so that the person who is speaking (sender) can be identified. Image) is displayed in association with the message.

  Such chats are widely used mainly in acquaintances with acquaintances in the real world, but in recent years, they are not limited to acquaintances with acquaintances, such as exchanging user IDs. The chat is also being used by persons who have only network relationships (internet acquaintances).

However, from the point of view of some users, chatting may not last for a long time because they are not particularly acquainted with internet acquaintances.
Therefore, the terminal device according to the present embodiment is configured to be motivated to continue chatting for a long time even by an internet acquaintance or the like as follows.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the outline.
As shown in this figure, at the time of chatting, the message body of the message is displayed in association with the name and profile image of the speaker of the message and the posting time of the message.
In this embodiment, the concept of familiarity is introduced in the display of this message. Here, the familiarity is a value indicating the degree of intimacy with the chat partner (partner user) as seen from the terminal user. Details of the level of intimacy will be described later. For example, if the terminal user sends a message to the other user, the friendship to the other user increases, and conversely, the terminal user uses the other user. If the message is not transmitted to the user, the intimacy with the other user is reduced.

  Then, as shown in the figure, in the terminal device of the terminal user, when a message is transmitted from the partner user, the profile image of the partner user associated with the message is displayed lightly or not at the start of communication. In addition to being displayed, the display becomes darker as the intimacy increases. For this reason, when a terminal user deepens communication with a partner user through chat, the profile image of the chat partner gradually appears on the terminal device of the terminal user. Therefore, it is possible to give the terminal user a pleasure that the appearance of the chat partner is gradually understood, which leads to motivation to continue the chat for a long time. In the present embodiment, the profile image is displayed according to the intimacy not only in the chat display but also when the chat partner is selected.

  In addition, when chatting with an acquaintance who is not an internet acquaintance, even if the chat does not last for a long time, a common topic that each other's profile image will emerge little by little, so when chatting with an internet acquaintance As well as motivation to keep chatting longer.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a system including a terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in this figure, in the system 1, a plurality of terminal devices 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4,... Are managed via a mobile communication network Nb, a gateway 15, and the Internet Na. 10 is connected. For the terminal devices 20-1, 20-2, 20-3,..., In general, “− (hyphen)” and the following symbols are omitted and simply “20”.

  The management server 10 serves as an intermediary when providing chat as a service provided by itself. Specifically, when providing the chat, the management server 10 forwards a message transmitted from a certain user's terminal device 20 to the terminal device of the other user, or a chat user or group. Or manage.

  In the present embodiment, as a chat, when a certain terminal device 20 is taken as a reference, the user (terminal user) of the terminal device 20 and a member (utilization) composed of one or more other users are used. Chatting with other people). For this reason, one group includes two or more people including the terminal user of the terminal device 20. In such a chat, a chat performed by two users of a terminal user and a partner user is called a one-to-one chat, or a chat performed by three or more persons including a terminal user is called a group chat in a narrow sense. There is also a case. Further, as will be described later, when chatting, a terminal user selects a group to be a chat destination in advance.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the management server 10. As shown in this figure, the management server 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 that controls the entire apparatus, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 102 that functions as a main memory of the CPU 101, and a ROM that stores a boot program and the like. (Read Only Memory) 103, an interface (I / F) 105 for communicating via a network, an RTC (Real Time Clock) 106 for outputting time information, and a storage unit 108 are included. In the storage unit 108, a database 118 managed by the CPU 101 is constructed.

The storage unit 108 stores a program for the management server 10 to provide a chat to the terminal device 20, various data, and the like. The database 118 manages user and group information and the like as will be described later.
The management server 10 is constructed as a single unit in FIG. 2, but may be configured to be distributed to two or more units and viewed as if it is virtually one unit when viewed from the outside. On the other hand, some functions of the management server 10 may be constructed by a server that provides other services. Moreover, you may comprise so that the management server 10 may connect with the terminal device 20 via a relay server.

  The terminal device 20 is a mobile phone operated by a user, for example. The terminal device 20 includes a touch panel 220 superimposed on the display panel 210, and a user can input necessary information and various instructions by touching the screen displayed on the display panel 210. It is a given configuration.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the terminal device 20. As shown in this figure, the terminal device 20 includes a CPU 201, a memory 202, a communication unit 204, an RTC 206, a storage unit 208, a display panel 210, and a touch panel 220.

Among these, the CPU 201 controls the entire terminal device 20, and the memory 202 stores a basic program and a chat application for executing chat in a nonvolatile manner. This chat application creates a message and transmits it to the management server 10 or displays a message received from the management server 10. The chat application is downloaded from a specific distribution site and installed on the terminal device 20. It is a thing.
In addition, in order to chat using the terminal device 20, it is not sufficient to install the terminal device 20 chat application, and it is necessary to acquire an account from the management server 10 as described later.

  The communication unit 204 communicates with the management server 10 via a mobile communication network Nb, a wireless LAN network, or the like. The RTC 206 outputs current time information. In the storage unit 208, a database 218 managed by the CPU 201 is constructed. Details of various storage units managed by the database 218 will be described later.

The display panel 210 is a flat display such as a liquid crystal display device or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) device. Although not described in detail, the touch panel 220 detects an operation position (two-dimensional coordinate value) for the screen displayed by the display panel 210 and supplies the detected position to the CPU 201. The CPU 201 specifies the operation content on the touch panel 220 such as the moving direction, moving speed, and touch operation of the touch position based on the detection information.
Here, the types of touch operations that can be specified include, for example, tap, flick, drag, pinch and the like. Of these, tapping is an operation of tapping the display screen with a finger. Flicking is an operation in which the object displayed on the screen is gently touched with a finger. Dragging is an operation of moving an object displayed on the screen in contact with a finger. Pinch is an operation of expanding or narrowing a display screen with two fingers in contact with each other.

The terminal device 20 is not limited to the mobile communication network Nb, and may be configured to be connected to a wireless LAN (Local Area Network). When connected to a wireless LAN, the terminal device 20 is connected to the management server 10 via a wireless base station (access point) and the Internet Na.
The terminal device 20 is not limited to a mobile phone, and may be a tablet computer or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

  The management server 10 executes the above-described program, and the terminal device 20 executes the chat application installed in advance, thereby constructing the following functional blocks.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing functional blocks constructed in the system 1.
In this figure, the functional block constructed | assembled by the management server 10 among the systems 1 and the terminal device 20 which paid its attention about one certain among several units | sets is shown.
As shown in this figure, on the terminal device 20 side, in addition to the display unit 205, the operation detection unit 231, the management unit 233, the transmission unit 236, and the display control unit 241, in the database 218, the terminal user information storage unit TB21, Four storage units are constructed: a group storage unit TB22, a partner user information storage unit TB23, and a message storage unit TB24. Details of these four storage units will be described later. The display unit 205 is provided in the display area of the display panel 210 and displays various contents.

The operation detection unit 231 detects an operation on the display unit 205 from the detection signal of the touch panel 220. Operations on the display unit 205 include inputting a message, sending (transmitting, posting) the message, and moving / switching the screen.
The management unit 233 includes a calculation unit 234 that calculates intimacy. When transmitting a message or the like to the management server 10, the management unit 233 attaches various information to the transmission unit 236 and supplies various information from the management server 10. , Manage four storage units, and supply information necessary for display on the display unit 205 to the display control unit 241.
The transmission unit 236 transmits the message supplied from the management unit 233 to the management server 10 together with various attached information.

The display control unit 241 controls the display contents so that the operation on the display unit 205 is reflected when the chat is executed. Specifically, the display control unit 241 causes the display unit 205 to display a list of chat partners on the chat partner list screen, or to post a message or the like supplied from the management server 10 via the management unit 233. Are displayed in this order.
In addition, when the receiving process and the regular process described later are executed, even if the chat application is not executed, the management unit 233 including the calculation unit 234, the group storage unit TB22, the partner user information storage unit TB23, and the message storage Part TB24 is constructed.

On the other hand, on the management server 10 side, in addition to the reception unit 121, the management unit 123, and the transfer unit 125, the user / group storage unit TB11 is constructed in the database 118.
The accepting unit 121 accepts a message or the like to which various information is attached from the terminal device 20.

  The management unit 123 refers to the user / group storage unit TB11 for information for accessing the terminal device to which the message or the like is to be transferred from various information attached to the message or the like. Get. The transfer unit 125 transfers the message received by the receiving unit 121 to the terminal device 20 whose transfer destination is specified.

  In the user / group storage unit TB11, although not shown in particular, information on users who can chat and information on groups to chat with are stored. Specifically, as information about a user who can chat, the name information of the user, a user ID that uniquely identifies the user, information for accessing the user's terminal device, and the like are registered. In addition, as information on the group, name information of the group, a group ID for uniquely identifying the group, user IDs of members constituting the group, and the like are registered.

The user ID is generated by the management unit 123 of the management server 10 in the course of this communication when the chat application is activated for the first time on the user terminal device 20 and the terminal device 20 communicates with the management server 10. The The user ID is registered in the user / group storage unit TB11 and is transmitted to the terminal device 20 via the transfer unit 125 and stored. Thereby, in the terminal device 20, the account for performing a chat application is acquired.
In the user / group storage unit TB11 in the management server 10, information is registered for all users and all groups. In the terminal device 20 described later, the group storage unit TB22 stores the terminal device 20 in question. Information about the group that can chat with the user is transferred from the user / group storage unit TB11 and registered, and in the other party user information storage unit TB23, the information on the other party users constituting the group is stored in the user / group storage unit TB11. It was transferred and registered from.

In FIG. 5, for convenience of explanation, attention is paid to one terminal device 20 (one user), and transmission / reception of information and messages between the terminal device 20 and the management server 10 is illustrated. Not too much. In practice, the management server 10 receives messages and the like from the plurality of terminal devices 20, and conversely transfers the messages and the like to the plurality of terminal devices 20. In the figure, a large number of arrows toward the reception unit 121 indicate that messages and the like are received from other terminal devices other than the focused terminal device 20, and a large number of arrows from the transfer unit 125 indicate other than the terminal device 20. This indicates that a message or the like is transmitted to other terminal devices.
Further, the Internet Na, the gateway 15, the mobile communication network Nb in FIG. 2, the I / F 105 in FIG. 3, the communication unit 204 in FIG. 4, and the like are only transmission paths for information and messages. In FIG.

  Here, for convenience of explanation, each of the terminal user information storage unit TB21, the group storage unit TB22, the partner user information storage unit TB23, and the message storage unit TB24 on the terminal device 20 side will be described in order.

<Terminal user information storage unit>
In this embodiment, when the terminal user instructs the chat partner to transmit a message using his / her terminal device 20, various information such as information indicating the terminal user (sender information) is attached to the message. To the chat partner terminal device 20 via the management server 10. The terminal user information storage unit TB21 stores sender information of the terminal user of the terminal device 20.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the terminal user information storage unit TB21.
As shown in this figure, the terminal user information storage unit TB21 stores the sender information of the user in association with the user ID of the terminal user. Here, the user ID is information for uniquely identifying the user, and the information generated by the management server 10 is registered as described above.
The sender information includes user name information that is descriptive information and user profile image information that is image information. Among these, in the name information, a name that allows the other user to identify the terminal user in the chat is registered, and not only the real name of the terminal user but also a nickname or the like is used. As the profile image information, a photograph image or an illustration image of the user is registered and selected or edited by the user. Note that the profile image information may be the link destination (reference destination) of the image information, not the actual image information itself. In any case, it is sufficient that a means for acquiring profile image information from a user ID or the like is taken.
FIG. 6 shows an example of the terminal user information storage unit TB21 registered in the terminal device 20 of the terminal user whose user ID is “aa11”.

<Group storage unit>
The group storage unit TB22 is for managing the parties in the chat on a group basis on the terminal device 20 side.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of stored contents in the group storage unit TB22.
As shown in this figure, in the group storage unit TB22, for each group ID that uniquely identifies a group that can chat with the terminal device 20, name (name) information, user IDs of members constituting the group, and Are stored in association with each other.
Among these, in the name information, if there are three or more members (terminal users) who are users of the terminal device 20 as members constituting the group, the name of the group is registered, and the members are terminal users. If there are two people including the name, the name of the partner user is registered. However, when there are two people, the name of the other user may be changed to the name of the group afterwards. In addition, when there are two members and three or more members are added, the registered content is changed to the name of the input group. In addition, even if there are three or more people, it may be registered with a name connecting the names of users who have joined the group, and the name of the group can be changed afterwards.

In the example of this figure, the case where the maximum value of the number of members constituting one group is “5” is shown. For example, five user IDs a to e can be registered as members. In addition, the founder of the group is registered as a member a, for example, and is registered as members b, c, d, and e in the order of participation.
Since the group storage unit TB22 stores group members when viewed from the terminal device 20, the members of each group always include a terminal user. In the example of the figure, a person whose user ID is “aa11” is a terminal user.
Further, the partner user viewed from the terminal user may be registered as a member across a plurality of groups.

  In the example of FIG. 7, the group whose group ID is “ax16” is composed of two users: a terminal user whose user ID is “aa11” and a partner user whose user ID is “aa13”. Is stipulated. Therefore, “Yu Takahashi J” registered in the name information of this group is the name of the user whose posting ID is “aa13”. Also in the group storage unit TB22 of the chat partner terminal device 20, although not shown in particular, in FIG. 7, the registered contents of the group whose group ID is “ax16” are stored. This is because, when there is a change such as a new group creation, group member addition or deletion, the details of the change are notified from the terminal device to the management server 10 as will be described in detail later. This is because it is master-registered in the group storage unit TB11 and is also transmitted to the members constituting the group, and the registered contents of the group are synchronized with each other.

  In the example of FIG. 7, the group with the group ID “ay03” has the name “team 246” and the user IDs “aa12”, “aa11” (terminal user), “aa33”, It is specified to be composed of four members “aa16”. Although not particularly illustrated, the group ID is “ay03” in each of the group storage unit TB22 of the terminal device of members other than the terminal user, that is, members whose user IDs are “aa12”, “aa33”, and “aa16”. ”Is registered. On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 7, the user whose user ID is “aa33” is registered in both the group whose name is “Shibuya Kai” and the group whose name is “Team 246”.

  For the sake of explanation, the maximum value of the number of members constituting the group is set to “5”. However, this is not intended to limit the number of members. Needless to say, there is no need to set an upper limit on the number of people.

<Other user information storage unit>
In the group storage unit TB22, user IDs of members constituting the group are registered. In the group storage unit TB22, the partner user information storage unit TB23 records information about each partner user corresponding to the user ID.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents stored in the partner user information storage unit TB23.
As shown in this figure, in the partner user information storage unit TB23, for each user ID, the sender information of the partner user specified by the user ID and the parent user's parent viewed from the terminal user. The density is stored. In this embodiment, the familiarity is, for example, a range from “0” to “999”, and the unit is a point (pt). In the example shown in the figure, the familiarity is shown as an integer value. However, as described below, it is actually a value with a decimal.

This closeness is added, for example, when the up condition shown in FIG. 13 is satisfied, and is subtracted when the down condition is satisfied.
Specifically, in this embodiment,
The first up condition (* 1) is when the terminal user posts (sends) a message to the other user,
As a second up condition (* 2), the terminal user confirms receipt of the message within a predetermined time (for example, 3 minutes) after the terminal user has posted (sent) the message to the other user ( Read)
As a third up condition (* 3), the terminal user sends a message to the terminal user within a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) after the terminal user posts (sends) a message to the other user. When you reply.
When the first up condition (* 1) is satisfied, 1 point is added to the familiarity of the other user, and when the second up condition (* 2) is satisfied, the other user's parent When 2 points are added to the density and the third up condition (* 3) is satisfied, 3 points are added to the familiarity of the other user.
On the other hand, as a down condition (* 4)
It is assumed that a predetermined period (for example, 72 hours) elapses between the terminal user posting (sending) a message to the other user and sending the next message.
When the down condition (* 4) is satisfied, the intimacy of the other user is subtracted by 10 points.

By the way, the example shown in FIG. 13 shows the addition and subtraction contents of the intimacy of the partner user viewed from the terminal user in the one-to-one chat.
When the first up condition (* 1) is satisfied in a group chat consisting of n persons (n is an integer of 3 or more) including terminal users, points to be added are the number of chat partners (n The value divided by -1). For example, when a terminal user sends a message to a partner user in a one-to-one chat, the familiarity of the partner user is incremented by one point, but the number of members is five including the terminal user. When a terminal user sends a message in a group chat, the familiarity of the four members is 0.25 points each.
In addition, for the second up condition (* 2) and third up condition (* 3) in group chat, points to be added in one-to-one chat to the intimacy of group members who satisfy the condition Is divided by the number of people (n-1).
As for the down condition (* 4) in the group chat, the intimacy of the members who satisfy the condition among the group members is subtracted by a value obtained by dividing 10 points by the number of people (n-1).

  Regarding intimacy, except for the down condition (* 4), only the first up condition (* 1), the second up condition (* 2), and the third up condition (* 3) good. Further, when only these up conditions are set, an upper limit may be set such that points to be added within a predetermined period (for example, 24 hours) are up to 30 points. Further, the third up condition (* 3) may be based on the condition that the message is transmitted from the other party simply by removing the restriction of within a predetermined time.

  In the terminal device 20 of the terminal user, a user registered in a plurality of groups (for example, a user whose user ID is “aa33” in the example of FIG. 7) is two or more groups in the group storage unit TB22. Although registered as an item, in the other-party user information storage unit TB23, closeness is managed on a one-to-one basis with respect to the user ID. For this reason, the intimacy of the users registered in a plurality of groups is added or subtracted by the value obtained by dividing the one-to-one chat points by the number of people in each of the plurality of groups.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of contents defining the density of the profile image with respect to the familiarity. In the example of this figure, the intimacy is the first stage from “0” to “199”, the second stage from “200” to “399”, the third stage from “400” to “599”, “600” to It is divided into the fourth stage of “799” and the fifth stage of “800” to “999”, and the density for the profile image is 20% in the first stage, 40% in the second stage, and in the third stage. It is defined as 60%, 80% in the fourth stage, and 100% in the fifth stage.
In addition, when the profile image is configured in a bitmap format and each of the RGB components of the constituent pixels is designated with a gradation of “0” (dark) to “255” (light), the density for the profile image is set. The process of 20% means a process of displaying in a gradation obtained by subtracting a value obtained by multiplying the RGB component of the constituent pixel by 0.2 as a coefficient from the maximum value “255”. Therefore, in this case, the profile image displayed in a mode corresponding to the familiarity gradually changes from a light state to the density of the original profile image information as the familiarity increases.
Here, in order to simplify the explanation, the familiarity is divided into five levels from the first stage to the fifth stage, but it may be less or more.
In the first first stage, the concentration may be 0%. Note that setting the density to 0% means displaying in white and the amount of information is zero, so a dedicated image may be displayed.

<Message storage unit>
In the present embodiment, the terminal device 20 receives messages and the like transmitted from the partner user one by one via the management server 10. The storage location of the message received at this time is the message storage unit TB24. In addition to the text information that is the main body, various accompanying information is attached to the received message or the like.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of registered contents in the message storage unit TB24.
As shown in this figure, in the message storage unit TB24, for each posting ID assigned by the management server 10 to uniquely identify a message, a poster ID indicating the user who posted the message, and a chat partner Group ID, post date / time information indicating the date and time when the message was transmitted, for example, year / month / day / hour / minute / second, character information of the message as the main body, and a read flag are stored in association with each other. . Among these, the poster user ID is used as the poster ID.

The message received from the management server 10 is attached with post ID, contributor ID, group ID, and post date / time information as supplementary information.
On the other hand, the message transmitted from the terminal user terminal device 20 to the management server 10 is attached in a state in which the posting ID is not included in the incidental information. However, when the management server 10 transfers the message to the chat partner's terminal device 20, the management unit 123 of the management server 10 assigns a post ID for identifying the message to be included in the incidental information.
Further, when the terminal user performs an operation of transmitting a message, the message is directly stored in the message storage unit TB24 in the terminal device 20 of the terminal device 20 without accompanying the management server 10 together with the accompanying information not including the posting ID. May be. However, even in this case, the management server 10 returns the posting ID together with the message reception notification. Therefore, in the terminal apparatus 20, the returned posting ID is associated with the message and stored in the message storage unit TB24.

Here, the read flag is a flag indicating whether or not the terminal user has read (viewed) the message associated with the read flag. If “1”, the read flag is a read state. “0” indicates an unread state. That is, in the message storage unit TB24, a message whose read flag is “1” is in a state where the terminal user operating the terminal device 20 has already browsed, while a message whose read flag is “0”. Is configured so that the terminal device 20 can recognize that the terminal user has not yet browsed.
In the present embodiment, when a group to be a chat partner is selected on a chat partner list screen to be described later, a chat posting / display screen is displayed and a message transmitted by the group is displayed. For this reason, “reading a message” is synonymous with selecting a group including the corresponding user on the chat partner list screen. Specifically, the message already read means that the message transmitted by the partner user (terminal device 20 thereof) is stored in the message storage unit TB24 in association with the group in the message storage unit TB24 along with the accompanying information, and then is displayed on the chat partner list screen. This is synonymous with selection of a group including the other user or selection of the group at the time of storage.
Therefore, although details will be described later, when a message from the chat partner is received by the terminal device 20, the message is stored in the message storage unit TB24 with "0" set as the read flag. The Thereafter, when a group including the chat partner is selected, the read flag of the message is changed to “1”. Alternatively, when a message from the chat partner is received by the terminal device 20, if a group including the chat partner is selected, the message is stored in a state where “1” is set in the read flag. Stored in the part TB24.

  The main body (text) of the posted message may be managed and stored in another table (not shown) in association with the posting ID.

<System operation>
Next, the operation of the system 1 will be described.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal device 20.
First, in the terminal device 20, when a terminal user performs a predetermined operation for chatting, for example, when a tap operation is performed on an icon corresponding to the chat on the main menu screen (not shown), the chat application is activated. The When the chat application is activated, the management unit 233 acquires information necessary for displaying the chat partner list screen from each storage unit and supplies the information to the display control unit 241.
Specifically, the management unit 233 acquires the name information of the terminal user from the terminal user information storage unit TB21, while acquiring information about the group that can be chatted from the group storage unit TB22, and the members of the group Name information, profile image information, and familiarity are acquired from the partner user information storage unit TB23. At this time, the calculation unit 234 in the management unit 233 calculates the familiarity of the group of three or more people including the terminal user by the average value of the familiarity of the members excluding the terminal user. In addition, the management unit 233 accesses the message storage unit TB24, and aggregates the items whose read flag is “0” for each group. These pieces of information are supplied to the display control unit 241.
The display control unit 241 creates a partner list screen that allows chatting based on the supplied information, and causes the display unit 205 to display the partner list screen. As a result, the chat partner list screen is displayed on the display unit 205 (step Sb11).

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a chat partner list screen. As shown in this figure, the display unit 205 displays a list of names (names) of opponents who can chat with the terminal user. This partner's name (name) is the name of the group if there are three or more members who comprise the terminal user, and if there are two members who have not been changed afterwards, the other user Is the name.
In this chat partner list screen, the display control unit 241 lists opponents who can chat with the terminal user from the top in the figure in descending order of closeness. The familiarity here is the average value of the familiarity of members excluding the terminal user if the chat partner is a group of three or more people including the terminal user, and is calculated by the calculation unit 234. Things are used. Further, in the case of a group of two people, the familiarity of the partner user, and what is stored in the partner user information storage unit TB23 is used as it is.
The display control unit 241 displays the profile image associated with the partner user in the vicinity of the display portion of the partner user name on the chat partner list screen at a density according to the familiarity. In this chat partner list screen, chatting partners are displayed in descending order of closeness, so that the density of the displayed profile image decreases from top to bottom.

  In addition, a mark 261 with a number may be displayed in the name (name) of a partner who can chat. The mark 261 indicates the number of unread messages transmitted from the chat partner, and the ones whose read flag is “0” in the message storage unit TB24 are aggregated for each chat partner. For this reason, the terminal user can know that there is an unread message and how many unread messages there are for the partner whose mark 261 is displayed. In the chat partner list screen, the mark 261 is not displayed for a group (group name, partner user) in which all the read flags of messages associated with the group are “1”.

  In the chat partner list screen, the name of the terminal user acquired from the terminal user information storage unit TB21 is displayed for confirmation.

On the other hand, the display control unit 241 is a group of three or more persons including a terminal user (a group in which a message is transmitted to a plurality of members other than the terminal user) in the vicinity of the name display portion of the group. And a member confirmation button 251 is displayed.
Further, the display control unit 241 displays a button 252 in the upper right corner of the drawing on the chat partner list screen. This button 252 is a software button for instructing the end of the chat application.

In such a list display, the chat partner is selected, for example, when the user touches the display portion of the name of the partner user or the name of the group. When there are many partner names that can be chatted and cannot be displayed all at once, the chat partner list screen is scrolled up and down by an operation such as flicking.
In this example, one-to-one chat and group chat are mixed and displayed in descending order of familiarity in this example. However, for example, the screen is divided into two screens, and one-to-one chat is performed on one screen. It is also possible to display a list of possible partners in the order of familiarity, and display a list of groups capable of group chat on the other screen in the order of the average value of the familiarity. At this time, it is preferable that the two screens can be switched by flicking or the like. In addition, when displaying a list of groups in which group chat is possible, an ascending order based on the name of the group (for example, A, B, C,... You may make it list in order, such as (for example, Z, Y, X, ... order when it is set as the alphabet description).

  Returning to FIG. 10, in the chat partner list screen, the operation detection unit 231 determines whether or not an appropriate operation has been performed on the display unit 205 (step Sb12). Here, the appropriate operation is an operation within a range assumed in advance, for example, an operation on a display part of a button or a display part of a name, and an operation such as the flick described above.

If there is no operation, or if the operation is an invalid operation that is not expected even if there is an operation (if the determination result in step Sb12 is “No”), the processing procedure returns to step Sb11. For this reason, the display of the chat partner list screen continues until some appropriate operation is performed.
When an appropriate operation is performed (when the determination result of step Sb12 is “Yes”), the operation detection unit 231 first determines whether or not the operation is an operation on the display portion of the button 252 ( Step Sb13).

  If it is an operation on the display part of the button 252, that is, an operation for instructing the end of the chat (if the determination result in step Sb 13 is “Yes”), the operation detection unit 231 notifies the management unit 233 to that effect. To quit the chat app.

  On the other hand, if the operation performed on the chat partner list screen is not an operation on the display portion of the button 252 (if the determination result in step Sb13 is “No”), the operation detection unit 231 next performs the operation. Is an operation such as selection of a chat partner, that is, an operation such as touching the display portion of the name of the partner user or the name of the group (step Sb21).

If the operation is not an operation for selecting a chat partner (if the determination result in step Sb21 is “No”), a process corresponding to the operation is executed (step Sb28).
Examples of such processing include an operation on the button 251 and a flick of a chat partner list screen. Among these, in the case of an operation on the button 251, the operation detection unit 231 notifies the management unit 233 of the detection of the operation, and the management unit 233 acquires information about the constituent members of the group corresponding to the button 251. To do.
Specifically, the management unit 233 first obtains information (user ID, sender information) of a terminal user who accesses the terminal user information storage unit TB21 and operates the terminal device 20, and second The group storage unit TB22 is accessed to obtain the user IDs of the members of the group, and thirdly, the other party user information storage unit TB23 is accessed, and the sender information and familiarity corresponding to the user IDs Fourth, the acquired information is transferred to the display control unit 241.

  Based on the transferred information, the display control unit 241 displays a screen for confirming the constituent members of the group corresponding to the button 251, for example, the acquired group members in the order of closeness together with the name information and the closeness A screen in which profile images having densities corresponding to the above are associated with each other is created and displayed on the display unit 205.

FIG. 16 is an example of a group member list screen. Here, FIG. 16 shows that the button 251 (see FIG. 15) corresponding to the group having the group ID “ay03” and the name “team 246” in the group storage unit TB22 shown in FIG. In this example, the names and profile images of the four members constituting the group, that is, the members whose user IDs are “aa12”, “aa11”, “aa33”, “aa16” are displayed. is there.
Among the four names, the user whose user ID is “aa11” is the terminal user acquired from the terminal user information storage unit TB21 and is therefore displayed first from the top. For the remaining three people, as can be seen from FIG. 8, the user IDs are “aa16”, “aa33”, and “aa12” in descending order of familiarity. For this reason, for the members constituting the group, a name and a profile image having a density corresponding to the familiarity are displayed in this order.

The flick of the chat partner list screen is as described above.
After step Sb28, the processing procedure returns to the display of the chat partner list screen in step Sb11.

  On the other hand, if the operation performed on the chat partner list screen is an operation for selecting a chat partner (if the determination result in step Sb21 is “Yes”), the operation detection unit 231 notifies the management unit 233 accordingly. . In response to this notification, the management unit 233 accesses the message storage unit TB24 to acquire a message corresponding to the selected group, and accesses the partner user information storage unit TB23 to associate with the acquired message. The sender information and closeness corresponding to the posted (user) ID is acquired. The management unit 233 transfers the acquired information to the display control unit 241, and instructs to display the chat posting / display screen corresponding to the group (step Sb23).

  Here, before explaining the chat posting / display screen, a reception process executed when information related to chat is received from the management server 10 will be described. This is because the chat posting / display screen is displayed based on the content of the message storage unit TB24, but the content of the message storage unit TB24 is changed (added) by this reception process. In addition, this reception process is performed in addition to the determination whether the second up condition (* 2) or the third up condition (* 3) of the intimacy shown in FIG. A process of adding intimacy is also included.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the reception process.
This reception process is executed in response to reception of information related to chat from the management server 10. Specifically, the reception process is executed independently and in parallel with the chat application even if the chat application is not executed or the chat application is executed.

In the present embodiment, the following four items are assumed as information related to the chat received by the terminal device 20 from the management server 10. That is, firstly, when a message is transmitted with accompanying information attached from another terminal device 20 (via the management server 10), and secondly, when the message is transmitted to the other user's terminal device. , A read notification indicating that the message has been browsed (displayed) on the terminal device of the partner user, thirdly, a posting ID assigned by the management server 10, and fourthly, including a terminal user When a change occurs in the group configuration, information on the changed member is assumed.
Of these, the first is used to determine whether or not the third close condition (* 3) of intimacy is satisfied. A message transmitted from the terminal device of the other user is received by the terminal device of the terminal user via the management server 10, but the message from the management server 10 includes character information that is a message body. In addition to the above, as supplementary information, a post ID, a contributor ID, a group ID, post date information, and poster sender information (name information and profile image information) are attached.
The second is used to determine whether or not the second closeness condition (* 2) of intimacy is satisfied.
As for the third, when the terminal device 20 instructs the transmission of the message, the message is stored in the message storage unit TB24 together with the incidental information excluding the posting ID. Used to compensate.
In addition, the information regarding the member after the change regarding the fourth is as already described in the group storage unit TB22 and the partner user information storage unit TB23.

When any information is received from the management server 10, the management unit 233 first determines whether the information is a message (attached information attached) (step Sb101). If it is a message (if the determination result of step Sb101 is “Yes”), the management unit 233 first accesses the message storage unit TB24 and relates to the poster (user) ID of the received message. The terminal user obtains the posting date / time information when the terminal user last sent the message to the other user, and secondly, the time from the obtained posting date / time information to the message reception time is within a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes). It is determined whether or not there has been (step Sb103). That is, the management unit 233 determines whether the time from when the terminal user transmits a message to the partner user until the partner user returns the message is within a predetermined time.
If it is within the predetermined time (if the determination result of step Sb103 is “Yes”), the third up condition (* 3) is satisfied, so the management unit 233 is a group of one-to-one chats. If there is, 3 points are added to the familiarity of the poster (user) ID (step Sb104). If the group is not a one-to-one chat group, a value obtained by dividing 3 points by the number of chat partners in the group (n-1) is added to each member's intimacy.
On the other hand, if it is not within the predetermined time (if the determination result in step Sb103 is “No”), or after the processing in step Sb104, the management unit 233 displays the message received from the management server 10 together with the associated information as a group. The message is stored in the message storage unit TB24 in association with the ID (step Sb105).

In this storage, if the chat application is executed and the group of the group ID is selected on the partner list screen, the management unit 233 sets “1” as the read flag of the received message and receives it. A read notification indicating that the terminal user has viewed the message is transmitted to the terminal device of the other user associated with the poster ID. This is because the other terminal device checks the read notification in the same manner as the terminal device checks the read notification.
On the other hand, when the chat application is not executed, or when the group of the group ID is not selected even when the chat application is executed, the management unit 233 sets “0” as the read flag of the received message. Set.

On the other hand, if the received information is not a message (if the determination result in step Sb101 is “No”), the management unit 233 next sends the message to the partner user when the terminal user transmits a message to the partner user. It is determined whether or not the read notification is returned from the user (the terminal device) (step Sb106).
If it is a read notification (if the determination result in step Sb106 is “Yes”), the management unit 233 first accesses the message storage unit TB24 and uses the other party of the terminal device that has returned the read notification. The terminal user obtains the posting date and time information when the terminal user last transmitted a message, and secondly, the time until receiving the read notification from the obtained posting date and time information is within a predetermined time (for example, 3 minutes) It is determined whether or not there has been (step Sb107). That is, the management unit 233 determines whether or not the time from when the terminal user transmits a message to the partner user until the partner user views the message is within a predetermined time.
If it is within the predetermined time (if the determination result of step Sb107 is “Yes”), the second up condition (* 2) is satisfied, so the management unit 233 is a group of one-to-one chats. If there is, 2 points are added to the familiarity of the user ID (step Sb108). If the group is not a one-to-one chat group, a value obtained by dividing 2 points by the number of chat partners in the group (n-1) is added to each member's intimacy.

If the received information is not a read notification (if the determination result in step Sb106 is “No”), the management unit 233 determines whether the information is a post ID assigned by the management server 10 or not. It discriminate | determines (step Sb109). If the information is a posting ID (if the determination result in step Sb109 is “Yes”), the management unit 233 stores the posting ID in the message storage unit TB24 in association with the corresponding message (step Sb110). . Thereby, the post ID that was blank is replenished.
If the received information is not the posting ID (if the determination result in step Sb109 is “No”), the information is information on the member after the group change. For this reason, the management unit 233 reflects the information on the changed configuration member in the group storage unit TB22 and the sender information on the member in the partner user information storage unit TB23 (step Sb111).

When the determination result of step Sb107 is “No”, or after the process of step Sb105, Sb108, Sb110, or Sb11, the reception process ends. However, when information related to the chat is received again from the management server 10, the reception process is called. For this reason, every time any information is received from the management server 10, the received information is stored and reflected in the storage unit.
In the message storage unit TB24, the messages transmitted from the terminal device 20 of the partner user and passed through the management server 10 are stored one by one in association with the group by this reception process, while the terminal user has his / her own terminal. Since the message for which transmission has been performed by the device 20 is stored in direct association with the group without going through the management server 10, a kind of message history is formed.
The chat posting / display screen is displayed using such a message history.

Returning the description to FIG. 10 again, the management unit 233 accesses the message storage unit TB24 to read out a message corresponding to the selected group, and also accesses the partner user information storage unit TB23 to receive the message. The sender information and the intimacy associated with the poster (user) ID are read out and transferred to the display control unit 241. Then, the management unit 233 instructs the display control unit 241 to display the chat posting / display screen corresponding to the group (step Sb23).
When the message read at this time includes a message whose read flag is “0”, the management unit 233 changes the read flag to “1” and uses the message at the terminal. The already-read notification indicating that the user has browsed is transmitted to the terminal device of the other user associated with the poster ID.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a chat posting / display screen. The display control unit 241 displays messages associated with the selected chat partner group on the display unit 205 in the order of the posting date based on the incidental information.
Specifically, the display control unit 241 sorts the forwarded messages in the order of the time indicated by the posting date / time information of the incidental information, and arranges them so that, for example, newer ones are arranged on the upper side of the display unit 205. Let For this reason, in the example of a figure, message display (1) is the newest among message display (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and it becomes old as it goes down.

As for the contents of each message display, for example, a profile image indicating the sender is displayed on the right side of the screen, the name of the sender is displayed above the profile image, and the posting time (hours and minutes) is displayed below the profile image. It is displayed. Of these, the posting time uses a part of the posting date / time information, but as another part, for example, the month / day / hour / minute may be displayed, or the entire year / month / date / hour / minute / second may be displayed. Also, how far the posting date / time information is traced back from the current time information may be displayed, for example, how many minutes ago or how many hours ago.
On the other hand, the body of the message is expressed by being surrounded by a speech balloon as it is emitted from the profile image. The profile image at this time is displayed at a density according to the familiarity of the user.
In this way, the terminal user of the terminal device 20 and other members share a timeline as if they were chatting.

  Note that the message display on the display unit 205 in FIG. 17 is an example when the terminal user touches the display part named “Team 246” on the chat partner list screen in FIG. This is an example of the case where the storage contents of the TB 24 are shown in FIG. In this case, the terminal user whose user ID is “aa11” has selected the group whose group ID is “ay03” as the chat partner. In other words, the group whose group ID is “ay03” among the messages registered in the message storage unit TB24 is selected as the chat partner. For this reason, among the messages registered in the message storage unit TB24, each of (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) whose group ID is “ay03” is displayed in the display unit 205. A message is displayed.

Further, in the example of the figure, only five messages are displayed for message display, but they are displayed by scrolling up and down by an operation such as flicking. In addition, the message display is enlarged or reduced by an operation such as pinch.
Among the message displays on the display unit 205, the message display by itself may be displayed in a manner that can be distinguished from the message display by other members. For example, the profile image may be omitted, the balloon shape of the message may be different from the others, or the display color or font of the message body may be different.

  By the way, the chat posting / display screen includes a message input unit 214 and buttons 253 and 255 as shown in FIG. The message input unit 214 is an area for inputting a message to be transmitted using a software keyboard or the like, and the button 253 is a software button for confirming the content of the message input to the message input unit 214 and instructing transmission. . The button 255 is a software button for instructing to return to the previous chat partner list screen.

The operation detection unit 231 determines whether or not an appropriate operation has been performed on such a chat posting / display screen (step Sb24). If there is no operation, or if the operation is an invalid operation that is not expected even if there is an operation (if the determination result in step Sb24 is “No”), the processing procedure returns to step Sb23.
For this reason, the processing procedure circulates through the route of steps Sb23 → Sb24 → (Sb23) until some appropriate operation is performed, so the chat posting / display screen continues and the message received in the middle of the circulation route Is stored in the message storage unit TB24 by the reception process, if the message is associated with the selected group, it is additionally displayed on the display unit 205.

  In this embodiment, the following operation is assumed as an appropriate operation for the chat posting / display screen. That is, firstly, an operation on the display part of the button 253, secondly an operation on the display part of the button 255, and thirdly, other operations are assumed. Other operations include a flick for scrolling a message, a pinch for enlarged display, an input operation on the message input unit 214, and the like.

When an appropriate operation is performed (when the determination result of step Sb24 is “Yes”), the operation detection unit 231 first determines that the operation is a message transmission instruction, that is, an operation on the display portion of the button 253. It is determined whether or not there has been (step Sb25).
When the operation is on the button 255 (when the determination result of step Sb25 is “Yes”), the operation detection unit 231 displays the content of the message input to the message input unit 214 at the time of the operation, the management unit 233. To supply.
The management unit 233 acquires time information at the time when the instruction is given from the RTC 206 and sets it as posting date information of the message. Note that time information acquired from the RTC 106 of the management server 10 at the timing when the management server 10 receives the message may be used as message posting date and time information.
Also, the management unit 233 acquires its sender information (user name information and profile image information) from the terminal user information storage unit TB21.
Then, the management unit 233 adds the terminal user's user ID, the posting date and time information, the chat partner's group ID selected in the previous step Sb21 to the message (text) input to the message input unit 214, The sender information is attached as incidental information and stored in the message storage unit TB24. At this time, the posting ID has not been given yet.
On the other hand, the management unit 233 supplies the message supplied from the operation detection unit 231 to the transmission unit 236 together with the accompanying information, and the transmission unit 236 transmits the message and the accompanying information to the management server 10 (step Sb26).

Since the first up condition (* 1) is satisfied by sending the message, the management unit 233 uses the terminal among the group members of the group ID that is the chat partner if the group is a one-to-one chat group. One point is added to the intimacy of the members other than the member (step Sb27). If the group is not a one-to-one chat group, a value obtained by dividing one point by the number of chatting partners (n-1) in the group is added to each member's intimacy.
Thereafter, the processing procedure returns to step Sb23.

On the other hand, in the management server 10, the reception unit 121 receives a message or the like, and the management unit 123 assigns a unique posting ID to the received message or the like, and the transfer destination of the received message is included in the incidental information It is specified from the ID and the user ID of the sender. Specifically, as described above, the management unit 123 accesses the user / group storage unit TB11, and among the members of the group indicated by the group ID, the user's user ID is excluded from the sender's user ID. The terminal device is specified as the transfer destination of the message. Here, the reason for excluding the sender of the message as the forwarding destination is that the message is stored in the message storage unit TB24 in the terminal device 20 of the sender and does not need to be forwarded.
Then, the transfer unit 125 transfers the accepted message to the transfer destination terminal device 20 specified by the management unit 123.
Thereby, in the transfer destination terminal device 20, the message or the like is stored in association with the group ID in the message storage unit TB24 by the reception process (see FIG. 11) (step Sb105). Therefore, in the transfer destination terminal device 20, if the chat application is executed and the same group is selected, the message is additionally displayed on the display unit 205 in the display of the chat posting / display screen (step Sb23). It will be.
In this way, the transmitted message is shared among the members of the group.
The management server 10 returns the assigned post ID to the terminal device 20 of the terminal user who transmitted the message together with the message reception notification. Thereby, in the terminal device 20, the posting ID returned from the management server 10 is stored in the message storage unit TB24 in association with the previous message (step Sb110).

When the operation performed on the chat posting / display screen is not an operation for instructing transmission of a message (when the determination result in Step Sb25 is “No”), the operation detection unit 231 performs the operation. It is determined whether or not it is an operation for designating returning to the chat partner list screen, that is, an operation such as a tap on the display portion of the button 255 (step Sb30).
When the operation is on the button 255 (when the determination result of step Sb30 is “Yes”), the processing procedure returns to the display of the chat partner list screen in step Sb11.

  If the operation is not a return operation (if the determination result in step Sb30 is “No”), processing corresponding to the operation performed, specifically, as another operation, for flicking for scroll display or for enlarged display Processing according to the pinch, input operation, etc. is executed (step Sb31). Thereafter, the processing procedure returns to step Sb23.

<Periodic processing>
Next, regular processing will be described. This periodic process is started periodically (for example, every hour) in the terminal device 20 in which the chat application is installed. In other words, this periodic process is executed independently and in parallel with the chat application even if the chat application is not executed or the chat application is executed.
The purpose of this periodic process is to determine whether or not the down condition (* 4) is satisfied, and to subtract the corresponding familiarity if there is anything that satisfies it. For this reason, the execution cycle of the periodic process is set to an interval shorter than the predetermined period of the down condition (* 4).

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the regular processing.
First, the management unit 233 accesses the message storage unit TB24, and acquires post date information on the last transmission of a message by the terminal user for each group (step Sb201). Next, the management unit 233 determines whether or not there is an elapse of a predetermined period (for example, 72 hours) from the acquired posting date / time information to the current time information acquired by the RTC 206. (Step Sb202).
When there is something (when the determination result of step Sb202 is “Yes”), the management unit 233 is a one-to-one chat group, and the closeness of members other than the terminal user among the group members Is subtracted by 10 points (step Sb203). If the group is not a one-to-one chat group, the intimacy of each member is subtracted by a value obtained by dividing 10 points by the number of chat partners in the group (n-1). When the determination result in step Sb202 is “No”, or after step Sb203, this periodic processing ends. However, it is restarted when the set time has elapsed since the end.

According to this embodiment, when communication with a partner user is deepened through chat, the profile image of the chat partner gradually emerges. Therefore, since it is possible to give the terminal user a pleasure that the appearance of the chat partner is gradually understood, it becomes possible to motivate the chat by the chat application to be continued for a long time.
On the other hand, if you are not chatting, the down condition (* 4) will be satisfied, so the intimacy of the chat partner will decrease. For this reason, even if communication temporarily becomes active and the intimacy becomes high, the intimacy decreases if the user is left without chatting. Therefore, it is clear from the terminal user who is the other user who is actively communicating at the present time.
In particular, in the chat partner list screen, opponents who can chat are listed in descending order of closeness, so it is obvious at a glance who the other user is actively communicating at the present time.
On the other hand, you can see who has low intimacy. For this reason, if there is a purpose of increasing intimacy with respect to any partner, it also helps to select which partner to communicate with. In that sense, on the chat partner list screen, you may be able to list opponents that can chat in ascending order of intimacy, or switch between displaying in high order or displaying in low order. good.

<Application and modification>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and for example, various applications and modifications as described below are possible. Note that one or a plurality of arbitrarily selected aspects of application / deformation described below can be appropriately combined.

<Display mode of profile image>
In the embodiment, the profile image is displayed at a density corresponding to the familiarity, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the profile image information may be subjected to a mosaic process that becomes closer to the original as the familiarity increases.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content of processing performed on a profile image with respect to intimacy. In the example of this figure, the intimacy is divided from the first stage to the fifth stage, and one side of the mosaic tile for the profile image is 20 pixels in the first stage, 10 pixels in the second stage, It is defined as 4 pixels in the 3rd stage, 2 pixels in the 4th stage, and 1 pixel in the 5th stage.
The mosaic processing here is processing for dividing original profile image information, for example, by dividing m × m pixels as one unit, and averaging each unit and applying it to the original m × m pixels. M at this time is defined as one side of the mosaic tile.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the mosaic image processing is performed on the profile image information according to the familiarity and displayed. As shown in this figure, in the first stage where the intimacy is low, since the mosaic tile is coarse, the original profile image is blurred and displayed, but then the mosaic tile becomes finer as the intimacy increases. Therefore, it gradually becomes closer to the original profile image, and becomes 1 pixel in the final fifth stage, so that the original profile image is displayed.
Further, the processing using the closeness as a function argument may be performed on the original profile image and displayed on the display unit 205 without dividing the closeness in stages.
In any case, it is only necessary to display the image in a manner close to the original profile image as the intimacy increases.

<Profile image, default image>
As described above, the user uses what is selected or edited as his / her profile image. At this time, there is a case where a default image is selected as the profile image, which is not a photographic image but is a person but shows only the appearance as a pattern. When such a default image is selected as the profile image, the profile image may be displayed in a display mode corresponding to the intimacy as in the embodiment, or the default display in a constant display mode regardless of the intimacy. An image may be displayed as a profile image. And when a user changes a default image into a photographic image, you may make it display in the display mode according to closeness.

<User information>
In the embodiment, the profile image is displayed on the display unit 205 in the display mode according to the familiarity, but the target to be displayed in the display mode according to the familiarity is not limited to the profile image. For example, if information about users is registered across multiple items, such as gender, age (age, age category), occupation, birthplace, hobby, etc., these items will depend on intimacy May be disclosed in a predetermined order or randomly.

<Management section (calculation section)>
In each embodiment, the management unit 233 is expressed as a block including the calculation unit 234. However, the management unit 233 may not be particularly distinguished and may be considered as a separated block.

<Message format>
The message is only text, but may be an audio signal, a still image, a moving image, or a combination of these as appropriate. When the message includes an audio signal or a moving image, reproduction of these is browsing.

<Operation other than touch panel>
Although the terminal device 20 has been described as a configuration having the touch panel 220, it may be configured to have operation elements such as hardware keys and switches and perform various input operations via these operation elements.

<Cloud>
In the embodiment, the management server 10 includes and manages the database 118. However, the management server 10 may be managed by a server other than the management server 10, that is, managed by cloud computing. Similarly, in the embodiment, the terminal device 20 is configured to include and manage the database 218, but may be managed by cloud management by the management server 10 or another server.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... System, 10 ... Management server, 20 ... Terminal device (message display device), 101, 201 ... CPU, 118, 218 ... Database, 121 ... Reception part, 125 ... Transfer part, 205 ... Display part, 233 ... Management part 234... Calculation unit, 241... Display control unit.

Claims (9)

A message display device that displays a message transmitted from one or a plurality of other users on a display unit and provides the terminal user with a viewable view,
A calculation unit that calculates, for each partner user, a closeness based on at least the number of messages transmitted from the partner user;
A display control unit for displaying the user information about the partner user on the display unit in a display mode associated with the closeness to the partner user viewed from the terminal user;
A message display device comprising: The user information is sender information about the partner user,
The message display device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit causes the display unit to display the message in association with sender information of a partner user who has transmitted the message. A group composed of the terminal user and the one or more partner users is configured,
The display control unit
A message sent from the other user participating in one group is displayed on the display unit,
The calculation unit includes:
The message display according to claim 2, wherein, for users participating in a plurality of groups, a closeness based on at least the number of times of the number of messages in each of the plurality of groups is calculated. apparatus. The sender information includes image information and descriptive information,
The display control unit
4. The message display device according to claim 2, wherein an image indicated by the image information is displayed on the display unit in a shade or brightness associated with the closeness. 5. The display control unit
The message display device according to claim 1, wherein the partner users are displayed on the display unit in order of familiarity. The calculation unit includes:
The message display device according to claim 1, wherein when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the intimacy of the other user who satisfies the condition is lowered. A management server capable of communicating with the message display device according to claim 1,
A receiving unit for receiving a message transmitted from the message display device by the operation of the terminal user;
A transfer unit that transfers the received message to a message display device operated by the partner user;
A management server comprising: A message display device control method for displaying a message transmitted from one or a plurality of other users on a display unit and providing the message to the terminal user so as to be viewable,
Calculating for each partner user a familiarity based at least on the number of messages transmitted from the partner user;
Displaying the user information on the display unit in a display mode associated with the intimacy of the other user according to the user information;
A method for controlling a message display device comprising: A computer that displays a message transmitted from one or a plurality of other users on a display unit and provides the terminal user with a computer that can be viewed,
A calculation unit that calculates, for each partner user, a familiarity based at least on the number of times of the message transmitted from the partner user; and
A display control unit that causes the display unit to display the user information in a display mode associated with the intimacy of the other user related to the user information;
A program characterized by functioning as