KR101471106B1 - System and method for communication between strangers on-line - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an online dialog system and method. The method includes receiving a chat request from a first user for a second user that is not a friend of the first user; Querying the second user for acceptance of the first user's chat request; And mediating a message between the first user and the second user when the acceptance of the second user by the chat request is confirmed. According to the present invention as described above, there is an advantage that networking can be expanded easily.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN STRANGERS ON-LINE [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and method for interacting with a person other than a friend, and more particularly, to a dialog system and method for facilitating a conversation with a person, such as a friend of a friend or friend of a friend, will be.

Recently, a variety of online services using a network of people are popular. In particular, interactive services that mediate conversation among users are becoming popular among social network services that register their acquaintances as friends and run various service functions together.

Such an interactive service creates a friend list of each user based on the address book of the mail account or the phone book of the mobile communication terminal, and mediates exchange of messages with other users included in the friend list.

As a result, users can exchange messages with their friends registered in advance in their own phone book or mail address book.

However, in such interactive services, it is not easy to exchange messages only with other users who are in a friendly relationship with the user, and it is not easy to expand the friend relationship. In order to communicate with a user other than a friend, It is troublesome to make a friend relationship through a process of accepting a friend request to a user other than a friend relation.

As a result, the friend relationship in the interactive service does not reflect the actual offline friend relationship, or it is burdened to ask a friend who does not know, even if he / she wants to form a network with another user There is a problem that the friendship relationship can not be formed.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an online dialog system and method that enable users who do not know each other to communicate online even if they do not make friends.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an online dialog system and method that can improve the reliability of a conversation partner by allowing a user to check the relationship of each other in a network when chatting with a user other than a friend.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an online dialog system and method for facilitating online conversation between users other than friends, thereby facilitating the formation of new friends.

As a technical means for achieving the above-mentioned technical object, there is provided, as a technical means, an online conversation system mediating a message exchange between a plurality of users according to the first aspect of the present invention, and an online conversation agent mediating a message exchange between two or more users A method, comprising: receiving a chat request from a first user for a second user that is not a friend of the first user; Querying the second user for acceptance of the first user's chat request; And mediating a message between the first user and the second user when the acceptance of the second user by the chat request is confirmed.

The online conversation system mediates the exchange of messages among a plurality of users according to the second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that when a chat request for a second user is received from a first user, the relationship between the first user and the second user A network management unit for identifying the network; Wherein the network management unit mediates a message between the first user and the second user when the relationship between the first user and the second user grasped by the network management unit is a friend relationship, A message between the first user and the second user is transmitted only when the second user accepts the inquiry as to whether or not the first user's chat request is accepted, And the like.

According to an embodiment of the present invention having the above-described configuration, it is possible to provide an online dialog system and a method for enabling users having no relationship to each other to communicate online even if they do not establish a friendship.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an online conversation system and method that can improve the reliability of a conversation partner by allowing a user to check the relationship between the conversation partner and the other person have.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an online dialog system and method for facilitating online conversation between users other than friends, thereby facilitating the formation of new friends.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an online conversation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a chat mediation server of an online chat system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a network formation process in an online conversation method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
4 to 8 are diagrams illustrating an example of a network connection process in an online conversation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an online conversation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part, it includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another part in between . Also, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without departing from the other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a chat mediation server of an online chat system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a chat mediation server of an online chat system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a network forming process in an online chatting method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 4 to 8 illustrate a process of forming a network using a network in an online chatting method according to an embodiment of the present invention Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an online conversation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, the online conversation system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention communicates data with a plurality of user terminals 300 through a network N. [

The network N may be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a value added network (VAN), a personal area network (PAN) a mobile radio communication network, or a satellite communication network.

The user terminal 100 may be implemented as a computer or a portable terminal that can access a remote server through a network N or connect to another terminal and a server. Here, the computer includes, for example, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and the like, each of which is equipped with a web browser (WEB Browser), and the portable terminal may be a wireless communication device , Personal Communication System (PCS), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), Personal Handyphone System (PHS), Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) Handheld based wireless communication devices such as W-CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) -2000, W-CDMA (W-CDMA), Wibro (Wireless Broadband Internet) terminals, can do.

Here, the user terminal 300 is a personal portable terminal that receives a unique identification number and supports a wireless communication system with mobility so as to communicate voice, video, and text data with other terminals regardless of the place .

The online conversation system 100 includes a conversation mediation server 110 for providing various services based on a personal network among users of the user terminal 300 according to an online conversation method according to an embodiment of the present invention, And a database server 130 for receiving and storing various data necessary for reflecting the human network among users to the service.

 The user terminal 300 downloads a network service program operating in conjunction with the dialog mediation server 110 in an application store or the like where various executable application programs are traded or accesses the direct dialog mediation server 110, And receives the service while exchanging data with the conversation mediation server 110.

Here, the service provided by the conversation mediation server 110 may be configured to establish a connection relationship between the users of the user terminal 300 based on the phone book or the address book stored in each of the user terminals 300, ) Allows users to exchange messages with other users in a connection relationship with each other or to view or share contents (text, image, video, audio) of each user with each other, It means social network service that enables network extension.

The terms used to describe the online conversation system 100 and the online conversation method using the same according to the embodiment of the present invention are defined.

First, 'user' refers to a user who uses the user terminal 300, and indicates each user who is identified by a user identification number such as an identification number or an email address of the user terminal 300. The 'user' can include not only a service subscriber (member) provided by the online conversation system 100 but also a non-member who can enjoy the service provided by the online conversation system 100 using the user terminal 300 .

Also, the 'user identification information' means a unique number assigned to each user terminal 300 or each user. For example, the user identification information may be a total number 10, 011, 016, 017, 018, 019, A mobile communication number that is a digit or a digit string of 11 digits, or an email address. However, this is not necessarily so, and any identification string used as a unique identifier of the user terminal 300 and a specific rule as a unique identifier capable of distinguishing each user can be user identification information.

The 'contact list' is a data set for collecting contact information of one or more users stored in the user terminal 300 and managed as a list. The contact list is a data set of users of other users forming a network with an arbitrary user such as a telephone directory or an e- And may include identification information. The contact information of each of the other users included in the contact list may include alias information of a friend inputted by a user of the user terminal, a mobile communication number, an address, an email address, a home telephone number, etc. to identify a plurality of friends have.

The 'friend' of the user is data of the contact list registered in the user terminal 300 of the user as another user including the contact information in the contact list registered in the user terminal 300 of the user, Registered in the friend list of the user account managed for each user in the online conversation system 100, and the friend is also identified as the user identification information because the friend is also the user of the user terminal 300. [

As a user of the user terminal 300, the 'member' has a user account in the online conversation system 100, and the user account includes a user whose friend list is registered based on the contact list stored in the user terminal 300 And functions as one node in the network between users. On the other hand, the 'non-member' may be a user of the user terminal 300, and a non-member account identified by using his / her user identification information may be created in the online conversation system 100, but the friend list is not registered in the created account And not having any information that is actively input by the user. That is, the non-member means a user who functions as a node in a network between users formed in the online conversation system 100 and serves only as a stepping stone between other members.

The 'friend list' is a list of users registered in each member account of the database server 130, and the friend list is an identifier of a friend of each member. The friend list includes user identification information of a friend, And additional information such as nickname information registered in the memory 300.

Further, the term 'third user account' is used to describe a user account of a user of another user terminal 300, mainly a specific user.

Using the terms defined above, the configuration of the conversation mediation server 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

2, the conversation mediation server 110 reads a contact list such as a phone book or an address book from the user terminal 300, and when the contact list data is transmitted to the conversation mediation server 110, And a user information management unit 111 for creating a friend list of a user by using a registered mobile communication number or an e-mail address.

Further, the conversation mediation server 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention grasps the connection relation of each user by using the friend list of each user, and notifies the arbitrary user of not only the friend of the user, And a user searching unit 113 for searching for information of other users who are in a close relationship with each other, to 'friend of friend of friend'. The user searching unit 113 can additionally provide not only a friend but also a friend of a friend to the arbitrary user so that they can establish a network with other users than their friends .

In addition, the conversation mediation server 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include a network management unit 115 that restricts various service providing ranges such as a user search for each user to a certain personal relationship.

The network management unit 115 may provide information on availability of various services provided between the two users or disclosure of information based on a network relationship between the users and users. For example, if the user A and the user B are friends, the image of the user A can be checked by the user B. However, if the user A and the user B are not in the friendship relationship, the user B can not check the image of the user A. You may.

Furthermore, the chat mediation server 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a chat service unit 117 that provides a chat service so as to allow online conversation by exchanging an instant message between two or more users do.

The chat service unit 117 receives the input message from the user terminal 300 and transmits the input message to the user terminal 300 of other users participating in the conversation So that users can communicate with each other.

At this time, the network management unit 115 may cause the chat service unit 117 to go through different steps depending on the relationship between the users in mediating the conversation between two or more users. This will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

Hereinafter, an online conversation method using the online conversation system 100 having the above-described configuration will be described in detail.

First, in the online conversation method according to the embodiment of the present invention, the process of forming a network between the users of each user terminal 300 is as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 3, The user terminal 300 of the first user (hereinafter referred to as " first user terminal 300 ") in the online conversation system 100 by accessing the online conversation system 100 using his / (Hereinafter, referred to as 'first mobile communication number') and data of a telephone directory stored in the first user terminal 300 (S100). Here, the phone book data received by the online conversation system 100 may include all the data included in the phone book, but some of them, especially the friends of the first user included in the phonebook, May include information such as an alias assigned by the first user. Here, the case where the user identification information is the mobile communication number will be exemplified.

The user information management unit 111 determines whether the first member account corresponding to the received first mobile communication number is registered in the database server 130 in step S110, If there is no first member account corresponding to the communication number, the first member account having the first mobile communication number as the user identification information is registered (S120).

If the first member account corresponding to the first mobile communication number has already been registered in the database server 130, the user information management unit 111 searches the phone book data based on the phone book data received from the first user terminal 300 , The friend list of the first member account is updated (S130). Here, as described above, the friend list stores the mobile communication numbers of the users included in the phone book data and the corresponding nickname information registered in the phone book by the first user.

In step 100, the user information management unit 111 transmits a third user account corresponding to each of the mobile communication numbers included in the phone book data received from the mobile communication terminal of the first user to the database server 130 It is confirmed whether it is registered in advance (S140). At this time, the phone book data includes the mobile communication number of one or more others registered in the phone book of the first user and the corresponding nickname information. A third user account corresponding to each of the mobile communication numbers of the other person is stored in the database server It is possible to confirm whether or not it is registered in the server 130.

Only when the third user account is registered in the database server 130, the user information management unit 111 stores the nickname information included in the phone book data in the third user account by the corresponding mobile communication number (S160) of registering in the nickname list.

However, according to the embodiment, as a result of the checking in step 140 (S140), the third user registered in advance with respect to the specific mobile communication number among the mobile communication numbers included in the phone book data received from the mobile communication terminal of the first user If there is no account, a new third user account is registered in the database server 130 for the mobile communication number having no corresponding third user account (S150), and then an alias list is generated for the newly registered third user account The nickname information extracted from the user's phone book data may be registered.

That is, when the user directly accesses the network service server 110, the user information management unit 111 can create a member account of the corresponding user, and can move the mobile communication terminal 110 that has not accessed the network service server 110 A non-member account corresponding to the communication number may also be created. In this case, only non-member mobile communication numbers and aliases assigned by other users who register the non-member mobile communication number in the phone book are registered in the non-member account.

Through the above process, a friend list of each user is managed, and a friend relationship between users is formed based on the friend list. In FIG. 4 to FIG. 8, such a friend relationship is expressed in a visual manner. In the diagrams shown in Figs. 4 to 8, each user is a circular node, and the friend relationship of each user is represented by a link linking each node.

A "to" J "may be displayed on the diagram as shown in FIG. 4, and the friend list of" A "may be displayed as" B " , "C", "D", "E", "F", the friend relationship can be displayed as a directional (or both) link. At this time, if the friend list of "A" friend "E" is "A", "D", "G", "H" As shown in FIG. 5.

At this time, "A" and "E" correspond to each other, and "G" and "H" correspond to "friend" of "A".

In the present invention, the "friend of a friend" relationship is very important. The friend relationship means a real friendship relationship sharing the user identification information (for example, mobile communication number). "Friend's Friend" relationships such as "A" and "G" or "A" and "H" are not in direct friendship, but when they are through "E" It can be seen as a relationship. In fact, when we see that the network of many human relationships in the real offline relationship is made by the "introduction" by the acquaintances, the friendship relationship of "friends of friends" is simply referred to as " Quot; node " which is reachable through the link of " node ").

According to the so-called mathematically proven Kevin Bacon's 6-degrees small world theory of Kevin Bacon, an average of 6.6 steps on a person leads to a global connection. From a microscopic viewpoint, when you see 100 friends of a person, you can say that there are 10,000 "friends of friends" who have a certain degree of friendship.

Therefore, in the present invention, the "friend" relationship, which can be regarded as a trusting friend relationship, the "friend friend" relationship, which can be regarded as a friendship relationship which is trusted to some degree by the friend, The purpose of this study is to maximize the efficiency of the social network, to expand the network of the effective network, and to maximize the fun in the social communication process.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method of effectively dividing "friends" by dividing "friends", "friends of friends" and other human relationships, and incorporating "friends of friends" have.

The user search unit 113 included in the conversation mediation server 110 can discover "friends of a friend " for a user through a network relationship based on the friends list of the users. At this time, the discover is to know the existence of the "friend of a friend" which a user does not know, such as a dictionary meaning such as "not found, not yet known, . 6, "A" is not related to any one of "I "," J ", and "K" K "in" A "," K "becomes a new friend of" friend ". Alternatively, if "A" forms a direct friendship with " K ", as in FIG. 8, "I"

The user searching unit 113 monitors the information of each user stored in the database server 130 to determine a newly discovered friend of a friend or a friend of a friend of the friend &Quot; can be notified by way of push notification, message transmission, and the like, and can induce friends to expand their friendships with each other. If the friendship re-expands, it will again cause a change in the graph to lead to another friendship expansion, thereby maximizing the fun of easily expanding friendships among the users. In addition, the user search unit 113 provides information about users other than the searched friends to a certain level, so that users can communicate with other users who want to form a new network do.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 9, a method of performing online conversation with a user other than a friend will be described in more detail.

A certain user can obtain information of other users who are searched and provided by the user searching unit 113 using the user terminal 300 or obtain information of other users provided in a certain network relationship by the network managing unit 115 Can be obtained. That is, an arbitrary user can search for a friend of a third user linked from a third user corresponding to the node of the diagram shown in FIGS.

At this time, the public information (profile, etc.) of the user corresponding to each node can be confirmed. However, it is undesirable to allow any user to chat with a user corresponding to all nodes in order to provide communication means between each user, since each user must receive a random chat request from any untrusted user. However, it is also undesirable to be able to chat only with the users in the friendship relationship because it excludes the possibility of communication with the acquaintances.

In the online chatting method according to the embodiment of the present invention described with reference to FIG. 9, the chat mediation server 110 according to the present invention transmits chat chat service between each user Allows chatting for his friends without restriction. The chat service unit 117 does not allow a user to chat with a third user other than a " friend " At this time, it may not allow a chat input for a third user other than a "friend" and a "friend of a friend", may output a message indicating that chat is not allowed but inputting a chat, But may not forward the input to a third user other than a "friend" or a "friend of a friend". However, chat input for "friends of friends" should be handled differently.

Accordingly, when an arbitrary user (hereinafter referred to as' first user ') wants to start a chat with a second user other than the first user, the network management unit 115 determines that the first user and the second user are in a' (S210).

If the first user and the second user are not in the " friend " relationship, the network management unit 115 can determine whether the relationship is the friend of the friend (S220).

When the first user and the second user are friends, the chat service unit 117 can start a chat service by mediating a message exchange between the first and second users.

On the other hand, in the case of the relation of the "friend of the friend", it should be processed differently from the case of the "friend" relation as described above.

That is, first, the chat request message is provided to the second user so that the "friend of the friend" who is requested to chat from the first user can decide whether or not to allow the chat so that the second user can accept or decline (S230).

Second, "Friend's Friend" is not a friend in a direct trust relationship, but is connected to a "friend" (which exists between his node and the "friend's" node in the graph) Quot; friends of friends "who are allowed to chat and are requested to chat can check the information of" friends "connected between them in step S240.

For example, information of a third user in a " friend " relationship with a first user (e.g., a name of a third user, an alias, And at least one of the user identification information) to the second user.

Third, the interface for requesting a "friend's friend" chat is simple. In the general chat service interface, a friend can chat directly without a separate permission process, and a friend can not chat. In the embodiment of the present invention, if the "friend's friend" is not a direct friend and the chat is made only when the chat request is made with the normal interface and the request is accepted, the effective extension Can not be achieved. Therefore, the person requesting the chat can select the chat with the friend of the friend as if chatting with the friend, and can input the chat contents directly into the chat input window. On the other hand, if the person who requested the chat to the friend of the friend who requested the chat is notified that the person who requested the chat has requested the chat, and is asked to input a choice of whether to allow the chat, the object of the present invention can be achieved satisfactorily .

Meanwhile, if the second user who received the chat request permits the chat request of the first user (S250), the chat service unit 117 provides the chat service (S260). That is, the first user may transmit the message input by the second user, and the second user may exchange the message input by the first user.

At this time, if the "friend of a friend " who is requested to chat in step S250 does not allow the chat, the fact should not be displayed to the user who requests chat. In a general chat interface as described above, a person who has requested a chat can have an unpleasant feeling when a chat requested by him is not allowed, and a person who is requested to chat can feel a sense of discomfort . Particularly, if a friend of a friend is a relationship between a person who requests a chat and a friend who is requested, the degree of discomfort or burden is so great that the effective extension of the friend relationship to which the present invention is aimed is never achieved Can not. Accordingly, when the person who is requested to chat transmits a selection input to the chat service unit 117, the chat service unit 117 transmits the chat request to the person who requested the chat, And the chat service unit 117 does not provide any service if the chat input is not 'rejected' or 'accept'. Therefore, the person who is requested to chat can not know whether there is no response because his / her chat request is not allowed even if his / her chat request is not allowed, and it is not known whether the person who received the chat request has not yet responded to the chat request. Friend "of friends without having any discomfort or burden. In the conventional chat service, an immediate response is expected. However, since there is a recognition that an immediate response by a respondent may not be obtained in a communication using a short message (SMS) or a messenger via a mobile communication terminal, There is a difference from the viewpoint that the response is not greatly offensive even without a long time.

At this time, in the embodiment of the present invention described above with reference to FIG. 9, it is described that online conversation is possible only to the "friends of friends" relationship. However, according to the embodiment, You may.

In other words, when someone other than a friend is selected and chat contents are inputted, the chat service unit 117 grasps the relationship and provides a chat service immediately if it is a friend relationship. If the friend is not a friend, The chat service is provided only when the person who has requested the chat accepts the input of whether to allow the chat, and if not, the chat is terminated without providing the chat service . At this time, the person who is requested to chat may be provided with the information of the other user forming the shortest distance between the person who requested the chat and the person who requested the chat.

The online conversation method according to the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 9 may also be implemented in the form of a recording medium including instructions executable by a computer such as a program module executed by a computer. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. In addition, the computer-readable medium may include both computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Communication media typically includes any information delivery media, including computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only and that those of ordinary skill in the art can readily understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

It is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. .

Claims (11)

An online chatting method performed by an online chatting system mediating a message exchange between a plurality of users and mediating a message exchange between two or more users,
Receiving a chat request for the second user from the first user including identification information of a second user and message data input by the first user;
Determining a relationship between the first and second users;
Mediating a message between the first and second users when the relationship between the first and second users is a friend relationship; And
Inquiring of the second user whether or not to accept the chat request of the first user when the relation between the first user and the second user is not the friend relationship but within a predetermined distance, When the acceptance of the request is confirmed, transmitting the message data input by the first user included in the chat request to the second user to mediate a message between the first user and the second user, The method comprising: if a rejection of the chat request by the user is confirmed, or if the acceptance of the chat request is not confirmed, then the chat window between the first user and the second user, Maintaining a state of no response; And
The service availability to the first and second users, the availability of the first and second users, and the availability of the service provided to the first and second users, depending on whether the first and second users are the friend relationship or not, Setting different degrees of disclosure of personal information provided between users;
/ RTI >
The method according to claim 1,
When the relationship between the first and second users is a network relationship within the predetermined distance,
Wherein the second user,
Wherein the first friend is a friend of the first user, the friend of the third user is a friend of the first user, and is not a friend of the first user.
delete delete delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of inquiring whether to accept the chat request comprises:
And transmitting the message data input by the first user included in the chat request to the second user. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the step of mediating a message between the first user and the second user comprises the steps of: if the relationship between the first and second users is not the friend relationship and is a personal relationship within a predetermined distance,
Providing the second user with information of a third user forming a network of the shortest distance between the first user and the second user between the first user and the second user, . An online dialog system for communicating with a plurality of user terminals to mediate message exchanges between user terminals,
And a second communication unit for receiving a chat request for the second user including the identification information of the second user and the message data input by the first user from the first user to identify a relationship between the first user and the second user, A management unit;
Wherein the network management unit mediates a message between the first user and the second user when the relationship between the first user and the second user grasped by the network management unit is a friend relationship, When the first user accepts the chat request of the first user and the second user accepts the chat request if the first user accepts the chat request, Data is forwarded to the second user to mediate a message between the first user and the second user, and if a rejection of the second user's chat request is confirmed, or if the acceptance of the chat request is not confirmed , The second user's response to the message entered by the first user in the chat window between the first and second users And a chat service unit for maintaining the status of the chat service,
Wherein the network management unit determines whether or not the service available to the first and second users and the availability of the service provided to the first and second users are changed according to whether the first and second users are the friend relationship or the friend relationship within a predetermined distance, 1 < / RTI > and the second user.
9. The method of claim 8,
The online conversation system comprises:
Further comprising a user information management unit for managing, for each user, a friend list including user identification information of the user's friends so that the network management unit can refer to the relationship between the users, . 10. The method of claim 9,
The online conversation system comprises:
And a user searching unit for referring to the friend list of the first user and the friend list of at least one other user to the first user and providing the first user with information of a user other than a friend of the first user , Online conversation system. 10. The method according to claim 8 or 9,
The chat service unit,
When the first user and the second user are not in a friendship relationship, providing the second user with information of another user forming the shortest distance between the first user and the second user , Online conversation system.

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