Association of an emotional influencer to a post in a social medium

BACKGROUND

0001Aspects of the present invention relate to social networks, message boards, online mail clients and the like, and more particularly to a method, system and computer program product for associating an emotional influencer to a post in a social medium.

0002Online social networks are a universal mechanism to connect people and information in logical and organized ways which enable sharing and processing of information between the members of the social network. Common mechanisms for sharing and processing information on online social networks may include, but are not necessarily limited to, a wall or virtual wall or message board where a user or member of the social network can post messages for other users or members; an activity stream which may be a list of messages or posts received by a user or member and may also include a list of messages or posts sent by the user or member; a timeline that may chronologically list a series of events, and profiles of users or members that can be accessed for information about a particular user or member. These mechanisms enable users or members to rapidly share information with others and gather information from others in the network. Message boards and social networking posts are influenced by time, mood and environment. When a user reviews an old post from a month or more ago, the user may not understand why someone made the post or what the user may have been feeling at the time of the post or what the emotional state or mood of the user was at the time of the post. The post may have been influenced by a particular mood or emotion of the user, such as joy, happiness, depression, anger or other emotion. These emotions could have been brought on by a news event or other stimulating circumstance that occurred proximate the time of the event. Currently, there is no way to tell what a person may have been feeling at the time of a post.

BRIEF SUMMARY

0003According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for associating an emotional influencer to a post may include determining, by a processor, an emotional baseline for a user and detecting, by the processor, a post by the user on a social medium. The method may also include analyzing the content of the post to determine an emotion of the user based on the content of the post and determining a difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user. The method may additionally include determining an emotional influencer of the post in response to the difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user exceeding a preset threshold. The method may further include tagging the emotional influencer to the post based on the emotional influencer being related to the post.

0004According to another aspect of the present invention, a system for associating an emotional influencer to a post may include a processor and a module operating on the processor for associating an emotional influencer to a post. The module may be configured to perform a set of functions that may include determining an emotional baseline for a user and detecting a post by the user on a social medium. The set of functions may also include analyzing content of the post to determine an emotion of the user based on the content of the post and determining a difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user. The set of functions may additionally include determining an emotional influencer of the post in response to the difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user exceeding a preset threshold. The set of functions may further include tagging the emotional influencer to the post based on the emotional influencer being related to the post.

0005According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product for associating an emotional influencer to a post may include a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, wherein the computer readable storage medium is not a transitory medium per se. The program instructions may be executable by a device to cause the device to perform a method that may include determining an emotional baseline for a user and detecting a post by the user on a social medium. The method may also include analyzing content of the post to determine an emotion of the user based on the content of the post and determining a difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user. The method may additionally include determining an emotional influencer of the post in response to the difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user exceeding a preset threshold. The method may further include tagging the emotional influencer to the post based on the emotional influencer being related to the post.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

0006The present invention is further described in the detailed description which follows in reference to the noted plurality of drawings by way of non-limiting examples of embodiments of the present invention in which like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings and wherein:

0007<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1A-1C</figref> (collectively <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) are a flow chart of an example of a method for associating an emotional influencer to a post in a social medium in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

0008<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is flow chart of an example of a method for determining an emotional benchmark or baseline for a user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

0009<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is an example of an emotion dictionary in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

0010<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is an example of an activity timeline for a user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

0011<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> is an example of an activity timeline and analyzing a post in the activity timeline to determine whether there is a link to an earlier activity in the timeline based on an emotion of the user at the time the post was created in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

0012<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> is an example of a graphical user interface (GUI) that provides options for tagging a post with an emotional influencer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

0013<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> is a block schematic diagram of an example of a system for tagging a post with an emotional influencer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

0014<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> is a block schematic diagram of an example of a system configured for associating or tagging an emotional influencer to a post in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

0015The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

0016The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

0017Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.

0018Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

0019Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.

0020These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

0021The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

0022<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1A-1C</figref> (collectively <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) are a flow chart of an example of a method <b>100</b> for associating an emotional influencer to a post in a social medium in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In block <b>102</b>, an emotional benchmark or baseline may be determined for the user. A database of posts may be maintained and average emotional values or scores for different types or kinds of content may be created over time from the different post in the database. The emotional baseline for a user may be adjusted based upon the content of a particular post. An example of a method for determining an emotional benchmark or baseline for a user will be described in more detail with reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>.

0023In block <b>104</b>, activities of the user may be monitored or tracked and recorded. Examples of the activities that may be monitored and recorded may include but is not necessarily limited to previous posts, online activity, websites visited, content viewed, personal situations and experiences of the user, movement of the user between different geographic locations and other activities of the user may be monitored or tracked and recorded. A timeline of activities of the user may be created and maintained. <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is an example of an activity timeline <b>400</b> for a user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. An example of an application of the method <b>100</b> to the exemplary activity timeline <b>400</b> will be described with reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> An event in the timeline of activities may be maintained for a preset time period to remove activities or events which may not be pertinent to current posts on social media by the user. For example, the preset time may include a preset number of hours, days, weeks, months, years or some other timeframe that may be set by the user or an administrator of the system described herein.

0024In block <b>106</b>, a post may be created by the user on social media or a social medium. In block <b>108</b>, content of the post may be determined. For example, the content of the post may be determined by natural language processing (NLP) or by some other technology to determine the content of the post.

0025In block <b>110</b>, the content of the post may be analyzed to determine the emotion of the user based upon the content of the post. For example, natural language processing or some other technology or processing may be used to determine the emotion of the user based on the content of the post. For example, the post may be scanned for keywords, subject matter, topics or other content that may provide an indication of the emotion of the user when creating the post or feelings of the user in creating the post. An emotional value associated with the post may be determined from the analysis of the content. For example, terms or phrases that correspond to emotions may be compared to similar emotional terms or phrases in an emotion dictionary to determine an emotional value associated with the post. An example of an emotion dictionary will be described with reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>. Each emotion represented in the emotion dictionary may have a corresponding value or score. The value or score may be based on an intensity or level of human response represented by the particular term or word. The scores or values may be adjusted based on the demeanor of a particular user.

0026In block <b>112</b>, a difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user may be determined. In accordance with an embodiment, the difference between the emotion of the user associated with post and the emotional baseline of the user may be determined by the difference between the emotional value of the post and the value of the emotional baseline for the user based on the particular content of the post using the emotion dictionary. Keywords, topics or other characteristics determined from analysis of the content of the post may be compared to terms or words representing emotions in the emotion dictionary. The difference between the value or score for the post and the emotional baseline corresponding to any matches in the emotion dictionary may be determined.

0027In block <b>114</b>, a determination may be made if the difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user exceeds a preset threshold. If the difference does not exceed a preset threshold, the method may return to block <b>102</b> and the method <b>100</b> may continue similar to that previously described. If the difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user exceeds the preset threshold, the method <b>100</b> may advance to block <b>116</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1B</figref>).

0028In block <b>116</b>, a notification may be transmitted to the user that a difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional baseline of the user exceeds the preset threshold. In accordance with an embodiment, an option may be provided to the user to override tagging the post with a possible emotional influencer or emotional influencers. At this stage of the method <b>100</b>, the user may make a decision whether or not to continue with the process of determining a possible emotional influencer or emotional influencers. An emotional influencer may be anything that may be causing the user to have a certain emotion or feel in creating a post or that may be emotionally affecting the user either positively or negatively during creation of the post. For example, an emotional influencer may include but is not necessarily limited to an activity in the user's timeline of activities, a personal situation or experience of the user that may be related to the post, a current event, such as news headline or other publicized event, or another factor that may be emotionally influencing the user to create the post or that may be emotionally affecting the user during creation of the post.

0029In block <b>118</b>, if the user selected the option to override tagging the post with the emotional influencer, the method <b>100</b> may return to block <b>102</b> and the method <b>100</b> may continue similar to that previously described. If the user in block <b>118</b> selected not to override tagging the post with the emotional influencer, the method <b>100</b> may advance to block <b>120</b>.

0030In block <b>120</b>, a possible emotional influencer or emotional influencers related to the post may be determined. Examples of operations or procedures that may be performed to determine possible emotional influencers may include but is not limited to reviewing the timeline of user activities for activities related to the post of the user; determining any personal situations or experiences of the user that may be related to the post; reviewing current events, such as news headlines or other publicized events; or any other factors that may be emotionally influencing the user to create the post or that may be emotionally affecting the user during creation of the post. The method or system may access news feeds or any other sources for current events occurring prior to or at the time of the post. As previously described, natural language processing may be used to analyze the post and also in reviewing the different possible sources for emotional influencers described above to determine any possible emotional influencers that may be related to the post. For instance, keywords from the post may be compared to timeline activities of the user, personal situations or experiences of the user, current events or other factors that may be influencing the user to create the post or that may be emotionally affecting the user during creation of the post.

0031In block <b>122</b>, a tag corresponding to a possible emotional influencer or tags corresponding to possible emotional influencers related to the post may be presented to the user. It should be noted that the possible emotional influencer or influencers may at least be part of the reason for the user's emotion at the time of creation of the post.

0032In block <b>124</b>, an option or options with respect to the tags corresponding to the possible emotional influencer or influencers may be provided. For example, an option to override tagging the post with the emotional influencer or emotional influencers may be provided for the user to select whether or not to tag the post with the emotional influencer or influencers. In accordance with an embodiment, a list of possible alternative emotional influencers or other options may be provided for the user to select. An example of a graphical user interface (GUI) for providing different options for selection by the user with respect to the emotional influencer or influencers will be described in more detail with reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>.

0033In block <b>126</b>, a determination may be made if the user selected the option to override tagging the emotional influencer or influencers to the post. If the user selected to override tagging the emotional influencer to the post, the method <b>100</b> may advance to block <b>128</b>. In block <b>128</b>, the post may be tagged with the emotional influencer or influencers determined by the method <b>100</b> or system. A tag including metadata corresponding to the emotional influencer or influencers may be tagged or associated with the post. The tag may include a link to the emotional influencer or influencers. For example, an icon or other feature including a link may be provided with the post that may be selected or clicked-on using a mouse or other computer pointing device to access the emotional influencer or influencers associated with the post.

0034If the user selected the option to override the tag in block <b>126</b>, the method <b>100</b> may advance to block <b>130</b>. In block <b>130</b>, the emotional influencer or influencers determined by the method <b>100</b> or system are not tagged to the post. Alternatively, in accordance with the embodiment described in block <b>124</b>, the user may be provided a list of alternate emotional influencers. The user may select an alternate emotional influencer or influencers to associate with the post rather than the emotional influencer suggested by the system in block <b>128</b>. The post may be tagged with the alternate emotional influencer or influencers selected from the list by the user. Metadata corresponding to the selected emotional influencer or influencers may be tagged or associated with the post and the tag may include a link to the alternative emotional influencer or influencers.

0035In block <b>132</b>, the post may be selected in an activity stream. The post may be selected by the user in an activity stream of the user or the post may be selected by another member of the social network in an activity stream of the other member. The post may be selected at a future time when the user may have forgotten what emotion the user may have been feeling at the time the post was created and what emotional influencer or influencers may have caused the user to create the post or may have been affecting the user during creation of the post.

0036In block <b>134</b>, the post may be presented in response to the user selecting the post in the activity stream. A feature for presenting the emotional influencer or influencers associated with the selected post may also be presented. The feature may be an icon or other feature that may be selected or activated by the user using a mouse or other computer pointing device. The feature for presenting the emotional influencer or influencers of the user associated with a post may be presented to other members of the social network if other members of the social network are permitted to access the emotional influencers for posts of others in the activity stream.

0037In block <b>136</b>, the emotional influencer or influencers associated with the post may be presented in response to the feature being selected by the user or other user if permitted.

0038<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is flow chart of an example of a method <b>200</b> for determining an emotional benchmark or baseline for a user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Determining the emotional benchmark or baseline for the user may include maintaining a database <b>202</b> of posts and emotional values, and creating and storing in the database <b>202</b> average emotional scores for different content of posts for the user over time from the different posts.

0039In block <b>204</b>, an emotional value or score of each post of a set of posts may be determined based on the content of each post. The emotional value or score of each post may be determined as each post is created by the user. The emotional value or score may be determined using an emotion dictionary.

0040In block <b>206</b>, the content of each post may be analyzed to determine an emotion of each post. For example, natural language processing (NLP) may be performed to determine a keyword or keywords, phrase or phrases, topic or other characteristic or characteristics of the content of a particular post that may be useful in determining the emotion of the particular post.

0041In block <b>208</b>, the keyword or keywords, phrase or phrases, topic or other characteristic of the content may be compared to terms in an emotion dictionary, such as the exemplary emotion dictionary <b>300</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, or another mechanism may be used for determining the emotion of the post.

0042Referring also to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is an example of an emotion dictionary <b>300</b> in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The emotion dictionary <b>300</b> may include a multiplicity of terms <b>302</b> or phrases that each define a separate emotion. A value or score <b>304</b> may be assigned to each emotion <b>302</b> or determined for each emotion <b>302</b>. The value or score <b>304</b> for each emotion <b>302</b> may be preset or determined based on a strength or intensity level of a feeling that a particular emotional term may cause in a human response. For example, a survey may be taken of a sample of people asking each person to score or assign a value to each emotional term on a strength or intensity level of a feeling or emotional response evoked in that person by each particular emotional term. The score or value corresponding to the strength or intensity level of feeling may be based on a certain scale. As a non-limiting example, the scale may be 0-100 where 0 may be little or no emotional effect or feeling and 100 may be the highest or strongest emotional effect or feeling.

0043Referring back to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, in block <b>210</b>, the emotional value or score may be assigned to the particular post currently being analyzed based on the comparison of the keyword or keywords, phrases, topics or other characteristics from the particular post to terms in the emotion dictionary. The corresponding value or score for any emotional term in the emotion dictionary that matches or proximately matches a keyword or keywords, phrases, etc. from NLP or other analysis of the particular post will be assigned to the post as corresponding to the emotion of the post. This process will be performed for each post in the set of post or as each post is created and stored in the database <b>202</b>.

0044In block <b>212</b>, the emotional benchmark or baseline may be determined for the user based on the emotional values or scores for the set of post. Statistical analysis may be performed to determine the emotional benchmark or baseline for the user. For example, an average of the emotional scores or values may be determined for different posts that may have a similar content or that may cause a similar emotional response. A different emotional benchmark or baseline may be determined for different kinds of content of posts.

0045In block <b>214</b>, the emotional benchmark or baseline may be continuously adjusted as the user creates new posts. The user may also be allowed to adjust the emotional benchmark or baseline for selected emotions. For example, the user may be allowed to manually set emotional values or scores for selected emotions in the emotion dictionary <b>300</b>. The user may also be allowed to select an emotional benchmark or baseline for a particular type of content, subject matter, topic or other characteristic of a post.

0046<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is an example of an activity timeline <b>400</b> for a user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in the exemplary activity timeline <b>400</b>, at 11:21 the user reads an article (activity <b>402</b>). At 11:44 the user creates a post <b>404</b>. Similar to that previously described with respect to blocks <b>108</b>-<b>116</b> of the exemplary method <b>100</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1A-1C</figref>, the method or system may analyze the post <b>404</b> and determine that a difference exists between the post and the emotional benchmark or baseline for the user based on the content of the post. A notification <b>406</b> may be transmitted to the user that a difference between the emotion of the user associated with the post and the emotional benchmark or baseline of the user exceeds a preset threshold. The amount of the difference may be included in the notification. The amount of the difference may be expressed as a percentage of the difference of the emotion of the post from the benchmark.

0047At 11:45 activity <b>408</b> may occur in which the system or method may document an emotional linkage between the post <b>404</b> and the previous activity <b>402</b> of the user of reading the article. The system or method may optionally inform the user or ask the user to confirm the link between the post and a prior activity in the activity stream <b>400</b> of the user. This is similar to the override option described with reference to blocks <b>124</b>-<b>130</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1B</figref>. In the exemplary timeline of activities <b>400</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, the method or system may ask the user if the user wants the system to link the post <b>404</b> to the article the user read in the previous activity <b>402</b>.

0048<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> is an example of an activity timeline <b>500</b> and analyzing a post <b>502</b> in the activity timeline <b>500</b> to determine whether there is a link <b>504</b> to an earlier activity <b>506</b> in the timeline <b>500</b> based on an emotion of the user at the time of the post <b>502</b> in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. At 11:08 the activity <b>504</b> of the user reading an article is detected. The user may be reading the article online or from some other source. The article may be analyzed similar to that previously described using natural language processing, for instance, or other processing to determine an emotion or emotions of the user that may be associated with reading the article. An emotion or emotions of the user that may be associated with reading the article may be compared to emotional terms in an emotion dictionary <b>508</b> to determine or detect any matches or near matches between the emotion that may be associated with the article and emotional terms in the emotion dictionary <b>508</b> as illustrated in the example in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>.

0049At 11:22 the activity <b>502</b> of the user creating a post may be detected by the system or method. The post may be analyzed similar to that previously described to determine an emotion of the user that may be associated with the post <b>502</b>. The emotion or emotions of the user that may be associated with the post may also be compared to terms in the emotion dictionary <b>508</b> and to determine if there may be a link between the post <b>502</b> and the previous activity <b>506</b> based on any matches or correspondence between the emotion or emotions of the post <b>502</b> and the previous activity <b>506</b> in the activity stream <b>500</b>. If there is a correspondence between the emotion or emotions of the post <b>502</b> and the previous activity <b>506</b>, the previous activity <b>506</b> may be determined to be an emotional influencer of the post <b>502</b>. The post <b>502</b> may then be tagged with the emotional influencer corresponding to the previous activity <b>506</b>. Similar to that previously described, in accordance with an embodiment, the user may be allowed to confirm the link between the post <b>502</b> and the previous activity <b>506</b> before tagging or to select an alternative emotional influencer for tagging to the post <b>502</b>.

0050<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> is an example of a graphical user interface (GUI) <b>600</b> that provides options for tagging a post with an emotional influencer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The GUI <b>600</b> may include a feature <b>602</b> to override tagging the post with an emotional influencer. In the example illustrated in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, the feature <b>602</b> for overriding tagging the post may be a radio button, checkbox box <b>604</b> or similar feature that may be operated or checked by the user using a mouse, other computer pointing device, a key of a keyboard, etc.

0051The GUI <b>600</b> may also include a list of alternative emotional influencers <b>606</b> that the user may select from for association with a particular post. One or more of the alternative emotional influencers <b>608</b>-<b>610</b> may be selected by the user for association with a particular post in an activity stream rather than an emotional influencer determined by the system or method similar to that described in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1A-1C</figref>. A radio button <b>612</b>-<b>614</b>, check box or other feature may be provided for selecting one or more alternative emotional influencers <b>608</b>-<b>610</b>.

0052<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> is a block schematic diagram of an example of a system <b>700</b> for tagging a post with an emotional influencer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The system <b>700</b> may include a social server <b>702</b> that may receive various inputs that may be used for determining an emotional influencer or emotional influencers that may be tagged to a particular post <b>704</b> created by a user and received by the social server <b>702</b>. Examples of the various inputs may include but is not necessarily limited to a news input <b>706</b>, location services <b>708</b>, such as location services that may be associated with a mobile device and used to determine the geographic location of the mobile device, personal experiences <b>708</b> of the user, or any other inputs that may be useful in determining emotional influencers for tagging or associating with the particular post <b>704</b>. The particular post <b>704</b> may be tagged with the emotional influencer or emotional influencers similar to that previously described. The tagged post <b>712</b> may be stored in the social server <b>702</b> or in a database <b>714</b> associated with the social server <b>702</b>. The tagged post <b>712</b> along with the tag <b>716</b> may be provided to a user in response to the user clicking-on or otherwise selecting the tagged post <b>714</b> in an activity stream similar to that previously described. The tag <b>716</b> may be a link to the emotional influencer that caused the user to create the post or motivated the user to create the post. The tag <b>716</b> may also include a summary or short description of the emotional influencer to assist the user in recalling the emotion or emotions of the user at the time of the creation of the post in addition to allowing the user to access the emotional influencer.

0053<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> is a block schematic diagram of an example of a system <b>800</b> configured for associating or tagging an emotional influencer to a post in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The method <b>100</b> of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1A-1C</figref> and method <b>200</b> of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> may be embodied in and performed by the system <b>800</b>. The system <b>800</b> may include a processing device <b>802</b>. The processing device <b>802</b> may be a server or similar processing device. The processing device <b>802</b> may include a processor <b>804</b> for controlling operation of the processing device <b>802</b> and for performing functions, such as those described herein with respect to tagging an emotional influencer or emotional influencers to a post. The processing device <b>802</b> may also include a file system <b>806</b> or memory. An operating system <b>808</b>, applications and other programs may be stored on the file system <b>806</b> for running or operating on the processor <b>804</b>. A social networking module <b>810</b> or system may also be stored on the file system <b>806</b> and may be compiled and run on the processor <b>804</b> to perform the functions for conducting online communications or activity streams between users similar to that described herein. The social networking module <b>810</b> may be any type of online communications mechanism for online communications or conversations. The methods <b>100</b> and <b>200</b> of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1A-1C</figref> and <b>2</b> respectively may be embodied in the social networking module <b>810</b> and performed by the processor <b>804</b> when the social networking module <b>810</b> is compiled and run on the processor <b>804</b>.

0054The social networking module <b>810</b> may include a module to tag emotional influencers to posts <b>812</b>. The social networking module <b>810</b> may be configured to perform functions similar to those described with reference to the methods <b>100</b> and <b>200</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1A-1C</figref> and <b>2</b>.

0055The social networking module <b>810</b> may also include a database <b>814</b> for storing posts and emotional scores that may be similar to database <b>202</b>. The social networking module <b>810</b> may additionally include an emotion dictionary <b>816</b> that may be similar to the exemplary emotion dictionary <b>300</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>. The social networking module <b>810</b> may further include or store an activity timeline <b>818</b> for a user or alternatively, the activity timeline <b>818</b> may be stored on the client computer system <b>824</b> of the user as described below. The components <b>812</b>, <b>814</b>, <b>816</b> and <b>818</b> may also be separate components from the social networking module <b>810</b> and may operate in association with the social networking module <b>810</b>.

0056The processing device <b>802</b> may also include one or more input devices, output devices or combination input/output devices, collectively I/O devices <b>820</b>. The I/O devices <b>820</b> may include, but are not necessarily limited to, a keyboard or keypad, pointing device, such as a mouse, disk drive and any other devices to permit a user to interface with and control operation of the processing device <b>802</b> and to access the social networking module <b>810</b> or system. At least one of the I/O devices <b>820</b> may be a device to read a computer program product, such as computer program product <b>822</b>. The computer program product <b>822</b> may be similar to that described in more detail herein. The social networking module <b>810</b> may be loaded on the file system <b>806</b> from a computer program product, such as computer program product <b>822</b>.

0057A member of a social network or user <b>823</b> of the system <b>800</b> for social networking may use a computer system <b>824</b> or communications device to access the processing device <b>802</b> or server and social networking module <b>810</b> or system. The computer system <b>824</b> or communications device may be any sort of communications device including a mobile or handheld computer or communications device. The computer system <b>824</b> may include a processor <b>826</b> to control operation of the computer system <b>824</b> and a file system <b>828</b>, memory or similar data storage device. An operating system <b>830</b>, applications <b>832</b> and other programs may be stored on the file system <b>828</b> for running or operating on the processor <b>826</b>. A web or Internet browser <b>834</b> may also be stored on the file system <b>828</b> for accessing the processing device <b>802</b> or server via a network <b>836</b>. The network <b>836</b> may be the Internet, an intranet or other private or proprietary network.

0058In accordance with an embodiment, a social networking application <b>838</b>, feature or module may also be stored on the file system <b>828</b> and operate on the processor <b>826</b> of the user's computer system <b>824</b>. The social networking application <b>838</b> may be any sort of online communications mechanism, such as a social networking or social media application, electronic mail client or email application, or other application for online communications or conversations capable of performing the functions and operations described herein. The social networking application <b>838</b> may include a module <b>840</b> to tag emotional influencers to posts similar to that described herein. In another embodiment, the module <b>840</b> to tag emotional influencers to posts may be a separate module from the social networking application <b>838</b> and operate in cooperation with the social networking application <b>838</b> to perform the functions described herein.

0059The social networking application <b>838</b> may also include a database <b>842</b> for storing posts and emotional scores or the database <b>842</b> may be separate from the social networking module <b>838</b>. In an embodiment, the social networking application <b>838</b> may also maintain the activity timeline <b>818</b> for the user rather than the processing device <b>802</b> or server. In a further embodiment, an activity timeline <b>818</b> may be maintained on both the client computer system <b>824</b> and the server or processing device <b>802</b>.

0060The social networking application <b>838</b> operating on the computer system <b>824</b> may interface with or operate in conjunction with the social networking module <b>810</b> or system on the processing device <b>802</b> or server to perform the functions and operations described herein for tagging emotional influencers to posts in activity streams or the like. Accordingly, social networking application <b>838</b> operating on the computer system <b>824</b> may perform some of the functions and operations of the methods <b>100</b> and <b>200</b> and social networking module <b>810</b> operating on the server <b>802</b> may perform other functions of the methods <b>100</b> and <b>200</b>. Some embodiments of the present invention may include only the social networking module <b>810</b> and module <b>812</b> to tag emotional influencers to posts on the processing device <b>802</b> or server, and other embodiments may include only the social networking application <b>838</b> and module <b>840</b> on the client computer system <b>824</b> or communications device.

0061The computer system <b>824</b> may also include a display <b>842</b>, a speaker system <b>844</b>, and a microphone <b>846</b> for voice communications. One or more user interfaces may be presented on the display <b>842</b> for controlling operating the social networking module <b>810</b> and social networking application <b>838</b> and for performing the operations and functions described herein. For example, activity streams similar to activity streams <b>400</b> and <b>500</b> of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 4 and 5</figref> respectively and the exemplary GUI <b>600</b> of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> may be presented to a user for controlling operation of tagging emotional influencers to the posts.

0062The computer system <b>824</b> may also include one or more input devices, output devices or combination input/output devices, collectively I/O devices <b>848</b>. The I/O devices <b>848</b> may include a keyboard or keypad, pointing device, such as a mouse, disk drives and any other devices to permit a user, such as user <b>823</b>, to interface with and control operation of the computer system <b>824</b> and to access the social networking application <b>838</b> and social networking module or system <b>810</b> on server <b>802</b>. The I/O devices <b>848</b> may also include at least one device configured to read computer code from a computer program product, such as computer program product <b>822</b>.

0063The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

0064The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

0065The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to embodiments of the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of embodiments of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of embodiments of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand embodiments of the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

0066Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that any arrangement which is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and that embodiments of the invention have other applications in other environments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention. The following claims are in no way intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the invention to the specific embodiments described herein.