JP2009146253A - Information processor, information processing method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To visually present connections between members. <P>SOLUTION: When a user who is a member participating in SNS accesses an analysis server through a client, and performs log-in by inputting a member ID or the like, a node showing each organization is displayed on a display of the client, and edges showing links between organization are also displayed. When respective member IDs of a member who is a user of the client and a target member who is a member with which the user is to contact are acquired, the shortest path tracing only members having a friend link from the source member to the target member is searched. The search result is displayed on the display of the client. The present invention can be applied to a computer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program, and more particularly to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program that can visually present a connection between members.

  In recent years, SNS (Social Networking Service / Social Networking Site) has become widespread as a tool for communication with people.

  SNS functions include, for example, a member registration function, a friend registration function, a community function, a message function, and a diary function.

  The member registration function is a function for a user participating in the SNS to register an attribute such as his / her name, and normally only a user registered as a member participating in the SNS can use other functions. The friend registration function is a function for creating a link between arbitrary members. The number of friends represents the number of links of each member with other members.

  The community function is a function for forming a group in which arbitrary members can participate. Members who join a community can send comments to members who join the same community.

  The message function is a function used for information distribution between members. The diary function is a function that allows a diary to be attached and published to other members, and a diary published by other members to be viewed.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique that enables a member to be searched in an SNS system suitable for use on a mobile terminal.

JP 2006-23876 A

  Although there are organizational charts and technical maps that show the relationships between organizations such as official departments and sections, there are inter-organizational organizations in the company, including informal communication such as communication during the same period and communication between circle members. There is no way to see the relationship.

  Also, even if a company employee wants to obtain information about a certain area, it does not know who in any department is familiar with that information from the organization chart, etc., so contact who and where by which route. It was hard to know what to do.

  By the way, in recent years, the above-mentioned SNS for employees has begun to be used as a tool for communication between employees within a company.

  Although it is possible to grasp the relationship of informal communication from SNS writing etc. compared to official organization charts etc., the functions of the analysis tool and search tool are not sufficient.

  Specifically, the function of analyzing the relationship between tissues and visually showing it to the user is insufficient. Further, although there is a function of searching for a specific member, a function of searching a path to a certain member via a person in the organization and visually showing it to the user is insufficient.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, and enables it to show the connection between members visually.

  An information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is connected to an information processing terminal used by a user who is a member of an SNS via a network, and information from a database in which member IDs and information representing connections between members are stored In an information processing apparatus capable of reading out, an acquisition unit that acquires an ID of a source member and an ID of a target member, and a target from a source member that is identified by the ID acquired by the acquisition unit Each member is displayed on a display of the information processing terminal and search means for searching a path connecting the connected members up to the member to be based on information representing the connection between the members read from the database. An image representing the group to which the user belongs is displayed and searched by the search means. And a display control means for displaying a path from a member to a member as a target to be by a source.

  The display control means can further display an image representing a group to which each member belongs, changing the size according to the number of members belonging to the group.

  When the database further stores information representing the history of the group to which the member belonged in the past, the display control means further includes an image representing the group to which the target member belongs and the past. An image representing the selected group can be hierarchically displayed on the screen.

  The information processing method or program according to one aspect of the present invention acquires the ID of a source member and the ID of a target member, and from the source member identified by the acquired ID to the target member. A path connecting connected members is searched based on information representing connections between members read from the database, and an image representing a group to which each member belongs is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal. And displaying a path from the searched source member to the target member.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the ID of the source member and the ID of the target member are acquired, and the connected members from the source member to the target member identified by the acquired ID Are searched based on information representing the connection between members read from the database. In addition, an image representing a group to which each member belongs is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal, and a path from the searched source member to the target member is displayed.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, connections between members can be presented visually.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an SNS system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, this SNS system is configured by connecting an SNS server 1 and an analysis server 2 to a client 5 via a network 4 such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network). A database 3 is also connected to the SNS server 1 and the analysis server 2.

  An SNS system having such a configuration is constructed in, for example, one company. In this case, the client 5 composed of a personal computer or the like becomes a terminal used by the employee, and actually, a plurality of clients 5 are connected to the network 4.

  The SNS server 1 is a server that provides each SNS function such as the member registration function, friend registration function, community function, message function, and diary function described above.

  The SNS server 1 is a member who participates in a community formed by the community function, information on attributes such as the name of the user of the client 5 registered by the member registration function, information on a link (friend link) established by the friend registration function Comment information, message information exchanged between members by the message function, diary information created by the diary function, and the like are stored in the database 3 and managed.

  The analysis server 2 analyzes the information stored in the database 3 and provides various functions to the user of the client 5 based on the analysis result. When using the functions provided by the analysis server 2, the user of the client 5 needs to log on by starting a web browser, accessing the analysis server 2, and entering a member ID, password, and the like. is there. The member ID is assigned to each user at a predetermined timing such as when a member is registered.

  As a first function, the analysis server 2 has a function of presenting a relationship with another organization to which the user of the client 5 belongs.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5.

Nodes n _{1 to} n ₄ each represent an organization, and the size of the circle represents the number of members belonging to the organization. In the example of FIG. 2, the number of members belonging to the organization represented by the nodes n ₁ and n ₃ is almost the same number, and from that number, the members belonging to the organization represented by the nodes n ₂ and n ₄ It is said that there are more members to do.

The node n ₁ is an organization to which the user of the client 5 who logs on to the analysis server 2 and instructs the display of the screen as shown in FIG. 2 belongs. The node representing the organization to which the user of the client 5 belongs is displayed in a special color different from the nodes representing other organizations. In FIG. 2, the fact that the interval between the oblique lines attached to the node n ₁ is narrower than the interval between the oblique lines attached to the other nodes means that.

  From such a display, the user of the client 5 can grasp the relevance of the organization to which the client 5 belongs with paying attention to the difference in the number of members.

Edges e _{1 to} e ₄ connecting the nodes indicate that members belonging to the organization corresponding to the nodes connected by the nodes have friend links. The thickness of the edge represents the number of friend links (the number of members having friend links).

In the example of FIG. 2, the organization represented by both the nodes n ₁ and n ₃ has a member having a friend link with a member belonging to the organization represented by the node n _2. , There is a member who has a friend link with a member belonging to the organization represented by the node n ₄ .

In the example of FIG. 2, the number of members having friend links between the organization represented by the node n ₁ and the organization represented by the node n ₂ is the largest. Next, the number of members having friend links between the organization represented by the node n ₃ and the organization represented by the node n ₄ is assumed to be large.

Number of members having friend links between the organization represented by node n ₁ and the organization represented by node n ₄ , and between the organization represented by node n ₂ and the organization represented by node n ₃ Are considered to be less than the number among other organizations.

  Since the organization is composed of members and the connections between the members belonging to the organization are considered to represent the connections between the organizations, from this display, the user of the client 5 determines how many connections (links) between the organizations exist. , You can see how strong links between organizations are.

  The analysis server 2 has a function of presenting a path to a certain member as a second function.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of another screen displayed on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5. The same parts as those shown in FIG. The overlapping description will be omitted as appropriate.

  When each member ID is acquired by the analysis server 2 with the user of the client 5 as the source member and the member who is to be contacted as the target member, a screen as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display 5A of the client 5. The This function is available when the user of the client 5 knows the member trying to contact.

Nodes each circle shown in the inside of the n ₁ represents a member _{u 11, u 12, u 13} , u 14 is a member belonging to the organization represented by the node n _1, respectively, it is shown inside the node n ₂ The circles represent members u ₂₁ , u ₂₂ and u ₂₃ which are members belonging to the organization represented by the node n ₂ . A circle displayed in red, for example, which is a starting point of a path indicated by an arrow inside the node n ₁ represents a user of the client 5 who is a source member (member u ₁₁ ). On the other hand, a circle displayed in black, for example, which is the end point of the path indicated by the arrow inside the node n ₂ represents the target member (member u ₂₃ ).

The members u ₁₁ and u ₁₂ , the members u ₁₂ and u ₁₃ , and the members u ₁₃ and u ₁₄ connected by the pass are members having friend links. Similarly, the member u ₂₁ and the member u ₂₂ and the member u ₂₂ and the member u ₂₃ are members having friend links, respectively. In the example of FIG. 3, the member u ₁₂ belonging to the organization represented by the node n ₁ and the member u ₂₁ belonging to the organization represented by the node n ₂ also have friend links. The edge between the member u ₁₂ and the member u ₂₁ is indicated by a thickness corresponding to the relationship between the organization represented by the node n ₁ and the organization represented by the node n ₂ .

From such a display, the user of the client 5 can grasp which member should be introduced to contact the target member. In the example of FIG. 3, members u ₁₁ is the source member, asked to introduce the members u ₁₃ members u ₁₂ having yourself and friends links, it members u ₁₄ to its members u ₁₃ Can be contacted with the target member u ₂₃ by following the path such as...

  Moreover, the analysis server 2 has a function of presenting a path to the member specified based on the keyword as a third function.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of still another screen displayed on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5. The same parts as those shown in FIG. The overlapping description will be omitted as appropriate.

  When a keyword is input by the user of the client 5 and acquired by the analysis server 2, a member who has transmitted or received a message including the same word as the acquired keyword or posted a diary by the target is targeted. Identified as a member. Further, a screen as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display 5A of the client 5 with the identified member as the target member. This function is used when the user of the client 5 does not know the member who is trying to contact.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, for example, when “XYZ” is input as a keyword and the member u ₂₃ is specified as the target member, the path from the member u _{11 as the} source member to the member u ₂₃ is displayed.

  From such a display, the user of the client 5 can grasp which organization member should be contacted based on the keyword. In addition, the user can grasp which member should be introduced to contact the target member.

  The processing of the analysis server 2 that performs the screen display as described above will be described later with reference to a flowchart.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the analysis server 2.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the analysis server 2 includes a UI (User Interface) unit 11, a data processing unit 12, and a data reading unit 13.

  The UI unit 11 transmits / receives data to / from the client 5 via the network 4. The UI unit 11 includes an input unit 21 and a display unit 22.

  The input unit 21 receives information that is transmitted from the client 5 and represents the content of the user operation of the client 5 and acquires information input by the user. For example, the input unit 21 acquires the member ID of the user of the client 5 or acquires the member ID of the target member. The input unit 21 outputs the acquired information to the data processing unit 12.

  The display unit 22 causes the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5 to display a screen as illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4 based on the information supplied from the data processing unit 12.

  The data processing unit 12 performs various processes and provides the above-described functions to the user of the client 5. For example, the data processing unit 12 reads the number of members belonging to each organization based on the information read from the database 3 and supplied from the data reading unit 13 or the path from the source member to the target member. Or search.

  The data reading unit 13 reads information from the database 3 and outputs the read information to the data processing unit 12. As described above, the database 3 stores various information for providing the SNS function by the SNS server 1.

  6 and 7 are diagrams illustrating examples of information stored in the database 3 by the SNS server 1.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information.

  As shown on the left side of FIG. 6, the user information includes member IDs assigned to users who are members of SNS, organization IDs assigned to organizations to which the users belong, user names, organization names, and other attributes. Is included. User information including such information is stored in the database 3 for each user.

As indicated by the tip of the arrow A ₁ , the user information is associated with organization information that is information on the organization to which the user who registered the user information belongs. The organization information includes attributes such as an organization ID, an upper organization ID that is an ID of a higher organization, an organization name, an organization establishment date, an organization end date, and an old organization name list. The old organization name list is a list of organizations to which the user belongs in the past.

As indicated by the arrow A ₂ , organization information including attributes of the upper organization can be acquired from the upper organization ID. Further, as indicated by an arrow A ₃ , organization information including attributes of organizations to which the user has belonged in the past can be acquired from the old organization name list.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of member information.

  When the member registration is performed, the member information as shown on the left side of FIG. 7 is stored in the database 3 in association with the user information of the user who performed the member registration.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the member information, information indicating the number assigned in the order of member registration, the nickname registered by the member, the date of birth of the member, and whether or not to disclose the birth year , Information on the file name of the main image, the file names of the profile images 1 to 3, the date and time of the last login, and the like.

  Friend link information and diary information are associated with the member information.

  As shown on the right side of FIG. 7, the friend link information includes a number assigned in the order of friend registration, the member ID of the member who applied for friend registration, the member ID of the member who is the friend link partner, and the friend Information such as the registration date and time of link information is included. The friend link information represents the connection between members.

  Each time friend registration is performed by a member, friend link information including such information is stored in the database 3 in association with the member information of the member.

  The diary information includes information such as the number assigned in the order of registration, the member ID of the member who wrote the diary, the title of the diary, the text of the diary, and the creation date and time.

  Every time a diary is created by a member, diary information including such information is stored in the database 3 in association with the member information of the member.

  Information on messages and comments exchanged between members is also stored in the database 3 by the SNS server 1, read by the data reading unit 13 and used by the data processing unit 12 as appropriate.

  Here, processing of the analysis server 2 will be described.

  First, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8, the process of the analysis server 2 that draws the relationship between the organization to which the user of the client 5 belongs and the other organization will be described.

  By this processing, a screen as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the display 5A of the client 5.

  In step S <b> 1, the input unit 21 acquires the member ID of the user of the client 5 who is the source member based on the information transmitted from the client 5. The input unit 21 outputs the acquired member ID to the data processing unit 12.

  In step S2, the data processing unit 12 classifies all the members for each member of the same organization based on the user information for all the members as shown in FIG. 6 read from the database 3 by the data reading unit 13. And determine the number of members in each organization. The organization to which each member belongs is identified by the organization ID included in the user information.

  In step S <b> 3, the data processing unit 12 determines the size of the node according to the number of members belonging so that an organization with a larger number of members belonging to is displayed in a larger circle.

  In step S4, the data processing unit 12 pays attention to each node, and determines whether or not the focused node is a node representing an organization to which the source member belongs.

  When it is determined in step S4 that the node of interest is a node representing the organization to which the source member belongs, in step S5, the display unit 22 sets the node of interest to the size determined in step S3, and the other Is drawn in a special color different from that of the node and displayed on the display 5A of the client 5.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that the node of interest is not a node representing the organization to which the source member belongs, in step S6, the display unit 22 selects the node of interest in the size determined in step S3, and Then, the image is drawn in a general color and displayed on the display 5A of the client 5.

  In step S7, the data processing unit 12 uses the user information read from the database 3 by the data reading unit 13 and the friend link information as shown in FIG. Find the number of links.

  In step S <b> 8, the data processing unit 12 determines the thickness of the edge according to the number of friend links that belong to each organization.

  In step S <b> 9, the display unit 22 draws an edge between nodes representing an organization having a link with the thickness obtained in step S <b> 8 and displays the edge on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5. Thereby, a screen as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5.

  Next, processing of the analysis server 2 that presents a path to a certain member will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  With this processing, a screen as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display 5A of the client 5. For example, the processing shown in FIG. 9 is performed in the same manner as the processing described with reference to FIG. It starts when it is displayed.

  In step S <b> 21, the input unit 21 acquires the member ID of the user of the client 5 who is the source member and the member ID of the target member based on the information transmitted from the client 5. The input unit 21 outputs the acquired member ID to the data processing unit 12.

  In step S22, the data processing unit 12 determines whether the source member and the target member are members belonging to the same organization based on the user information.

  When it is determined in step S22 that the source member and the target member belong to the same organization, in step S23, the data processing unit 12 performs processing according to the shortest path detection algorithm 1 to change from the source member to the target member. Find the shortest path. The processing performed according to the shortest path detection algorithm 1 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S22 that the source member and the target member are not members belonging to the same organization, in step S24, the data processing unit 12 determines between the organization to which the source member belongs and the organization to which the target member belongs. It is determined whether or not there is a link.

  When it is determined in step S24 that there is a link between the organization to which the source member belongs and the organization to which the target member belongs, in step S25, the data processing unit 12 performs processing 1 to change the source member to the target member. Find the shortest path. The process 1 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S24 that there is no link between the organization to which the source member belongs and the organization to which the target member belongs, in step S26, the data processing unit 12 performs processing 2 so that the source member Find the shortest path to a member. Processing 2 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  After the shortest path is obtained in step S23, S25, or S26, in step S27, the display unit 22 draws the obtained shortest path and displays it on the display 5A of the client 5. Thereby, a screen as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5.

  Next, processing performed according to the shortest path detection algorithm 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S41, if the data processing unit 12 represents a member having a friend link with another member as shown in FIG. 11 as a node, the member is used as a weight of an edge between nodes (between members having a friend link). Sets the reciprocal of the total number of messages and comments exchanged between them. In FIG. 11, U _s represents a source member, and U _t represents a target member.

In step S42, the data processing unit 12 obtains the shortest path from the source member U _s to the target member U _t by using, for example, the Dijkstra method. For example, since a large number of messages and comments are exchanged, a path connecting members with strong friend link connections and the shortest path is required. The Dijkstra method is described in, for example, “Edsger W. Dijkstra,“ A Note on Two Problems in Connexion with Graphs ”Numerische Mathematik, vol. 1, pp. 269-271 (1959)”. The shortest path may be obtained by other methods.

  After the shortest path is obtained, the process returns to step S23 in FIG. 9, and the subsequent processing is performed.

  Next, the process 1 performed in step S25 of FIG. 9 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S51, as shown in FIG. 13, the data processing unit 12 sets the organization to which the source member belongs to “organization 1”, the organization to which the target member belongs to “organization 2”, and between the organization 1 and organization 2. Among members having friend links, a member of organization 1 is u _1n and a member of organization 2 is u _2m (n and m are values from 1 to the number of members).

In the example of FIG. 13, the source member U _s has friend links with the members u ₁₁ and u ₁₂ belonging to the same organization 1, and the target member U _t is a member u ₂₁ and u belonging to the same organization 2. have u ₂₂ and the Friends link. The member u _{11 of the} organization 1 and the member u _{21 of} the organization 2 and the member u _{12 of the} organization 1 and the member u _{22 of the} organization 2 also have friend links.

In step S52, the data processing unit 12 obtains the shortest path from the source member U _s to the target member U _t by performing processing according to the shortest path detection algorithm 1 described with reference to FIG.

For example in FIG. 13, the source member U _s - Member u ₁₁ - Member u ₂₁ - or path of the target member U _t, the source member U _s - Member u ₁₂ - Member u ₂₂ - path of the target member U _t is the shortest path As required.

  After the shortest path is obtained, the process returns to step S25 in FIG. 9, and the subsequent processing is performed.

  Next, the process 2 performed in step S26 of FIG. 9 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S <b> 61, the data processing unit 12 obtains the number of friend links that the belonging member has for each organization.

In step S62, as shown in FIG. 15, the data processing unit 12 sets the organization to which the source member belongs to “organization 1”, the organization to which the target member belongs to “organization 2”, and between the organization 1 and organization 2. Among members having friend links, a member of organization 1 is u _1n and a member of organization 2 is u _2m (n and m are values from 1 to the number of members).

In the example of FIG. 15, the source member U _s has friend links with the members u ₁₁ and u ₁₂ belonging to the same organization 1, and the target member U _t is a member u ₂₁ and u belonging to the same organization 2. have u ₂₂ and the Friends link.

The organization k in FIG. 15 is an organization identified by performing processing according to the shortest path detection algorithm 2 described later. The member u _k1 belonging to the organization k is a member having a friend link with the member u ₂₁ belonging to the organization 2, and the member u _k2 is a member having a friend link with the member u ₂₂ belonging to the organization 2. The member u _k2 also has a friend link with a member of the organization k having a friend link with the member u _{12 of the} organization 1.

  In the example of FIG. 15, only one organization is shown as the organization k, but a plurality of organizations may be specified.

  In step S <b> 63, the data processing unit 12 performs processing according to the shortest path detection algorithm 2 to obtain a path of organization 1-organization k-organization 2 that is the shortest path from the organization 1 to the organization 2. The processing performed according to the shortest path detection algorithm 2 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S64, the data processing unit 12 processes the members u _k1 , u _k2 ,... That are members of the organization k having friend links with the members of the organization 2 by performing processing according to the shortest path detection algorithm 1. The shortest path L _{s_k} from the source member U _s to the temporary target member is _obtained .

In step S65, the data processing unit 12 performs processing according to the shortest path detection algorithm 1, _{thereby obtaining} the shortest path L _{k_t} to the target member U _t from the members u _k1 , u _{k2 ,.}

In step S66, the data processing unit 12 obtains, as a solution, a path that minimizes the value of L _{s_k} + L _{k_t} . Thereafter, the process returns to step S26 in FIG. 9, and the subsequent processing is performed.

  Next, processing performed according to the shortest path detection algorithm 2 in step S63 in FIG. 14 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

  In step S71, as illustrated in FIG. 17, the data processing unit 12 sets the organization to which the source member belongs to “organization 1” and the organization to which the target member belongs to “organization 2”. The organization k in FIG. 17 is an organization specified by processing to be described later. In the example of FIG. 17, there is no direct link between the organization 1 and the organization 2. Pk in FIG. 17 represents that there are a plurality of candidates for the organization k to be finally identified.

In step S72, the data processing unit 12 obtains members u ₁₁ ,..., U _1n that are members having friend links with members belonging to another organization among members belonging to the organization 1.

In step S73, the data processing unit 12 identifies the organization to which the partner member having the friend link with the members u ₁₁ ,..., U _1n belongs as the organization k. In addition, when the members u _k1 ,..., U _kn belonging to the organization k have friend links with the members of the organization 2, the data processing unit 12 _converts the organization k from the organization 1 to the organization 2 It is assumed that the organization {Pk} is a candidate organization on the shortest path.

  In step S74, the organization {Pk} having the largest total of the number of friend links between the members of the organization 1 and the organization {Pk} and the number of friend links between the members of the organization 2 and the members of the organization {Pk} Is the solution of organization k. Thereafter, the process returns to step S63 in FIG. 14, and the subsequent processing is performed.

  Next, the processing of the analysis server 2 that presents the path to the member specified based on the keyword will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  By this processing, a screen as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display 5A of the client 5. For example, the processing in FIG. 18 is the same as the processing described with reference to FIG. 8, so that the edge indicating the presence / absence and strength of the link between the node representing the organization and the organization is displayed on the display 5A of the client 5. It starts when it is displayed.

  In step S <b> 81, the input unit 21 acquires the member ID and keyword of the source member based on the information transmitted from the client 5. The input unit 21 outputs the acquired member ID and keyword to the data processing unit 12.

In step S82, the data processing unit 12 searches the message exchanged between the members and the diary created by the members, and searches for the same word as the keyword specified by the user of the client 5 by the number of thresholds or more. Many members U _t1 that are members listed in messages and diaries are identified. From the data reading unit 13 to the data processing unit 12, message information and diary information read from the database 3 are supplied.

In step S83, the data processing unit 12 sets the member U _t1 as a target member and performs the above-described processing 1 when there is a link between the organization to which the source member belongs and the organization to which the target member belongs. Find the shortest path from the source member to the target member.

  In addition, when there is no link between the organization to which the source member belongs and the organization to which the target member belongs, the data processing unit 12 performs the above-described processing 2 to obtain the shortest path from the source member to the target member. Ask.

  In step S <b> 84, the display unit 22 draws the path obtained by the data processing unit 12 and displays the path on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5. As a result, a screen as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display 5A of the client 5.

  Next, another process of the analysis server 2 that presents a path to a member specified based on a keyword will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Similarly to the processing of FIG. 18, the screen shown in FIG. 4 is also displayed on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5 by the processing of FIG. 19. In the process of FIG. 18, the target member is directly specified by a search for a message or a diary. However, in the process of FIG. 19, a certain organization is specified first and then specified. The target member is identified from among the members of the organization. The user of the client 5 may be able to select whether the target member is directly specified or the organization is specified first and then the target member is specified.

  In step S <b> 91, the input unit 21 acquires the member ID and keyword of the source member based on the information transmitted from the client 5. The input unit 21 outputs the acquired member ID and keyword to the data processing unit 12.

  In step S92, the data processing unit 12 counts, for each organization, the number of cases that include the same word as the keyword specified by the user of the client 5 in the message and diary of the affiliation member, and determines the organization having the largest number of cases. Identify.

In step S <b> 93, the data processing unit 12 identifies a member U _t2 that most frequently mentions the same word as the keyword specified by the user of the client 5 among the members of the identified organization.

In step S94, the data processing unit 12 sets the member U _t2 as a target member, and performs processing 1 described above when there is a link between the organization to which the source member belongs and the organization to which the target member belongs, Find the shortest path from the source member to the target member.

  In addition, when there is no link between the organization to which the source member belongs and the organization to which the target member belongs, the data processing unit 12 performs the above-described processing 2 to obtain the shortest path from the source member to the target member. Ask.

  In step S <b> 95, the display unit 22 draws the path obtained by the data processing unit 12 and displays the path on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5. As a result, a screen as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display 5A of the client 5.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of the member U _t1 specified as the target member by the process of FIG. 18 and the member U _t2 specified as the target member by the process of FIG.

In the example of FIG. 20, the member U _t1 is a member belonging to the organization 0, and the member U _t2 is a member belonging to the organization 2. The source member U _s is a member belonging to the organization 1.

For example, when “voice recognition” is input as a keyword by the source member U _s , according to the process of FIG. 18, the member U _{t1 of the} organization 0 who writes many words of “voice recognition” in a message or diary is identified. Then, according to the process of FIG. 19, after the organization 2 having a large number of messages and diaries including the word “speech recognition” is identified, the word “speech recognition” among the members of the organization 2 The member U _t2 who writes a lot is identified.

  That is, according to the processing of FIG. 18, members who are good at or are interested in the field of “voice recognition” are directly identified. On the other hand, according to the processing of FIG. 19, an organization having many members who are good at or interested in the field of “voice recognition” is identified, and among them, the member who is most good at or interested in Will be specified.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of the shortest path.

As shown in FIG. 21, when the member u ₁₂ belonging to the organization 1 and the member u ₀₁ belonging to the organization 0 have friend links, and there is a link between the organization 1 and the organization 0, the method described above 1, the path of the source member U _s -member u ₁₁ -member u ₁₂ -member u ₀₁ -target member U _t1 is specified as the shortest path from the source member U _s to U _t1 .

In addition, when the members u ₁₃ and u ₁₄ belonging to the organization 1 and the member u ₂₁ belonging to the organization 2 have friend links, and there is a link between the organization 1 and the organization 2, the source member U _s -member The number of messages and comments exchanged between u ₁₃ , source member U _s -member u ₁₄ , member u ₁₃ -member u ₂₁ , and member u ₁₄ -member u ₂₁ are 10, 20, 5 and 10, respectively. In some cases, the process of the method 1 described above identifies the path of source member U _s -member u ₁₄ -member u ₂₁ -target member U _t2 as the shortest path from source member U _s to U _t2 .

  Through the above processing, the user of the client 5 can visually confirm the connection between the members.

  In the above, the SNS system of FIG. 1 is constructed in one company, but may be constructed in a form that can be used by employees of a plurality of companies. In this case, a screen similar to the screen shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 including a node representing a company is displayed on the display of the client used by the user who has accessed the analysis server 2.

  Here, an example of screen display will be described.

  FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5.

  The screen shown in FIG. 22 is displayed, for example, when the user of the client 5 instructs to display the detailed information of the target member.

In FIG. 22, the organization 1 represented by the node n ₁₁ is the organization to which the target member U _t currently belongs. The organization 2 represented by the node n ₁₂ is the previous organization to which the target member U _t belonged before the organization 1, and the organization 3 represented by the node n ₁₃ belongs to the target member U _t before the organization 2. It was an organization that had been doing before. Node n ₁₄ represents organization 4.

Member U _t-1 shown as a member belonging to organization 2 represents the position of target member U _t when belonging to organization 2, and member U _t-2 shown as a member belonging to organization 3 is Represents the position of the target member U _t when belonging to the organization 3. For example, the node representing the target member U _t is displayed in the darkest color, and the node representing the member U _t-2 is displayed in the lightest color, so that the node is displayed in a different color at each time t.

A node representing the organization to which the current organization belongs and a node representing the organization to which the organization belonged in the past are displayed on the same screen in a manner having a hierarchical structure in this way, and then, as shown in FIG. An edge representing the link is displayed with reference to the position of the target member U _t .

Further, as shown in FIG. 23, a mouse etc. by operating to move the pointer P in the vicinity of the node representing the tissue 1, when clicked, old information of the tissue target members U _t is belonged in the past described above You may make it display based on information, such as an organization name list | wrist (FIG. 6).

  In order to realize the above screen display, time-sequential organization information of each member (in the example of FIG. 22, organization 3 → organization 2 → organization 1) is stored in the database 3 by the SNS server 1 or the like. This is a prerequisite.

  When the organization to which the member belongs is changed, the SNS server 1 sets the organization change date as the organization end date that is an attribute of the organization information as shown in FIG. Further, new organization information is generated by the SNS server 1. The name of the new organization after the change is set in the organization name of the newly created organization information, and the old organization name list of members whose belonging organization has changed with respect to the newly created organization information Are associated.

  FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen transition displayed on the display 5 </ b> A of the client 5.

  In the above description, the number of nodes displayed on one screen is four. Naturally, a larger number of nodes may be displayed. When the number of nodes is large, for example, the display may be switched as shown in FIG.

  First, as shown in the uppermost stage of FIG. 24, with an arbitrary node as the center, the edge of the arbitrary node is drawn radially, and the node on the opposite side is drawn. A characteristic node may be centered, or a randomly selected node may be centered. In the uppermost example of FIG. 24, the central node is displayed larger than the other nodes.

  Here, the central node in the uppermost state in FIG. In FIG. 24, the fact that the node A is filled represents that the node A is selected. Also, an arbitrary node that is not the node A among the currently drawn nodes is a node B. In the uppermost example of FIG. 24, the node at the lower right of the node A is the node B.

In this state, for example, when the node B is selected instead of the node A as indicated by the tip of the arrow A _{11 in} FIG. 24, the node B is changed as indicated by the tip of the arrow A _12. Displayed in the center. At this time, a node to which only node A is connected via an edge is deleted, and an edge extending radially from node A is also deleted. In the screen indicated by the tip of the arrow A _12, the fact that the edge extending from the node A and the node connected only to the node A are indicated by a dotted line indicates that it has been deleted.

Further, as indicated by the tip of the arrow A _13, the edge of the node B is drawn radially, and the node on the opposite side is drawn. The nodes connected by the edge and the node A extending from the node A is erased, as previously indicated by the arrow A _13, so a node with a Node B and a link is made possible at the same time to be displayed It may be performed after this.

  Such a display makes it possible to reduce the number of nodes drawn at a time on the screen.

  In the above description, the client 5 is a personal computer. However, any terminal may be used as a client as long as the terminal has a display such as a mobile phone.

  In the above description, the SNS server 1 and the analysis server 2 are separate servers. However, the functions of the respective servers may be realized by a single server.

  The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware or can be executed by software. When a series of processing is executed by software, a program constituting the software executes various functions by installing a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware or various programs. The program is installed from a program recording medium on a general-purpose personal computer capable of processing.

  FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of a computer that executes the above-described series of processing by a program.

  At least a part of the configuration of the analysis server 2 shown in FIG. 5 is realized by executing a predetermined program by a computer as shown in FIG.

  A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 53 are connected to each other by a bus 54.

  An input / output interface 55 is further connected to the bus 54. The input / output interface 55 includes an input unit 56 composed of a keyboard, mouse, microphone, etc., an output unit 57 composed of a display, a speaker, etc., a storage unit 58 composed of a hard disk and a non-volatile memory, and a communication unit 59 composed of a network interface. A drive 60 for driving a removable medium 61 such as an optical disk or a semiconductor memory is connected.

  In the computer configured as described above, for example, the CPU 51 loads the program stored in the storage unit 58 to the RAM 53 via the input / output interface 55 and the bus 54 and executes it, thereby executing the above-described series of processing. Is done.

  The program executed by the CPU 51 is recorded in, for example, the removable medium 61 or provided via a wired or wireless transmission medium such as a local area network, the Internet, or digital broadcasting, and is installed in the storage unit 58.

  The program executed by the computer may be a program that is processed in time series in the order described in this specification, or in parallel or at a necessary timing such as when a call is made. It may be a program for processing.

  The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the SNS system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the screen displayed on the display of a client. It is a figure which shows the example of the other screen displayed on the display of a client. It is a figure which shows the example of the other screen displayed on the display of a client. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of an analysis server. It is a figure which shows the example of the information memorize | stored in a database. It is a figure which shows the example of the other information memorize | stored in a database. It is a flowchart explaining the drawing process of an analysis server. It is a flowchart explaining the path | pass presentation process of an analysis server. 5 is a flowchart for describing processing performed according to a shortest path detection algorithm 1. It is a figure which shows the example of a node. 10 is a flowchart for explaining processing 1; It is a figure which shows the example of a node. 10 is a flowchart for explaining processing 2; It is a figure which shows the example of a node. 10 is a flowchart for describing processing performed in accordance with the shortest path detection algorithm 2. It is a figure which shows the example of a node. It is a flowchart explaining the other path | pass presentation processing of an analysis server. It is a flowchart explaining the further another path | pass presentation process of an analysis server. It is a figure which shows the example of a search. It is a figure which shows the other example of a search. It is a figure which shows the example of the screen displayed on the display of a client. It is a figure which shows the example of the screen displayed on the display of a client. It is a figure which shows the example of the transition of the screen displayed on the display of a client. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a computer.

Explanation of symbols

  1 SNS server, 2 analysis server, 3 database, 4 network, 11 UI unit, 12 data processing unit, 13 data reading unit, 21 input unit, 22 display unit

Claims (5)

In an information processing apparatus that is connected via an information processing terminal used by a user who is a member of an SNS via a network and can read information from a database in which information representing a member ID and a connection between members is stored,
An acquisition means for acquiring the ID of the source member and the ID of the target member;
Based on the information representing the connection between the members read from the database, the path connecting the connected members from the source member to the target member identified by the ID acquired by the acquisition means. Search means for searching;
Display control means for displaying an image representing a group to which each member belongs on the display of the information processing terminal and displaying a path from a source member to a target member searched by the search means; Information processing apparatus provided. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit further displays an image representing a group to which each member belongs, changing the size according to the number of members belonging to the group. If the database further stores information representing the history of the group to which the member belonged in the past,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit further displays an image representing a group to which a target member belongs and an image representing a group to which the target member belongs in a hierarchical manner on the screen. Information on an information processing device that is connected to an information processing terminal used by a user who is a member of an SNS via a network and can read information from a database in which member IDs and information representing connections between members are stored. In the processing method,
Get the ID of the source member and the ID of the target member,
Search the path connecting the connected members from the source member identified by the acquired ID to the target member based on the information representing the connection between the members read from the database,
An information processing method comprising: displaying an image representing a group to which each member belongs on the display of the information processing terminal, and displaying a path from the searched source member to the target member. Processing of an information processing apparatus that is connected to an information processing terminal used by a user who is a member of an SNS via a network and can read information from a database in which member IDs and information representing connections between members are stored In a program that causes a computer to execute
Get the ID of the source member and the ID of the target member,
Search the path connecting the connected members from the source member identified by the acquired ID to the target member based on the information representing the connection between the members read from the database,
A program including a step of displaying an image representing a group to which each member belongs on the display of the information processing terminal and displaying a path from the searched source member to the target member.

Images