Patents by Inventor Benjamin E. Hiller

Benjamin E. Hiller has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10325323
    Abstract: A social graph may be modeled as a collection of claims. Each claim is associated with an author, an audience, and an assertion about a fact. Probabilistic information may be collected from various sources for a claim, enabling a social networking system to evaluate a truthfulness of the assertion made in the claim. User-declared profile information may be evaluated as claims. A user, entity, or application may make claims about any assertions made in the social networking system. Reputation scores may be determined for users based on evaluations of their historical assertions. Claims may be evaluated for truthfulness using a probabilistic prediction model using heuristics analysis, regression analysis, and machine learning methods. A claims-based profile of users may be provided to viewers based on the contexts in which the claims were made. Viewers may view claims made about users, such as the users' biographical information, contact information, expertise, and interests.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Samuel Lessin, Michael Hudack, Aaron Sittig, Daniel Klatzko Gibson, Benjamin E. Hiller, Thomas Andrew Watson, Wei Zhong Yeh
  • Patent number: 9270716
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Publication number: 20160006775
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2015
    Publication date: January 7, 2016
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Patent number: 9167014
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Publication number: 20140137001
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2014
    Publication date: May 15, 2014
    Applicant: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Patent number: 8701019
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Patent number: 8650497
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2014
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Patent number: 8589807
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Publication number: 20130290414
    Abstract: A social networking system facilitates a user's creation of a group of other users from among the user's connections in the user's social network. The created groups may be used, for example, to publish information to certain user-defined groups or to define privacy settings or other access rights to the user's content according to such user-defined groups. When a user adds connections to a group, the social networking system determines a characteristic associated with the group and identifies whether the characteristic is specified in user profiles of the added connections. If the user profiles lack the characteristic, the social networking system suggests to the connections to update their user profiles with the characteristic.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Publication date: October 31, 2013
    Inventors: Zachary Ethan Carpen Rait, Blake A. Ross, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Publication number: 20130282811
    Abstract: A social graph may be modeled as a collection of claims. Each claim is associated with an author, an audience, and an assertion about a fact. Probabilistic information may be collected from various sources for a claim, enabling a social networking system to evaluate a truthfulness of the assertion made in the claim. User-declared profile information may be evaluated as claims. A user, entity, or application may make claims about any assertions made in the social networking system. Reputation scores may be determined for users based on evaluations of their historical assertions. Claims may be evaluated for truthfulness using a probabilistic prediction model using heuristics analysis, regression analysis, and machine learning methods. A claims-based profile of users may be provided to viewers based on the contexts in which the claims were made. Viewers may view claims made about users, such as the users' biographical information, contact information, expertise, and interests.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2012
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Inventors: Samuel Lessin, Michael Hudack, Aaron Sittig, Daniel Klatzko Gibson, Benjamin E. Hiller, Thomas Andrew Watson, Wei Zhong Yeh
  • Publication number: 20130282813
    Abstract: A social graph may be modeled as a collection of claims. Each claim is associated with an author, an audience, and an assertion about a fact. Probabilistic information may be collected from various sources for a claim, enabling a social networking system to evaluate a truthfulness of the assertion made in the claim. User-declared profile information may be evaluated as claims. A user, entity, or application may make claims about any assertions made in the social networking system. Reputation scores may be determined for users based on evaluations of their historical assertions. Claims may be evaluated for truthfulness using a probabilistic prediction model using heuristics analysis, regression analysis, and machine learning methods. A claims-based profile of users may be provided to viewers based on the contexts in which the claims were made. Viewers may view claims made about users, such as the users' biographical information, contact information, expertise, and interests.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2012
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Inventors: Samuel Lessin, Michael Hudack, Aaron Sittig, Daniel Klatzko Gibson, Benjamin E. Hiller, Thomas Andrew Watson, Wei Yeh
  • Patent number: 8522152
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Publication number: 20130139070
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2013
    Publication date: May 30, 2013
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Publication number: 20120246578
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2011
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Publication number: 20120246576
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2011
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller
  • Publication number: 20120246575
    Abstract: A social networking system includes a question and answer system that displays to a viewing user questions and answers provides by other users of the social networking system. The question and answer system may display answers to a particular question in a way that visually indicates both the global answer set and a subset of the global answer set, such as the viewing user's friends. The social networking system may also display to a viewing user news stories about another user asking or answering a question, where the format of the displayed new stories is based on an affinity that the viewing user has for the user who provided the question or answer mentioned in the news story. The displayed questions and/or answers may be associated with an object in the social networking system, where the user interface provides additional information about those objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2011
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Inventors: Robert Michael Baldwin, Adrian A. Graham, Drew W. Hamlin, Benjamin E. Hiller