| 摘要 |
A social environment is provided by creating an object in response to recognition of an entity in a portion of web content, wherein the object represents the entity, the object is associated with a type selected from a set of types, and the type is associated with a schema selected from a set of schemas, where the social environment includes a set of objects including the object, wherein the objects are instances of corresponding types in a rich system of predefined types, the schemas are associated with the types, metadata is associated with the objects, and there is at least one relationship between at least two objects selected from the set of objects, where the set of objects and the metadata are extensible, such that extensions provided by a first user are available for use by a second user. In one example, metadata provided by a first user is only available to a second user having a relationship with the first user. |
| 主权项 |
1. A method of providing a social environment, the method comprising:
receiving, at a processor, an input from a first user, the first user input relating to creation of an object in a social environment, the object representing one of a physical object or a virtual object, the social environment comprising an interface and representations of at least the first user and a second user; creating, by the processor in the social environment, the object based on the first user input, the object comprising metadata associated with the object and a schema that includes one or more attributes, the associated metadata comprising ratings, tags, text, or a combination thereof; facilitating, by the processor, a search for a reference to the object within web content received by a web browser employed by the second user, the reference to the object comprising a name of the object, an identifier associated with the object, or a combination thereof; receiving, by the processor upon the search for the reference, an indication that the web content received by the web browser comprises the reference to the object; determining, by the processor, if the second user has a relationship with the first user; providing, by the processor in response to receipt of the indication, the metadata to the second user upon determination that the second user has the relationship with the first user; causing, by the processor, via the toolbar, display of supplemental information in the web browser to the second user, the supplemental information being based upon the metadata associated with the object; receiving, by the processor, a second input from the second user, the second input defining an additional attribute that extends the schema of the object created based on the first user input; and storing, by the processor, the extended schema as a new schema for a new object in an object repository, the new schema enabling generation of instances of the new object, wherein the new schema and the new object are configured to be visible and be retrieved by other users of the social environment. |
