Presence and geographic location notification based on a setting

摘要

A user of an instant messaging system may store names of other users of the instant messaging system on a participant list (which may be referred to as a “buddy list”), and the names may be categorized into one or more groups. Similarly, a user of a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone, may store contact information about people on the mobile device. Information describing the on-line presence of the user within the instant messaging system or the geographic location of a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone associated with the user, may be disseminated to users on the participant list or to people on the contact list based on notification information that is associated with groups of users or contacts.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
maintaining settings for disseminating information associated with a user to a plurality of other users; receiving, from the user, a first user input defining a subset of multiple users from the plurality of other users; receiving, from the user, a second user input indicating a selection of a setting, from the maintained settings, for disseminating information related to a geographic location of the user; receiving, from the user, a third user input selecting a time slot to be applied to the selected setting for disseminating information related to the geographic location of the user during the selected time slot; displaying the time slot within a calendar interface; receiving, from the user, a fourth user input comprising a selection of an icon representing the defined subset of multiple users and dragging the icon to the displayed time slot within the calendar interface; in response to receiving the fourth user input, associating the defined subset of multiple users with the selected setting associated with the time slot; determining, using at least one processor, a geographic location of the user; and disseminating information related to the geographic location of the user to the defined subset of the multiple users in accordance with the time slot of the selected setting.