Context-Based Object Retrieval In A Social Networking System

摘要

Embodiments improve the ability of users of a social networking system to search for information that is likely to be relevant to them by learning and/or applying a search context associated with selector components used to search for objects of the social networking system. The search context is specific to the use of an individual selector and thus need not be as general as the context of an entire page or set of pages in which selectors can be embedded. The social networking system may learn the context of a selector by monitoring user selections from prior search results performed using the selector.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
providing, to a client device, a graphical user interface including a selector, the selector being a graphical component of the graphical user interface and being associated with an object type based on object types of objects from a plurality of prior selections made by a plurality of different users within result sets of the selector; receiving a query that was entered into the selector on the client device by a user of an online system, the object type having been associated with the selector before the query was received; forming a result set by identifying objects matching the query, one or more of the objects being associated with an object type; modifying the result set based at least in part on:
comparisons of the object type associated with the selector with the object types of the objects in the result set, andconnections of the user on the online system; and providing a plurality of the objects of the result set to the client device for display in visual association with the selector in the graphical user interface, wherein the provided plurality of objects comprise at least two different object types.