Providing a multi-column newsfeed of content on a social networking system

摘要

News feed stories are ranked so that some stories appear above other stories for users of a social networking system. These “top” news stories are selected based on a ranking algorithm that incorporates an analysis of affinities for interests, users, and entities in the social networking system based on user interactions as well as story layout dimensions. The top news stories are presented in a multiple-column format, such as a grid format. Top news stories may be presented higher or in a more prominent placement among one or more columns in the story layout as compared to other news stories. The ranking of the top new news stories may change after a top news story is viewed. The multiple-column newsfeed enables a more visually pleasant placement of targeted advertisements on the social networking system.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
obtaining a plurality of news stories that describe a plurality of activities performed by a plurality of other entities with whom a viewing user has established a connection in a social networking system; ranking the plurality of news stories based on a determined affinity of the viewing user for an aspect of each of the news stories; selecting a set of top news stories from the plurality of news stories based on the ranking; and determining a story layout for the selected top news stories, the story layout comprising a placement of each of the selected top news stories in one or more of a plurality of columns, the placements based at least in part on the viewing user's affinity for the top stories; providing a news feed for display to the viewing user, where the news feed comprises the selected top news stories displayed according to the determined story layout, by
generating an aggregated story based on a plurality of news stories having a common topic, where the aggregated story comprises a selectable link for expanding the aggregated story for displaying the plurality of news stories having the common topic,determining the story layout for the selected top news stories and the aggregated story, the story layout comprising a placement of each of the selected top news stories and the aggregated story in the one or more of the plurality of columns, where the placement is based at least in part on the viewing user's affinity for the top stories and the common topic, andproviding the aggregated story in the news feed for display to the viewing user, where the news feed comprises the selected top news stories and the aggregated story displayed according to the determined story layout; receiving a selection of the link for expanding the aggregated story for displaying the plurality of news stories having the common topic; and responsive to the received selection of the link, providing the plurality of news stories having the common topic for display in the news feed for display to the viewing user, where the news feed comprises the aggregated story displayed according to the determined story layout and the plurality of news stories having the common topic within the aggregated story.