WO2016004246A1

WO2016004246A1 - System and method for providing a visual representation of public opinion about a subject

Info

Publication number: WO2016004246A1
Application number: PCT/US2015/038896
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jose Vicente SALAZAR; Luis Alfonso ROCA
Original assignee: Truebox, Llc
Priority date: 2014-07-01
Filing date: 2015-07-01
Publication date: 2016-01-07

Abstract

A system for visually representing public opinion over time. In order to visually represent public opinion over time, an aggregated score for a subject is determined. The aggregated score is an aggregation of scores for the subject input by multiple users. Presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject as a function of time that indicates fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users is facilitated. Users may select and/or enter a score for the subject. The visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject presented to the user is updated based on the new aggregated score for the subject.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT A SUBJECT

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

(01) This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial Number 62/019,780, titled "System and Method For Providing A Visual Representation of Public Opinion About A Subject," filed July 1, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

(02) This disclosure relates to providing a visual representation of opinion about a subject; in particular, the disclosure relates to providing a visual representation of public opinion about a subject over time.

BACKGROUND

(03) There are multiple ways that a person may vote on a subject. For example, through a suggestion box at a restaurant, doctor's office, or other type of establishment. A person may vote using the telephone during televised contests. A person may access a website, such as Facebook, YouTube, or Yelp and interact with a page regarding a subject and provide an indication of whether or not person likes the subject, or provide a rating using a star system or similar system regarding the subject.

(04) Websites, such a Facebook, YouTube, or Yelp do not provide an indication of the general public perception or opinion about subjects or events as change. Instead, websites such a Facebook, YouTube, and Yelp provide an indication of an instantaneous score or rank for a subject. (05) Review platforms such as Yelp, Trip Advisor and Angle's List currently use a traditional way to calculate the average of the votes provides by users. Such review platforms sum the votes and divide the votes by the quantity of votes. Occasionally, the review platforms will not include some of the votes based on accompanying reviews. This formula fails with the more votes the system receives. The aggregated score (average value) will change in a scale less and less for each incoming vote affecting any visual representation of that vote. Consequently, if a business starts to receive bad reviews after a prolonged period of good reviews, the bad reviews will be not effect the overall rating of the business, even though they can be more reflective of the current public opinion of that business.

SUMMARY

(06) One aspect of the disclosure relates to a system for visually representing public opinion over time. Public opinion about a subject is very important information. Public opinion about a subject may change over the course of time. In some instances, public opinion about a subject will change slowly over time. In other instances, public opinion about a subject will abruptly change over time. A subject may be anything that a person may have an opinion about. A subject may be a company or brand. A subject may be a geographical region or municipality, such as a plant, continent, country, city, town, and/or other type of geographical region and/or municipality. A subject may be a sports team. A subject may be a politician, celebrity, or other person in the public eye. A subject may be a type of activity, such as a sport, a hobby and/or other types of activities. A subject may be a condition, such as weather, a conflict, or other types of conditions. A subject may be anything that someone may have an opinion about.

(07) Public opinion about a subject may change over time. This may be caused by individuals changing their own opinion about a subject. Websites such a Facebook provide a system where a user may "like" a page or post about a particular subject. When a user is disinterested in the subject, the user may "unlike" the page or post about the subject.

Websites such as Yelp may provide a system where a user may select a score from 1 to 5 about a subject where the user provides a review about the subject, such as a restaurant. When a user dislikes the restaurant, the user may reduce their score for the subject or delete their review. Such systems provide a general score for the subject at the current instant in time and as an aggregate of all scores ever provided. None of the presently available mechanisms to visually represent opinion about a subject provide a visual representation of public opinion as a function of time.

(08) The system for providing a visual representation of public opinion for a subject over time may comprise one or more servers. The server(s) may be in electronic communication with client computing platforms associated with users. The server(s) may be in

communication with the client computing platforms over a network, such as the Internet. The server(s) may comprise one or more physical computer processors configured by machine- readable instructions to perform one or more functions. The client computing platforms may comprise one or more physical computer processors configured by machine-readable instructions to perform one or more functions. Visually representing public opinion for a subject over time may comprise one or more functions.

(09) Visually representing public opinion over time may comprise the function of determining an aggregated score for a subject. The aggregated score may be an aggregation of scores for the subject input by multiple users. The scores of the subject from users may be aggregated over a time period. For example, the aggregated score may be the score for a subject, from users, over an hour, a day, a week and/or other time periods. The time period selected for aggregating the scores may be provided by one or more users and/or

administrators. The time period selected for aggregating the scores may be determined by the one or more physical processors. The time period selected for aggregating the scores may be determined based on the frequency of scores for a subject received by the users. For example, where a subject has a high frequency of scores being provided by users, the time period for aggregating the scores may be less than for a subject with a low frequency of scores being provided by users.

(10) The aggregated score may be any type of score. The instant and/or latest aggregated score may be based on the determined aggregated score over a period of time. The instant and/or latest aggregated score may be based on the determined aggregated score for a number of scores. The amount of the number of scores may be set by an administrator. The amount of the number of scores may be based on one or more algorithms. For example, the instantaneous aggregated score may be based on the last n scores from users. When a user enters and/or selects a score for a subject, the system may be configured to determine a new instantaneous aggregated score for the subject based on the score entered and/or selected by the user. The system may use the last n scores from the users to determine the instantaneous aggregated score, including the score that was just entered and/or selected by the user. As a result, the n+1 score, which was previously used to determine the instantaneous aggregated score for the subject, is no longer used.

(11) The instantaneous aggregated scores for a subject may be updated in response to a user selecting and/or entering a score. The instantaneous aggregated scores for a subject may be updated in response to the occurrence of a selected time period. For example, every second, minute, hour or any other time period. The selected time period may be based on one or more algorithms. For example, the selected time period may be based on the frequency of scores received for a subject.

(12) The instantaneous aggregated scores for a subject may be recorded. For example, the instantaneous aggregated scores for a subject may be recorded to a database. The scores for a subject provided by individual ones of the users may be recorded to a database. The database may comprise entries for a subject corresponding to every time a user provides a score for a subject. The database may comprise entries for a subject corresponding to the aggregated score for the subject at time intervals. The database may comprise an entry and/or entries corresponding to every interaction with the system.

(13) Visually representing public opinion over time may comprise facilitating presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject as a function of time. The visual representation may indicate fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users. The visual representation of the aggregated scores may be updated continuously. The visual representation of the aggregated scores may be updated in response to an event. Such events may include the occurrence of a time interval, such that the visual representation of the aggregated score may be updated upon the occurrence of the time interval. Such events may include a user selecting and/or entering a score, such that the visual representation of the aggregated score may be updated upon a user selecting and/or entering a score.

(14) The one or more physical computer processors may be configured by machine- readable instructions to facilitate selection and/or entry of a score for the subject from a user. In some implementations, the score for the subject from a user may be an average of that user's score over time. A user may be inclined to provide many instances of a score over a period of time in attempt to register multiple votes for the subject and influence the score for the subject. The system may be configured to identify the user providing the score and assign their average score over the period of time for which they are providing scores. The system may be configured to trigger a determination of a user's average score, as opposed to their instantaneous score, due to a change in the manner in which the user is providing scores. For example, the user may suddenly increase the frequency in which they provide scores, or they may interact with the system in an uncharacteristic manner indicating an attempt to influence the scores for a subject. The system may implement one or more functions to counteract any effect on the score of the subject, based on an indication that the user's manner of interacting with the system has changed.

(15) The one or more physical computer processors may be configured to calculate, in response to selection and/or entry of the score for the subject from the user, a new aggregated score for the subject. A user may select and/or enter a score indicating their opinion of the subject. In response to the user selecting and/or entering a score for a subject, the one or more physical computer processors may be configured to calculate the aggregated score for the subject.

(16) The one or more physical computer processors may be configured to update the visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject presented to the user, based on the new aggregated score for the subject.

(17) Users of the system may be presented with an input for entering and/or selecting a score for the subject. The input may be a selection box, where users may type their score, select their score and/or provide other inputs to provide an indication of the score for the subject from the user. The input may be a slider, wherein the user may interact with the slider to place an indicator at a position along the slider that indicates the score the user wishes to assign to the subject.

(18) The users may update the score they enter and/or select for the subject. The users may update the score multiple times. The users may update the score a set number of times during a given time period. The users may update the score as many times as the users wish.

(19) The one or more physical processors may be configured to obtain a time period for which to display the aggregated score for a subject. The obtained time period may be provided by a user. The system may facilitate selection and/or entry of a time period by a user. For example, the time period may be the last hour, the last day, the last week, the last month, the last year and/or any time period. The time period may be a period between a start time and an end time. For example, the start time may be a particular hour, date, week, month or year. The end time may be a particular hour, date, week, month or year. The visual representation provided to the user who selected and/or entered the time period for which to display the aggregated score of the subject may be updated to visually present the aggregated score of the subject over the selected and/or entered time period.

(20) The aggregated score for a subject over the obtained time period may fluctuate less than the aggregated score for the subject over a different time period. For example, if the range of aggregated score was 0 to 100, the aggregated score for a subject during a first time period may fluctuate between 7 and 83, and the aggregated score for the subject during a second time period may fluctuate between 80 and 91. When the visual representation of the aggregated scores is configured to present the aggregated scores during the first and second time periods, the fluctuations in the aggregated score during the second time period may be less apparent to the user than the fluctuations in the aggregated score during the first time period. If the visual representation of the aggregated scores is configured to present the aggregated scores of the second time period in the same format as it did for the first time period, then the representation of the aggregated scores will occupy only the top part of the visualization and the fluctuations in the aggregated score may be visually non-apparent.

(21) The system may be configured to determine the range of the possible aggregated scores to visually represent to users for an obtained time period. For example, during the first time period, in which fluctuations range between 7 and 83, the system may be configured to set the range of the visual representation of the aggregated scores to cover the whole range of fluctuations. As a result, the range may be set to cover an aggregated score scale of 0 to 100. In the second time period, in which the fluctuations range between 80 and 91, if the range for the aggregated score remains at an aggregated score scale of 0 to 100, the fluctuations in the aggregated score for the subject may not be readily apparent. The system may be configured to determine a new scale for the visual representation of the aggregated score to the users, such that the new scale is determine to visually represent the fluctuations in the aggregated score for the subject over the second time period. For example, during the second time period, the aggregated score scale may be set to 75 to 95.

(22) To determine the scale for the aggregated score for the visual representation, the one or more physical processors may be configured to determine a volatility metric for the scores for a subject during the time period. The volatility metric may be determined based on the range in the fluctuation of the aggregated score for a subject during a determined time period. The one or more physical processors may be configured to determine scales for the visual representation of the aggregated score based on the volatility metric. The scales determined for the visual representation of the aggregated score may be a time period scale and/or an aggregated score scale. The time period scale may be based on the aggregated score scale. The time period scale may be based on the available area for presenting the visual representation of the aggregated score. The time scale may be based on one or more inputs from a user, administrator and/or external source. In response to determining the scales for the visual representation of the aggregated score, the one or more physical computer processors may be configured to facilitate presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated score as a function of time over the obtained time period using the determined scale.

(23) When time progresses, the system may be configured to automatically adjust the visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject. The user may view the visual representation of the aggregated score for a period of time. During a first portion of the period of time, there may be a relatively high level of fluctuations in public opinion. The scales for the visual representation may be determined such that the user may view the relatively high level of fluctuations. In a second portion of the time period, the fluctuations may be relatively low, and the system may be configured to automatically adjust the scales for the visual representation of the aggregated scores such that the user may more easily see the fluctuations during the second time period. The scales for the visual representations of the aggregated scores for a subject may be determined for individual users. The scales for the visual representations of the aggregated scores for a subject may be determined for all or a subset of users.

(24) The first and second time periods may be the same length or may be different lengths. The first and second time periods may be based on units of time, or may be determined based on the number of scores received. The first and second time period may be selected and/or entered by a user, an administrator and/or other person. The first and second time period may be provided by one or more elements of the system. The time period may be obtained by facilitating selection and/or entry of the time period from a user.

(25) Users of the system for providing a visual representation of public opinion may wish to share their vote/score and/or the visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject. Users may share their vote/score and/or the visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject on social media, on online platforms, via email, via SMS, via instant message systems, via other messaging systems, on websites and/or via other communication methods. Instantaneous snapshots of the visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject over a time period may be exported to such messaging systems. The one or more physical computer processors may be configured by machine-readable instructions to export to a platform the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject. The platform may be a social networking platform, an online game platform, an SMS system, an email system, a website, an instant messaging system, and/or other types of platform. (26) Exporting may also include sharing the snapshot of the visual representation of the aggregated score and/or user's score on the system. The system may facilitate users creating affiliations. Such affiliations may include groups of users. Users may be able to share snapshots and/or scores with other users of their affiliation. Users may be able to share snapshots and/or scores with other users of the system where they do not have a common affiliation.

(27) In some implementations, the system may be configured to export a live visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject. The exported visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject may update periodically to visually illustrate the change in public opinion of a subject.

(28) The system may be configured to facilitate the entry of a comment regarding the subject from the users. The system may be configured to accept a score for the subject from users. The system may be configured to require a comment associated with the subject in order to accept the score for the subject from the user. The system may be configured to share the comments of the users about the subject with other users of the system. The system may be configured to share the comments of the users about the subject with external messaging platforms, such as those listed above.

(29) Users of the system may wish to view the historical data relating to the aggregated scores for a subject. Users of the system may wish to view the scores for a subject received from users having one or more characteristics. The one or more physical computer processors may be configured by machine-readable instructions to obtain demographic parameters associated with the user that entered and/or selected the score for the subject. The demographic parameters may be provided by the users. The demographic parameters may be provided by client computing platforms associated with the users. The demographic parameters may be obtained from one or more other sources. Demographic parameters of the user may include, but not be limited to, age, gender, location, affiliations, education level, income, online habits, family characteristics, home ownership, employment status, knowledge of languages, ethnicity and/or other demographic parameters.

(30) The one or more physical computer processors may be further configured by machine-readable instructions to facilitate the selection and/or entry of individual ones of the one or more demographic parameters. Such selection and/or entry may be done by users having a desire to determine additional information about the public opinion toward a subject.

(31) The one or more physical computer processors may be configured to determine the aggregated scores for the subject as a function of time provided by users having the one or more selected and/or entered demographic parameters. The one or more processors may be configured to facilitate presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject as a function of time. The aggregated scores presented for the subject may comprise the aggregated scores from the users having the one or more of the selected and/or entered demographic parameters.

(32) When the user is viewing visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject, other users may select and/or enter scores for that subject. The system may be configured to update the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the user based on the scores entered and/or selected by other users for that subject.

(33) The system may facilitate selection and/or entry by a user of a subject to be a followed subject. Users may have one or more preferred subjects that they wish to follow. Users may select and/or enter one or more subjects to be followed such that the subject(s) are presented on a home screen or personal interface for the user. Such home screen or personal interface may be presented to the user when the user logs into the system. The system may be configured to obtain an indication that the aggregated score for the followed subject has changed. The system may be configured to facilitate presentation, to the user, of the visual representation of the aggregated score for the followed subject as a function of time that indicates fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users. The user may be presented with the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the selected and/or entered subjects being the user's followed subjects. The visual representation of the aggregated scores for the selected and/or entered subjects may be updated continuously. The visual representation of the aggregated scores for the selected and/or entered subjects may be updated periodically.

(34) Another aspect of the disclosure is directed toward a method for visually representing public opinion over time. The method may be performed on a computer system comprising one or more physical computer processors. The method may comprise determining an aggregated score for a subject. The aggregated score may be an aggregation of scores for the subject input by multiple users. The method may comprise facilitating presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject. The visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject may be presented as a function of time that indicates fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users.

(35) These and other features and characteristics of the present technology, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As used in the specification and in the claims, the singular form of "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(36) FIG. 1 illustrates a system for providing a visual representation of public opinion for a subject, in accordance with one or more implementations;

(37) FIG. 2, illustrates a visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject, in accordance with one or more implementations;

(38) FIG. 3, illustrates a visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject, in accordance with one or more implementations;

(39) FIG. 4 illustrates a method for providing a visual representation of public opinion for a subject, in accordance with one or more implementations;

(40) FIG. 5 illustrates a visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject and a user's own scores for a subject, in accordance with one or more implementations;

(41) FIG. 6 illustrates a visual representation of the aggregated scores for two or more subjects, in accordance with one or more implementations;

(42) FIG. 7 is an illustration of a system having one or more features consistent with the presently described subject matter; and,

(43) FIG. 8 is an illustration of a system having one or more features consistent with the presently described subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(44) FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 configured to provide a visual representation of public opinion for a subject, in accordance with one or more implementations. Providing a visual representation of public opinion for a subject may include hosting a system for providing a visual representation of public opinion for a subject over a network.

(45) In some implementations, system 100 may include a server(s) 102. The server 102 may be configured to communicate with one or more client computing platforms 104 according to a client/server architecture. The users may access system 100 via client computing platforms 104.

(46) The server(s) 102 may be configured to execute one or more computer program components. The computer program components may include one or more of an aggregated score component 108, a presentation component 110, a score component 112, an export component 114, a user component 116, a data component 118 and/or other components.

(47) The server(s) 102, client computing platforms 104, and/or external resources 120 may be operatively linked via one or more electronic communication links. For example, such electronic communication links may be established, at least in part, via a network such as the Internet and/or other networks. It will be appreciated that this is not intended to be limiting, and that the scope of this disclosure includes implementations in which server(s) 102, client computing platforms 104 and/or external resources 120 may be operatively linked via some other communication media.

(48) A given client computing platform 104 may include one or more processors configured to execute computer program modules. The computer program modules may be configured to enable an expert or user associated with the given client computing platform 104 to interface with system 100, server(s) 102 and/or external resources 120, and/or provide other functionality attributed herein to client computing platforms 104. By way of non- limiting example, the given client computing platform 104 may include one or more of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a tablet computing platform, a NetBook, a Smartphone, a gaming console and/or other computing platforms.

(49) The external resources 120 may include sources of information, hosts and/or providers of virtual environments outside of system 100, external entities participating with system 100 and/or other resources. In some implementations, some or all of the functionality attributed herein to external resources 120 may be provided by resources included in system 100.

(50) The server(s) 102 may include electronic storage 122, one or more processors 106 and/or other components. The server(s) 102 may include communication lines or ports to enable the exchange of information with a network and/or other computing platforms.

Illustration of server(s) 102 in FIG. 1 is not intended to be limiting. The server(s) 102 may include a plurality of hardware, software and/or firmware components operating together to provide the functionality attributed herein to server(s) 102. For example, server(s) 102 may be implemented by a cloud of computing platforms operating together as server(s) 102.

(51) Electronic storage 122 may comprise electronic storage media that electronically stores information. The electronic storage media of electronic storage 122 may include one or both of system storage that is provided integrally (i.e., substantially non-removable) with server(s) 102 and/or removable storage that is removably connectable to server(s) 102 via, for example, a port (e.g., a USB port, a firewire port, etc.) or a drive (e.g., a disk drive, etc.). Electronic storage 122 may include one or more of optically readable storage media (e.g., optical disks, etc.), magnetically readable storage media (e.g., magnetic tape, magnetic hard drive, floppy drive, etc.), electrical charge-based storage media (e.g., EEPROM, RAM, etc.), solid-state storage media (e.g., flash drive, etc.), and/or other electronically readable storage media. The electronic storage 122 may include one or more virtual storage resources (e.g., cloud storage, a virtual private network, and/or other virtual storage resources). Electronic storage 122 may store software algorithms, information determined by processor 106, information received from server(s) 102, information received from client computing platforms 104, and/or other information that enables server(s) 102 to function as described herein.

(52) Processor(s) 106 is configured to provide information processing capabilities in server(s) 102. As such, processor(s) 106 may include one or more of a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuit designed to process information, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processing information. Although processor(s) 106 is shown in FIG. 1 as a single entity, this is for illustrative purposes only. In some implementations, processor(s) 106 may include a plurality of processing units. These processing units may be physically located within the same device, or processor(s) 106 may represent processing functionality of a plurality of devices operating in coordination. The processor(s) 106 may be configured to execute components 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or other components. Processor(s) 106 may be configured to execute modules 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or other components by software; hardware; firmware; some combination of software, hardware, and/or firmware; and/or other mechanisms for configuring processing capabilities on processor 106.

(53) It should be appreciated that although modules 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, and 118 are illustrated in FIG. 1 as being co-located within a single processing unit, in implementations in which processor(s) 106 includes multiple processing units, one or more of components 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or other components may be located remotely from the other modules. The description of the functionality provided by the different modules 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or other components described below is for illustrative purposes, and is not intended to be limiting, as any of components 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or other components may provide more or less functionality than is described. For example, one or more of components 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or other components may be eliminated, and some or all of its functionality may be provided by other ones of components 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or other components. As another example, processor(s) 106 may be configured to execute one or more additional components that may perform some or all of the functionality attributed below to one of components 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or other components.

(54) The aggregated score component 108 may be configured to determine an aggregated score for a subject. The aggregated score may be an aggregation of scores for the subject input by multiple users. The scores of the subject from users may be aggregated over a time period. For example, the aggregated score may be the score for a subject, from users, over an hour, a day, a week and/or other time periods. The time period obtained for aggregating the scores may be provided by one or more users and/or administrators. The time period obtained for aggregating the scores may be determined by the one or more physical processors. The time period obtained for aggregating the scores may be determined based on the frequency of scores for a subject received by the users. For example, where a subject has a high frequency of scores being provided by users, the time period for aggregating the scores may be less than for a subject with a low frequency of scores being provided by users.

(55) The aggregated score may be any type of score. The aggregated score component may be configured to determine the instant and/or latest aggregated score based on the determined aggregated score over a period of time. The instant and/or latest aggregated score may be based on the determined aggregated score for a number of scores. The amount of the number of scores may be set by an administrator. The amount of the number of scores may be based on one or more algorithms. For example, the instantaneous aggregated score may be based on the last n scores from users. When a user enters and/or selects a score for a subject, the aggregated score component 108 may be configured to determine a new instantaneous aggregated score for the subject based on the score entered and/or selected by the user. The aggregated score component 108 may use the last n scores from the users to determine the instantaneous aggregated score, including the score that was just entered and/or selected by the user. As a result, the n+1 score, which was previously used to determine the instantaneous aggregated score for the subject, is no longer used.

(56) The aggregated score component 108 may be configured to update the instantaneous aggregated score for a subject in response to a user selecting and/or entering a score for the subject. The aggregated score component 108 may be configured to update the instantaneous aggregated scores for a subject in response to the occurrence of a selected time period. For example, every second, minute, hour or any other time period. The selected time period may be based on one or more algorithms. For example, the selected time period may be based on the frequency of scores received for a subject.

(57) The data component 118 may be configured to record the instantaneous aggregated scores for a subject. The data component 118 may be configured to record the instantaneous aggregated scores for a subject to a database. The database may be stored on electronic storage media 122. The data component 118 may be configured to record the scores for a subject provided by individual ones of the users to a database. The database stored on electronic media 122 may comprise entries for a subject corresponding to every time a user provides a score for a subject. The database may comprise entries for a subject

corresponding to the aggregated score for the subject at time intervals. The database may comprise an entry and/or entries corresponding to every interaction with the system.

(58) The presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject as a function of time. The presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject through one or more client computing platforms 104.

(59) FIG. 2, illustrates an interface 200 for presenting a visual representation of the aggregated scores 202 for a subject 216, in accordance with one or more implementations. The subject 216 illustrated in FIG. 2 is a soccer team; however, a subject 216 may be anything that a person may have an opinion about. The visual representation of the aggregated score of a subject may be any visual representation. For example, the visual representation may be a bar chart that changes over time with the entry of scores for a subject. The visual representation may be a symbol that changes, based on the scores provided by the users, such as a face depicting a frown or a smile, depending on the indicated level of public opinion. The visual representation may be a pie chart, a graph and/or any type of visual representation of a score occurring over time. The visual representation illustrated in FIG. 2 is illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting. The visual representation of the aggregated score 202 of a subject 216 shown in FIG. 2 resembles an ECG plot, or a stock market chart.

(60) The visual representation 202 may indicate fluctuations 204 in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users. The visual representation of the aggregated scores 202 may be updated continuously. The visual representation of the aggregated scores 202 may be updated in response to an event. Such events may include the occurrence of a time interval, such that the visual representation of the aggregated score may be updated upon the occurrence of the time interval. Such events may include a user selecting and/or entering a score, such that the visual representation of the aggregated score may be updated upon the user selecting and/or entering a score.

(61) The interface 200 may include an instantaneous aggregated score 206 for the subject. The instantaneous aggregated score 206 may indicate the aggregated score for the subject at the present time. The interface 200 may facilitate selection and/or entry by a user of a point in time along the plot. A user may interface with the plot using one or more inputs of the client computing device 104. For example, the user may interact using the mouse or keyboard of a desktop or laptop computer. The user may interact with the interface using touch screen devices. The user may interact with the interface using any input device of the client computing platforms and/or associated components. In response to the selection and/or entry by a user of a point in time along the plot, the interface 200 may be configured to provide an indication of the numerical aggregated score for the subject at the point in time selected and/or entered by the user.

(62) The score component 112, as shown in FIG. 1, may be configured to facilitate selection and/or entry of a score for the subject from a user. In some implementations, the score for the subject from a user may be an average of that user's score over time. A user may be inclined to provide many instances of a score over a period of time in an attempt to register multiple votes for the subject and influence the score for the subject. The score component 112 may be configured to identify the user providing the score and assign their average score over the period of time for which they are providing scores. The score component 112 may be configured to trigger a determination of a user's average score, as opposed to their instantaneous score, due to a change in the manner in which the user is providing scores. For example, the user may suddenly increase the frequency in which they provide scores, or they may interact with the system in an uncharacteristic manner indicating an attempt to influence the scores for a subject. The score component 112 may implement one or more functions to counteract any effect on the score of the subject, based on an indication that the user's manner of interacting with the system has changed.

(63) The score component 112 may be configured to identify a user by any manner of identifying an individual user. For example, the score component 112 may be configured to identify the user through their log-in information managed by the user component 1 16. The score component 1 12 may be configured to identify the IP address used by the client computing platform(s) 104 associated with the user. The score component 1 12 may be configured to identify the geographical location of the user. The score component 1 12 may be configured to identify any identifying information related to a user to determine the identity of the user.

(64) The user component 1 16 may be configured to verify the identity of the user in response to, or in conjunction with, functions performed by the score component 1 12. In some implementations, users may be required to verify their identities and/or provide verifying information. The user component 1 16 may be configured to maintain one or more user accounts. The user component 1 16 may be configured to request uniquely identifying information when a user creates an account. For example, the user component 1 16 may be configured to request selection and/or entry of a telephone number from the user that can receive voice calls and/or SMS messages. In response to a user creating an account with the system 100, the user component 1 16 may be configured to facilitate a verification code and/or message to be sent to the user. The verification code and/or message may be sent to the user's telephone number via voice signals, SMS data signals, and/or other methods. In some implementations, the user may download an application on the client computing device 104 associated with the user. The user component 1 16 may be configured to obtain one or more identifying parameters associated with the client computing platform 104 associated with the user, upon which the application was downloaded. The user component 1 16 may be configured to only permit one instance of the application to be downloaded to individual client computing platforms 104. Such verification systems may aid in prohibiting users from having multiple accounts. Preventing users of the systems 100 from having multiple accounts will assist in providing greater accuracy and reliability in the data associated with the aggregated scores of the subjects provided by the users.

(65) The score component 112 may be configured to calculate, in response to selection and/or entry of the score for the subject from the user, a new aggregated score for the subject. A user may select and/or enter a score indicating their opinion of the subject. In response to the user selecting and/or entering a score for a subject, the score component 112 may be configured to calculate the aggregated score for the subject.

(66) With reference to FIG. 2, users of the system 100 may be presented with an input 212 for entering and/or selecting a score for the subject 216. The input 212 may be a selection box, where users may type their score, select their score and/or provide other inputs to provide an indication of the score for the subject from the user. The input 212 may be a slider, wherein the user may interact with the slider to place an indicator at a position along the slider that indicates the score the user wishes to assign to the subject.

(67) The presentation component 110, as shown in FIG. 1, may be configured to update the visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject presented to the user, based on the new aggregated score for the subject determined by the score component 112.

(68) The users may update the score they enter and/or select for the subject. The users may update the score multiple times. The users may update the score a set number of times during a given time period. The users may update the score as many times as the users wish. In some implementations, the system may prohibit users from entering an additional score for a subject for a set time period. For example, the system may be configured to facilitate the selection and/or entry of a first score for a subject from a user. The system may be configured to obtain a time period during which the user will be prohibited from entering and/or selecting an additional score for the same subject. The system may be configured to facilitate the selection and/or entry of a second score for the subject after the time period has expired. The time period may be any time period. The time period may be 5 second, 10 second, one hour, one day, and/or any other time period.

(69) The score component 112 may be configured to obtain a time period for which to display the aggregated score for a subject. The obtained time period may be provided by a user. The presentation component 110 may facilitate selection and/or entry of a time period by a user. For example, the time period may be the last hour, the last day, the last week, the last month, the last year and/or any time period. The time period may be a period between a start time and an end time. With reference to FIG. 2, the user, administrator and/or other entity may select and/or enter a start time 208 and an end time 210 between which the user, administrator, and/or entity desires visualization of the aggregated score for the subject 216 over time. The start time may be a particular hour, date, week, month, or year. The end time may be a particular hour, date, week, month or year. The visual representation 202 provided to the entity that selected and/or entered the time period for which to display the aggregated score of the subject may be updated to visually present the aggregated score 202 of the subject 216 over the selected and/or entered time period.

(70) With reference to FIG. 2, the aggregated score 202 for a subject 216 over the obtained time period may fluctuate less than the aggregated score for the subject over a different time period. For example, if the range of aggregated scores was 0 to 100, the aggregated score for a subject during a first time period may fluctuate between 7 and 83, and the aggregated score for the subject during a second time period may fluctuate between 80 and 91. When the visual representation of the aggregated scores is configured to present the aggregated scores during the first and second time periods, the fluctuations in the aggregated score during the second time period may be less apparent to the user than the fluctuations in the aggregated score during the first time period. If the visual representation of the aggregated scores is configured to present the aggregated scores of the second time period in the same format as it did for the first time period, then the representation of the aggregated scores will occupy only the top part of the visualization and the fluctuations in the aggregated score may be visually non-apparent.

(71) The presentation component 110, as shown in FIG. 1, may be configured to determine the range of the possible aggregated scores to visually represent to users for an obtained time period. For example, during the first time period, in which fluctuations range between 7 and 83, the presentation component 110 may be configured to set the range of the visual representation of the aggregated scores to cover the whole range of fluctuations. Such a presentation is shown in FIG. 2. As a result, the range may be set cover an aggregated score scale of 0 to 100. In the second time period, in which the fluctuations range between 80 and 91, if the range for the aggregated score remains at an aggregated score scale of 0 to 100, the fluctuations in the aggregated score for the subject may not be readily apparent. With reference to FIG. 3, the presentation component 110 may be configured to determine a new scale for the visual representation of the aggregated score to the users, such that the new scale is determined to visually represent the fluctuations in the aggregated score for the subject over the second time period. The second time period may have start time 202 different from the start time of the first period. As an example, during the second time period, the aggregated score scale may be set to 75 to 95.

(72) To determine the scale for the aggregated score for the visual representation, the presentation component 110 may be configured to determine a volatility metric for the scores for a subject during the time period. The volatility metric may be determined based on the range in the fluctuation of the aggregated score for a subject during a determined time period. The presentation component 110 may be configured to determine scales for the visual representation of the aggregated score based on the volatility metric. The scales determined for the visual representation of the aggregated score may be a time period scale and/or an aggregated score scale. The time period scale may be based on the aggregated score scale. The time period scale may be based on the available area for presenting the visual representation of the aggregated score. The time scale may be based on one or more inputs from a user, administrator, and/or external source. In response to determining the scales for the visual representation of the aggregated score, presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated score as a function of time over the obtained time period using the determined scale.

(73) The presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate the entry and/or selection of a reference time by a user, administrator, and/or external source to calibrate the scores from users for presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject. The reference time may be any time reference. For example, the reference time may be Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject may be presented using the aggregated scores calibrated to the reference time.

(74) When time progresses, the presentation component 110 may be configured to automatically adjust the visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject. The user may view the visual representation of the aggregated score for a period of time. During a first portion of the period of time, there may be a relatively high level of fluctuations in public opinion. The scales for the visual representation may be determined such that the user may view the relatively high level of fluctuations. In a second portion of the time period, the fluctuations may be relatively low, and the system may be configured to automatically adjust the scales for the visual representation of the aggregated scores such that the user may more easily see the fluctuations during the second time period. The scales for the visual representations of the aggregated scores for a subject may be determined for individual users. The scales for the visual representations of the aggregated scores for a subject may be determined for all or a subset of users.

(75) The first and second time period may be the same length or may be different lengths. The first and second time periods may be based on units of time, or may be determined based on the number of scores received. The first and second time period may be selected and/or entered by a user, an administrator and/or other person. The first and second time period may be provided by one or more elements of the system. The time period may be obtained by facilitating selection and/or entry of the time period by a user.

(76) Users of the system 100 for providing a visual representation of public opinion may wish to share their vote/score and/or the visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject. The export component 114 may be configured by machine-readable instructions to export to a platform the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject. The platform may be a social networking platform, an online game platform, an SMS system, an email system, a website, an instant messaging system, and/or other types of platform. Users may share their vote/score and/or the visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject on social media, on online platforms, via email, via SMS, via instant message systems, via other messaging systems, on websites and/or via other communication methods. Instantaneous snapshots of the visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject over a time period may be exported to such messaging systems.

(77) In some implementations, the system may facilitate the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject to be presented through one or more online platforms and/or websites. For example, the system may facilitate the presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated scores for a first subject on a website associated with the first subject. The visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject presented through a platform and/or website may be presented as an instantaneous snapshot of the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject. The instantaneous snapshot may be updated periodically. The visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject presented through a platform and/or website may be presented as a continuous visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject.

(78) The export component 114 may be configured to export a snapshot of the visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject over time to interactive, electronic social media. Some non-limiting specific examples of interactive, electronic social media may include the micro-blogging service provided by Twitter™, the social network provided by Facebook™, the social network provided by MySpace™, the social network provided by Foursquare®, the virtual world provided by SecondLife®, the massively multi-player online game provided by World of Warcraft®, the file sharing service provided by Flickr®, Blogger, YouTube, PlayStation® Home, Xbox® Live, and/or other interactive electronic social media.

(79) Exporting may also include sharing the snapshot of the visual representation of the aggregated score and/or user's score on the system. The user component 116 may facilitate users creating affiliations. Such affiliations may include groups of users. Users may be able to share snapshots and/or scores with other users of their affiliation. Users may be able to share snapshots and/or scores with other users of the system where they do not have a common affiliation.

(80) In some implementations, the export component 114 may be configured to export a live visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject. The exported visual representation of the aggregated score for a subject may update periodically to visually illustrate the change in public opinion of a subject. (81) The score component 112 may be configured to facilitate the entry of a comment regarding the subject from the users. The score component 112 may be configured to accept a score for the subject from users. The score component 112 may be configured to require a comment associated with the subject in order to accept the score for the subject from the user. The score component 112 may be configured to share the comments of the users about the subject with other users of the system. The score component 112 may be configured to share the comments of the users about the subject with external messaging platforms, such as those listed above.

(82) Users of the system may wish to view the historical data relating to the aggregated scores for a subject. Users of the system may wish to view the scores for a subject received from users having one or more characteristics. The user component 116 may be configured by machine-readable instructions to obtain demographic parameters associated with the user that entered and/or selected the score for the subject. The demographic parameters may be provided by the users. The demographic parameters may be provided by client computing platforms associated with the users. The demographic parameters may be obtained from one or more other sources. Demographic parameters of the user may include, but not be limited to, age, gender, location, affiliations, education level, income, online habits, family characteristics, home ownership, employment status, knowledge of languages, ethnicity, and/or other demographic parameters.

(83) The user component 116 may be further configured by machine-readable instructions to facilitate the selection and/or entry of individual ones of the one or more demographic parameters. Such selection and/or entry may be done by users having a desire to determine additional information about the public opinion toward a subject.

(84) The aggregated score component 108 may be configured to determine the aggregated scores for the subject as a function of time provided by users having the one or more selected and/or entered demographic parameters. The presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject as a function of time. The aggregated scores for the subject may be provided by the users having the one or more of the selected and/or entered demographic parameters.

(85) When the user is viewing visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject, other users may select and/or enter scores for that subject. The presentation component 110 may be configured to update the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the user based on the scores entered and/or selected by other users for that subject.

(86) The user module 116 may be configured to access and/or manage one or more user profiles and/or user information associated with users of the system 100. The one or more user profiles and/or user information may include information stored by server 102, one or more of the client computing platforms 104, and/or other storage locations. The user profiles may include, for example, information identifying users (e.g., a username or handle, a number, an identifier, and/or other identifying information) within the system, security login information (e.g., a login code or password), system account information, subscription information, relationship information (e.g., information related to relationships between users in the system), system usage information, demographic information associated with users, interaction history among users in the system, information stated by users, score history of users, a client computing platform identification associated with a user, a phone number associated with a user, and/or other information related to users.

(87) The data component 118 may be configured to export information contained in databases stored in the electronic storage media 122. The data component 118 may be configured to selectively provide information based on one or more parameters selected and/or entered by a user, administrator and/or another entity. The one or more parameters may be associated with the users of the system 100, such as demographic parameters of the users.

(88) The aggregated scores 202 for a subject 216 can be determined based on a selective average. The selective average score can include determining the average aggregated score for a subject over a period of time. The selective average score can include determining the score based on a fixed number of votes. For example, a number, n, votes. The number, n, votes can be the last n votes from users. The number, n, of the votes can be selected based on a determination that an additional vote to the n votes will generate movement in the indication of the score presented to users through the interface 200. If the n number of votes is too high, there will be no movement of the visual representation of the votes. If the n number of votes is too low, the movement will be too great.

(89) The aggregated scores 202 can include a weighted average. In some variations, the oldest votes can be provided less weight and the latest votes can be provided with higher weight values. The sum of all these weighted values can be divided by the sum of the weights to obtain the average aggregated score 202. When a new vote comes in, the weight is now displaced between the current n latest votes and the calculations are made once again. In some variations, this can require many calculations causing the computer system to use a lot of processing power for every incoming vote. Every time a vote comes in, the weighting is displaced and the effect of each vote on the aggregated score 202 has to be recalculated.

(90) To reduce the quantity of calculations a bit shift operator solution can be used. The bit shift operator solution can use powers of 2 as weights. Such a solution greatly reduced the processing requirements.

(91) In some variations, a fixed weight is provided. The fixed weight can represent a virtual fixed number, m, of votes. When a new vote comes in, this new vote receives a weighting. The weighting of the new vote is proportionally smaller than weighting used for the average aggregated score immediately prior to the vote being received. This new weighted vote is added to the weighted old average and divided by the sum of both virtual fixed number, m, weights and the weight of the new vote to calculate the new average aggregated score. This solution can greatly reduce the number of calculations needed to determine the average aggregated score and provide a visualization of the votes that move with each vote provided.

(92) When a voter votes multiple times the voter can skew the aggregated average score of for a subject. Weighting is applied to each additional vote provided by a user for one subject. If a user votes multiple times for a particular subject, each subsequent vote has less and less effect at changing the aggregated virtual score of that subject.

(93) In order for the average aggregated score to move and to be visually represented on the interface 200 such that the aggregated score moves over time, the first votes provided for a subject can be given additional weight compared to subsequent scores. This additional weighting can be removed at such time when a minimum threshold of voters have voted for a particular subject.

(94) We reduced the calculations dramatically, but still, it could happen that one topic receives too many votes per second. So, instead of calculating all over again for every new vote, every tiny period of time we check for new votes and make one single calculation for those votes in that period of time.

(95) A user's voting history can be monitored. In response to detecting abuse of the system by a user, the user can be ejected from using the system. Detection of the abusive user can be accomplished through log-in information, IP address, browser configuration, computer configuration, browser history, and/or other characteristics of the user. (96) FIG. 5 illustrates an interface 500 providing a visual representation of the aggregated scores 202 for a subject and a user's own scores 502 for a subject, in accordance with one or more implementations. The presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject. The

presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of a visual representation of the scores provided by individual ones of the users to those individual users. For example, a first user may be presented with the visual representation of the aggregated scores 202 for a subject showing fluctuations in the scores over time for the subject, and the first user may be presented with a visual representation of the first user's scores 502 for the subject over time. In this manner, a user may be able to identify their opinion compared to that of other users using the system 100. A user may wish to see how close in opinion he or she is compared to other users having one or more similar demographic parameters. The user may select one or more demographic parameters. The presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated scores of users, wherein the users have the selected and/or entered parameter(s).

(97) Referring to FIG. 6, in some implementations, the interface 600 for providing a visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject may facilitate the comparison of other data. For example, the interface 600 may be configured to facilitate the presentation to users of the aggregated scores for two or more subjects 618, 620 and 622. The system may facilitate the selection and/or entry of two or more subjects 604, 606, and 608. Users may select and/or enter subjects of interest. For example, a user may select and/or enter a subject related to soccer, such as soccer teams 604 and 606, as shown in FIG. 6. Users may select and/or enter a subject that covers multiple ones of other subject. For example, users may select soccer, as shown in FIG. 6. The subject soccer may be a separate subject from other soccer-related subjects. Users may enter and/or select a score for soccer. In other implementations, soccer may be a further aggregation of the scores of all other soccer-related subjects, and/or a sub-set of soccer-related subjects. For example, soccer 608, may be the aggregation of scores for all soccer teams. In this manner, the system may facilitate a visual comparison of public opinion between subjects, and/or between a subject(s) and an aggregation of other related subjects. The interface 600 may be configured to facilitate the visual representation of aggregated scored 618, 620, and 622 of one or more subjects 612, 614 and 616, as a function of time. Thus facilitating a visual comparison between the subjects 612, 614 and 616.

(98) In other examples, users may select and/or enter one or more subjects related to a particular industry. The system may automatically select a subject representing the industry as a whole. Users may select and/or enter a subject representing the industry as a whole. The system may be configured to facilitate the visual presentation of the aggregated scores of the subject, compared to the aggregated scores of the industry as a whole, to the user. In some implementations, users may be able to select and/or enter two or more subjects wholly unrelated to each other.

(99) The presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject. The presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of a visual representation of the scores provided by individual ones of the users to those individual users. For example, a first user may be presented with the visual representation of the aggregated scores 202 for a subject showing fluctuations in the scores over time for the subject, and the first user may be presented with a visual representation of the first user's scores 502 for the subject over time. In this manner, a user may be able to identify their opinion compared to that of other users using the system 100. A user may wish to see how close in opinion he or she is compared to other users having one or more similar demographic parameters. The user may select one or more demographic parameters. The presentation component 110 may be configured to facilitate presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated scores of users, wherein the users have the selected and/or entered parameter(s).

(100) The system may facilitate selection and/or entry by a user of a subject to be a followed subject. Users may have one or more preferred subjects that they wish to follow. Users may select and/or enter one or more subjects to be followed such that the subject(s) are presented on a home screen or personal interface for the user. Such home screen or personal interface may be presented to the user when the user logs into the system. The system may be configured to obtain an indication that the aggregated score for the followed subject has changed. The system may be configured to facilitate presentation, to the user, of the visual representation of the aggregated score for the followed subject as a function of time that indicates fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users. The user may be presented with the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the selected and/or entered subjects being the user's followed subjects. The visual representation of the aggregated scores for the selected and/or entered subjects may be updated continuously. The visual representation of the aggregated scores for the selected and/or entered subjects may be updated periodically.

(101) FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 of hosting a virtual space to client computing devices for interaction by users. The operations of method 400 presented below are intended to be illustrative. In some embodiments, method 400 may be accomplished with one or more additional operations not described, and/or without one or more of the operations discussed. Additionally, the order in which the operations of method 400 are illustrated in FIG. 4 and described below is not intended to be limiting.

(102) In some embodiments, method 400 may be implemented in one or more processing devices (e.g., a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuit designed to process information, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processing information). The one or more processing devices may include one or more devices executing some or all of the operations of method 400 in response to instructions stored electronically on an electronic storage medium. The one or more processing devices may include one or more devices configured through hardware, firmware, and/or software to be specifically designed for execution of one or more of the operations of method 400.

(103) At an operation 402, an aggregated score for a subject may be determined. The aggregated score may be an aggregation of scores for the subject input by multiple users. The functions at operation 402 may be performed by an aggregated score component, such as aggregated score component 108, in accordance with one or more implementations.

(104) At an operation 404, presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject as a function of time may be facilitated. The visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject may indicate fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users. At an operation 404, a time period for which to display the aggregated score for a subject may be obtained. A volatility metric for the scores for a subject during the time period may be determined. Scales for the visual representation of the aggregated score may be determined based on the volatility metrics. Presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated score as a function of time over the obtained time period may be facilitated using the determined scale. The functions at operation 404 may be performed by a presentation component, such as presentation component 110, in accordance with one or more implementations.

(105) At an operation 406, selection and/or entry of a score for the subject from a user may be facilitated. The functions at operation 406 may be performed by a score component, such as score component 112, in accordance with one or more implementations. Demographic parameters associated with the user that entered and/or selected the score for the subject may be obtained. Such functions may be performed by a user component, such as user component 116, in accordance with one or more implementations.

(106) At an operation 408, in response to selection and/or entry of the score for the subject from the user at operation 406, a new aggregated score for the subject may be determined. The functions at operation 408 may be performed by an aggregated score component, such as aggregated score component 108, in accordance with one or more implementations.

(107) At an operation 410, the visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject presented to the user may be updated based on the new aggregated score for the subject. The functions at operation 410 may be performed by a presentation component, such as presentation component 110, in accordance with one or more implementations.

(108) FIG. 7 is an illustration of a system 700 having one or more features consistent with the presently described subject matter. System 700 illustrates a schematic of a user-profile management system. The user profile management system can include user profile. The user profile configured to facilitate customization of a user's outward appearance on the system. The user profile can include, or can link to, an electronic suggestion box, where the user can provide feedback to an organization, entity, or person, associated with the suggestion box.

(109) Suggestion boxes can be topic-specific. Users can share their comments and suggestions with other users. Users can publish their solutions, comments, and/or suggestion boxes to social media applications. A suggestion box can be associated with a link, allowing users to link to the comment in the suggestion box.

(110) Users of the system can access to their own dashboards for the system. Entities or people being voted on can access their dashboard and be presented with analytical information associated with the their perception. FIG. 8 is an illustration of a system 800 having one or more features consistent with the presently described subject matter. FIG. 8 is an illustration of a system 800 for providing a profile to a votee of the system. The votee dashboard can include opinion as a factor of voter demographics. Users of the system, voters, can be presented with a voting history, the voting history of one or more friends, and/or other components. The votee dashboard can include analytical information, scalable modules, suggestion boxes and other components.

(111) In some variations, the system can be executed, at least in part, on a mobile computing device. The mobile computing device can be configured to include one or more location-based technologies. Location-based technologies can include geolocation signal receivers. Location-based technologies can include receivers configured to receive signals from local wireless communication device, such as WiFi base stations. Location-based technologies can include receivers configured to receive signals from longer-distance wireless communication devices, such as GSM base stations and other similar technologies. Determination of the location of the mobile computing device can be local to the mobile computing device, or can be facilitated through one or more servers in communication with the mobile computing device. In response to determining the location of the mobile computing device, a determination can be made as to whether that location corresponds to the location of a subject 216 stored in a database that the user of the mobile computing device can rate. The mobile computing device can be configured to present, to the user, a rating interface for the subject 216.

(112) In some implementations, the method may comprise exporting to an external platform the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject.

(113) In some implementations, the selection and/or entry of individual ones of the one or more demographic parameters may be facilitated. The aggregated scores for the subject as a function of time provided by users having the one or more of the selected and/or entered demographic parameters may be determined. Presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject as a function of time may be facilitated. The aggregated scores for the subject may be provided by the users having the one or more of the selected and/or entered demographic parameters.

(114) The visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject as a function of time that is presented to a user may be updated in response to selection and/or entry of a score for the subject from another user. Such functions may be performed by a presentation component, such as presentation component 110, in accordance with one or more

imp lementations .

(115) Although the present technology has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration based on what is currently considered to be the most practical and preferred implementations, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the technology is not limited to the disclosed implementations, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, it is to be understood that the present technology

contemplates that, to the extent possible, one or more features of any implementation can be combined with one or more features of any other implementation.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A system for visually representing public opinion over time, the system comprising:

one or more physical computer processors configured by machine-readable instructions to:

determine an aggregated score for a subject, the aggregated score being an aggregation of scores for the subject input by multiple users; and,

facilitate presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject as a function of time that indicates fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more physical computer processors are configured by machine-readable instructions to:

facilitate selection and/or entry of a score for the subject from a user; and, calculate, in response to selection and/or entry of the score for the subject from the user, a new aggregated score for the subject.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more physical computer processors are configured by machine-readable instructions to:

update the visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject presented to the user, based on the new aggregated score for the subject.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein facilitating presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject further includes:

obtaining, from a user, a time period for which to display the aggregated score for a subject; determining a volatility metric for the scores for a subject during the time period;

determining scales for the visual representation of the aggregated score based on the volatility metrics; and,

facilitating presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated score as a function of time over the obtained time period using the determined scale.

The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more physical computer processors are further configured by machine-readable instructions to:

export to an external platform the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject.

The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more physical computer processors are further configured by machine-readable instructions to:

obtain demographic parameters associated with the user that entered and/or selected the score for the subject.

The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more physical computer processors are further configured by machine-readable instructions to:

facilitate the selection and/or entry of individual ones of the one or more demographic parameters;

determine the aggregated scores for the subject as a function of time provided by users having the one or more selected and/or entered demographic parameters; and, facilitate presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject as a function of time, wherein the aggregated scores for the subject is provided by the users having the one or more selected and/or entered demographic parameters.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more physical computer processors are further configured by machine-readable instructions to:

update the visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject as a function of time that is presented to a user, in response to selection and/or entry of a score for the subject from another user.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more physical computer processors are configured by machine-readable instructions to:

determine a number of scores over which to aggregate the scores for a subject from the users.

The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more physical computer processors are further configured by machine-readable instructions to: facilitate selection and/or entry by a user of a subject to be a followed subject; obtain an indication that the aggregated score for the followed subject has changed; and,

facilitate presentation, to the user, of the visual representation of the aggregated score for the followed subject as a function of time that indicates fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users.

11. A method for visually representing public opinion over time, the method to be performed on a computer system comprising one or more physical computer processors, the method comprising:

determining an aggregated score for a subject, the aggregated score being an aggregation of scores for the subject input by multiple users; and,

facilitating presentation of a visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject as a function of time that indicates fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users.

The method of claim 11, further comprising:

facilitating selection and/or entry of a score for the subject from a user; and, determining, in response to selection and/or entry of the score for the subject from the user, a new aggregated score for the subject.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

updating the visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject presented to the user, based on the new aggregated score for the subject.

The method of claim 11, further comprising

obtaining, from a user, a time period for which to display the aggregated score for a subject;

determining a volatility metric for the scores for a subject during the time period;

determining scales for the visual representation of the aggregated score based on the volatility metrics; and, facilitating presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated score as a function of time over the obtained time period using the determined scale.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising exporting to an external platform the visual representation of the aggregated scores for the subject.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising obtaining demographic parameters

associated with the user that entered and/or selected the score for the subject.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

facilitating the selection and/or entry of individual ones of the one or more demographic parameters;

determining the aggregated scores for the subject as a function of time provided by users having the one or more of the selected and/or entered demographic parameters; and,

facilitating presentation of the visual representation of the aggregated scores for a subject as a function of time, wherein the aggregated score for the subject is provided by the users having the one or more of the selected and/or entered demographic parameters.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising updating the visual representation of the aggregated score for the subject as a function of time that is presented to a user, in response to selection and/or entry of a score for the subject from another user.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising: facilitating selection and/or entry by a user of a subject to be a followed subject;

determining that the aggregated score for the followed subject has changed; and,

facilitating presentation, to the user, of the visual representation of the aggregated score for the followed subject as a function of time that indicates fluctuations in the aggregated score caused by input of the scores by the users.