Displaying Friends' Activities in a Social Network Feed
This patent describes how social networks like Facebook collect what users do, create short updates about those actions, and show them to specific friends in a personalized list called a "news feed."
Original patent title: “Dynamically providing a news feed about a user of a social network”
This patent describes how social networks like Facebook collect what users do, create short updates about those actions, and show them to specific friends in a personalized list called a "news feed.". Granted to Facebook Inc in 2010 with 28 claims and 231 forward citations, and it is now in the public domain.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
The patent describes a system that monitors various user activities within a social network, such as posting a photo or updating a status (ClaimclaimA numbered sentence at the end of a patent that legally defines what the inventor owns. The most important section.Read more → 1). These activities are stored in a database and then used to generate "news items" (Claim 1). For instance, if a friend shares a link, a news item is created about that action. These news items are then displayed in a "news feed" to a specific group of viewing users, with access limited by privacy settings (Claim 1). Crucially, each news item can include a link that allows the viewing user to "participate in the same activity" as the original user, such as clicking to comment on a shared post (Claim 1). The system can also arrange these items, for example, chronologically (Claim 6), and dynamically adjust the number of items shown (Claim 12).
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover displaying news items without an associated link that allows a viewing user to participate in the same activity (ClaimclaimA numbered sentence at the end of a patent that legally defines what the inventor owns. The most important section.Read more → 1).
- Does not cover news feeds that are not limited to a "predetermined set of viewers" (ClaimclaimA numbered sentence at the end of a patent that legally defines what the inventor owns. The most important section.Read more → 1).
- Does not cover systems where news items are not generated from activities performed by *another user* (ClaimclaimA numbered sentence at the end of a patent that legally defines what the inventor owns. The most important section.Read more → 1).
- Does not cover news feeds that only show a single news item, as it specifies "two or more" (ClaimclaimA numbered sentence at the end of a patent that legally defines what the inventor owns. The most important section.Read more → 1).
- Does not cover news feeds that don't monitor and store user activities in a database (ClaimclaimA numbered sentence at the end of a patent that legally defines what the inventor owns. The most important section.Read more → 1).
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The noveltynoveltyThe requirement that an invention be different from anything publicly known before its priority date.Read more → lies in combining the monitoring of diverse user activities, generating news items from them, and then dynamically displaying these items in a personalized, access-controlled feed that includes interactive links. The ability to link directly to the *same activity* for participation was a key innovation.
The Patent Drawing
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Facebook News Feed
Instagram Feed
Twitter (now X) timeline
LinkedIn Feed
TikTok "For You" page
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This patent covers the foundational functionality of the Facebook News Feed, a feature that profoundly changed how people interact on social media. Launched in 2006, the News Feed became central to Facebook's user engagement and growth, allowing users to passively consume updates from their network. Its success led to widespread adoption of similar feed-based interfaces across the internet and remains a core component of modern social platforms.
Filed
August 11, 2006
Granted
February 23, 2010
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook Inc.) continues to develop and refine its News Feed, which remains a core product. Other major technology companies like Google (with YouTube's feed), ByteDance (TikTok), and LinkedIn (Microsoft) have also built extensive feed-based systems that iterate on similar concepts, demonstrating the enduring relevance of this patent's underlying technology.
Market impact
The introduction of the News Feed by Facebook created a paradigm shift in how social media platforms delivered content. It moved from profile-centric browsing to a dynamic, real-time stream of updates, significantly increasing user engagement and time spent on platforms. This model became standard for social networks, fostering a new advertising ecosystem based on feed content and fundamentally reshaping online interaction.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
The patent describes a system that monitors various user activities within a social network, such as posting a photo or updating a status (Claim 1). These activities are stored in a database and then used to generate "news items" (Claim 1). For instance, if a friend shares a link, a news item is created about that action. These news items are then displayed in a "news feed" to a specific group of viewing users, with access limited by privacy settings (Claim 1). Crucially, each news item can include a link that allows the viewing user to "participate in the same activity" as the original user, such as clicking to comment on a shared post (Claim 1). The system can also arrange these items, for example, chronologically (Claim 6), and dynamically adjust the number of items shown (Claim 12).
The clever bit
The novelty lies in combining the monitoring of diverse user activities, generating news items from them, and then dynamically displaying these items in a personalized, access-controlled feed that includes interactive links. The ability to link directly to the *same activity* for participation was a key innovation.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover displaying news items without an associated link that allows a viewing user to participate in the same activity (Claim 1).
- Does not cover news feeds that are not limited to a "predetermined set of viewers" (Claim 1).
- Does not cover systems where news items are not generated from activities performed by *another user* (Claim 1).
- Does not cover news feeds that only show a single news item, as it specifies "two or more" (Claim 1).
- Does not cover news feeds that don't monitor and store user activities in a database (Claim 1).
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
Patent enters public domain
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
High impact
Citation count
40/40
Highly cited
Claim breadth
19/20
Very broad protection
Recency
5/20
Granted 10–20 years ago
Assignee scale
20/20
Major company or institution
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$102K – $328K
Midpoint $205K · expired or expiring · industry ×1.4
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
28 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Corson, D., Bosworth, A., Zuckerberg, M., Sittig, A., Sanghvi, R., Geminder, K., Cox, C., & Hughes, C. (2010). Displaying Friends' Activities in a Social Network Feed (U.S. Patent No. 7,669,123). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7669123/facebook-news-feed-social-network
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Displaying Friends' Activities in a Social Network Feed cover?
This patent describes how social networks like Facebook collect what users do, create short updates about those actions, and show them to specific friends in a personalized list called a "news feed."
Who owns patent US 7669123?
Facebook Inc owns this patent, granted in 2010.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on August 11, 2026, when the invention enters the public domain.
What is patent US 7669123 cited by?
This patent has been cited by 231 later patents that build on its ideas.
What problem does this patent solve?
This patent covers the foundational functionality of the Facebook News Feed, a feature that profoundly changed how people interact on social media. Launched in 2006, the News Feed became central to Facebook's user engagement and growth, allowing users to passively consume updates from their network. Its success led to widespread adoption of similar feed-based interfaces across the internet and remains a core component of modern social platforms.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover displaying news items without an associated link that allows a viewing user to participate in the same activity (Claim 1).
Same assignee
More from Facebook Inc
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