1. A method comprising: receiving a request to perform an action related to a social file, the social file providing access to a first document file within a social networking system, the social file capable of being accessed by user accounts associated with the social networking system, the first document file capable of being displayed on a display device, references to the designated social file capable of being stored as feed items in one or more feed tables in a database, the feed items capable of being published in an information feed displayed on a display device; determining whether the requested action complies with a permission configuration record associated with the social file, the permission configuration record identifying one or more user accounts permitted to access the social file, the permission configuration identifying one or more permitted actions for each of the identified users accounts; and when the request complies with the permission configuration record, performing the requested action.