The Past and Future of Systems for Current Events

Abstract

People share in social media an overwhelming amount of content from real-world events. These events range from major global events like an uprising or an earthquake, to local events and emergencies such as a fire or a parade; from media events like the Oscar's, to events that enjoy little media coverage such as a conference or a music concert. This shared media represents an important part of our society, culture and history. At the same time, this social media content is still fragmented across services, hard to find, and difficult to consume and understand.