Analytic Challenges in Social Sensing

Abstract

Social sensing applications refer to those where individuals play an important role in data collection. They can act as sensor carriers (e.g., carrying GPS devices that share location data), sensor operators (e.g., taking pictures with smart phones), or as sensors themselves (e.g., sharing their observations on Twitter). The proliferation of sensors in the possession of the average individual, together with the popularity of social networks that allow massive information dissemination, heralds an era of social sensing that brings about new research challenges reviewed in this chapter.