Event-Based Social Media Search for Missing Pets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing social media platforms make it difficult for users to find and connect with others, especially when searching for missing pets, due to limitations in search functionality, privacy settings, and the need to maintain multiple accounts across different platforms.
Innovation Solution
An event-based social media search platform that allows users to create and search for events based on keywords, locations, and dates, enabling connections between users with shared interests or missing pets, without relying on traditional name-based searches.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional name-based search is used on social media platforms, then users can search for people by name, but many people have similar or identical names resulting in too many potential hits to be useful
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the search parameter from name-based to event-based. Instead of searching for people by name which causes ambiguity, the system searches for events (such as missing pet reports, lost items, local occurrences) that naturally disambiguate results. This parameter change resolves the contradiction by providing more specific contextual information that reduces false positives while maintaining search coverage.
2Reliability
If privacy settings are configured to prevent strangers from viewing personal information, then personal information is protected, but it becomes difficult to connect with people who are not yet friended
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces events as an intermediary mechanism that bridges privacy protection and connection capability. Users can discover and engage with events without needing to be friends with the event creators or other participants. The event serves as a neutral intermediary that allows strangers to connect around shared interests or local occurrences while maintaining individual privacy settings. This resolves the contradiction by providing a privacy-respecting pathway for陌生人 connection.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple social media platforms are searched to find people or pets, then more comprehensive coverage is achieved, but users must set up and maintain multiple accounts which is time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal event-based search platform that aggregates content from multiple social media sources through a single interface. The system performs multi-functionality by enabling users to search across different platforms and event types through one account, eliminating the need to maintain separate accounts on each platform. This resolves the contradiction by providing comprehensive search coverage through a unified access point that reduces account management overhead.
4Productivity
If posts about missing pets are shared extensively to reach more people, then more people can help find the pet, but in situations like fire aftermath with many similar posts, many posts may go unnoticed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the overwhelming flood of similar posts into organized, categorized events with standardized formats. Instead of individual posts competing for attention, the system groups related information (missing pets, lost items, local events) into structured event entries with consistent metadata including location, time, and key details. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by making information more scannable and distinguishable, allowing urgent cases to be identified quickly even when dissemination volume is high.
Data Source
AI summary
An event-based social media search platform for pet and animal related searches includes a database for storing event data associated with user-created events relating to pets or animals for a plurality of users. The platform analyzes event data from different user-created events to determine when user-created events have event data in common. The platform alerts users of related events and facilitates communications between users to confirm that the user-created events relate to the same pets or animals. The platform can associate event data and users of related events in the database. Events can be published via social media platforms to assist users in searching for new pets and animals, finding missing pets and animals, or locating pets and animals after natural disasters.