Tweets on Twitter are commonly used for sharing thoughts, news updates, opinions, and reactions. Twitter has emerged as a crucial platform for exploring diverse topics, ranging from global breaking news and sports to science, religion, emerging technologies ^[1][13], pandemics, and virus outbreaks ^[2][14]. However, the overwhelming volume of content on the Twitter timeline poses a complex challenge for users trying to stay updated in their areas of interest. As of 2 October 2022, Twitter witnesses an astonishing volume of activity, with approximately 6000 tweets sent per second, over 350,000 tweets per minute, 500 million tweets per day, and nearly 200 billion tweets per year ^[3][15]. With 229 million daily activated users ^[4][16], the scale of Twitter’s content is undeniably immense.

Registered Twitter users have the privilege of engaging with tweets through actions such as posting, liking, and retweeting, while unregistered users are limited to reading tweets. It is worth noting that tweets were initially constrained to 140 characters before expanding to 280 for non-CJK characters in November 2017 ^[5][17]. Although tweets can be informative in their raw form, the deluge of tweets can become overwhelming, making it challenging for users to efficiently digest and process the vast amount of information available.

While Facebook originated as a social networking platform, it has also evolved into a noteworthy channel for news and updates among its user base. According to data from Statista, Facebook boasts an excess of 2.9 billion monthly active users worldwide ^[6][18]. Facebook posts are a prominent type of short text commonly found on the Facebook social media platform ^[7][19]. Users can share their thoughts, experiences, updates, news articles, and various other content in the form of concise text snippets. These posts are typically limited to a certain number of characters, encouraging brevity in communication. Due to the character constraints for each post, users must be concise and to the point when expressing themselves. This brevity poses a challenge for readers to comprehend the complete context of a post, especially when navigating through a vast number of posts on their feed. ASTS techniques that can effectively summarize Facebook posts hold significant value for users and businesses alike. Such techniques can provide a concise and coherent overview of a user’s Facebook feed, enabling efficient content consumption and knowledge extraction. By condensing lengthy posts into key insights and important information, ASTS facilitates quick comprehension and enhanced user engagement on the platform. Furthermore, summarizing Facebook posts can be valuable for social media monitoring, sentiment analysis, and opinion mining. By generating accurate and informative summaries, ASTS techniques can help organizations track public opinions, monitor brand sentiment, and identify emerging trends from the deluge of Facebook posts.

On the Instagram social media platform ^[7][19], Instagram captions play a significant role as a form of short text commonly encountered. When users share photos or videos, they often complement their visual content with brief textual descriptions known as captions. These captions serve as a means for users to provide context, express emotions, share stories, or convey messages that enhance the impact of their visual posts. Due to Instagram’s visual-centric nature, captions are typically limited to a specific number of characters, encouraging users to be concise and impactful in their expressions. The brevity of captions is crucial for capturing the attention of followers and effectively conveying the intended message. Automatic short text summarization (ASTS) techniques that can adeptly summarize Instagram captions offer practical applications. For users, such techniques enable efficient browsing and comprehension of multiple posts in their feeds. For businesses and content creators, caption summarization facilitates content curation, sentiment analysis, and audience engagement, leading to more meaningful interactions.

WhatsApp messages represent a fundamental type of short text frequently encountered within the messaging application. Users utilize WhatsApp to exchange short text messages privately or within group chats, enabling direct communication for personal conversations, professional discussions, information sharing, and expressing emotions. The instant messaging nature of WhatsApp encourages brevity in messages, prompting users to convey their thoughts concisely. Character limitations often lead to the use of abbreviations, emojis, and other text-based expressions to communicate effectively within the restricted space. The Automatic short text summarization (ASTS) techniques for WhatsApp messages pose a distinct challenge. Summarizing these short text snippets involves capturing the conversation’s core meaning while preserving essential details and context. Efficient summarization of WhatsApp messages empowers users to swiftly grasp the conversation’s main points, streamlining communication and enhancing their overall messaging experience.

YouTube comments hold considerable importance as a widespread form of short text on the video-sharing platform. Users utilize comments to express thoughts, provide feedback, share opinions, and engage in discussions with other viewers and content creators. Due to the platform’s interactive nature, YouTube comments are usually brief and focused, enabling users to convey their sentiments and ideas succinctly. The character limit for comments encourages users to be concise, often resulting in the use of abbreviations, emojis, and other shorthand expressions. The effective summarization of YouTube comments yields valuable benefits for both viewers and content creators.

Sina Weibo, often informally referred to as the “Twitter of China,” holds a pivotal position in the arena of instant information sharing. Functioning as a potent microblogging platform, Sina Weibo has emerged as a vital conduit for accessing the latest trends, news, and updates, primarily catering to the Chinese-speaking populace. Providing users with a dynamic arena for sharing thoughts, opinions, and news snippets via succinct posts, Sina Weibo captures the essence of swift information exchange. The platform’s significance is underscored by its substantial user engagement, with Statista’s 2023 data indicating an impressive monthly active user count exceeding 584 million. This robust user participation solidifies Sina Weibo’s stature as a widely embraced social media platform within the Chinese-speaking demographic. Central to Sina Weibo’s identity is its role as a primary wellspring of real-time news. Its capability to expeditiously disseminate updates regarding noteworthy events is evident, spanning a spectrum from political milestones and natural calamities to the latest developments in entertainment and cultural shifts.