Image Classification

Established: July 7, 2015

Instructions

This web page provides detailed instructions and examples to aid you in successfully completing our Mechanical Turk task for labeling images that have been embedded in public tweets. Note that we have randomly selected these images from public Twitter messages – they were not pre-screened for content – it is possible that some content may be offensive or mature in nature.

Here’s a key in regards to parts of a tweet:

twitter_websiteexample
  • Question 1:

    Please categorize the picture in one of the following categories:

    • Unofficial Retweets
    • Memes
    • Inspirational Quotes
    • Graphs/Charts
    • Screenshots/Screen Captures
    • Informational Pictures
    • Pictures of Text/Mostly Text
    • Drawings/Graphics
    • Photographs of Real-Life Objects
    • Broken Links
    • None of the Above

    Unofficial Retweets

    Images that are screenshots of another tweet that could’ve been retweeted but instead was posted as a picture with the tweet—e.g. Person A tweets a picture; that picture is a picture of a tweet by person B. Person A probably could’ve retweeted the tweet by person B, but instead took a screenshot and shared it that way instead.

    Unofficial Retweet Example 1 (including original tweet):

    twitter_retweet2

    Unofficial Retweet Example 2 (including original tweet):

    twitter_retweet1

    Unofficial Retweet Example 3:

    twitter_retweet3

    Unofficial Retweet Example 4:

    twitter_retweet4

    Memes

    Generally a picture with blocky, white-with-a-thick-black-outline text relevant to the picture or a picture created using stock photos and has relevant text in the font Comic Sans

    Meme Example 1 (including original tweet):

    twitter_meme2 

    Meme Example 2 (including original tweet):

    twitter_meme1

    Meme Example 3:

    twitter_meme3

    Meme Example 4:

    twitter_meme4

    Inspirational Quotes

    Pictures with a usually inspirational, motivational, encouraging, or deep quote involved—e.g. a quote about dreaming with a picture of the sky as the background, a quote said by Disney and a picture of Walt Disney next to it

    Inspirational Quote Example 1 (including original tweet):

    twitter_quotes2

    Inspirational Quote Example 2 (including original tweet):

    twitter_quotes1

    Inspirational Quotes Example 3:

    twitter_quotes3

    Inspirational Quotes Example 4:

    twitter_quotes4

    Inspirational Quotes Example 5:

    twitter_quotes5

    Inspirational Quotes Example 6:

    twitter_quotes6.png

    Graphs/Charts

    Pictures of graphs, charts, infographics; essentially any visual representation of data

    Graph Example 1 (including original tweet):

    twitter_graph2

    Graph Example 2 (including original tweet):

    twitter_graph1

    Graph Example 3:

    twitter_graph3

    Graph Example 4:

    twitter_graph4

    Graph Example 5:

    twitter_graph5

    Screenshots/Screen Captures

    Pictures that have text as part of the picture and are screenshots of a phone’s screen (may include the notification bar at the top of the screen), app, game, or TV screen; screenshot of part of a computer screen—e.g. a screenshot of a phone’s screen with Instagram open, a screenshot of part of a computer window that only shows a Facebook post with some comments

    Screenshot Example 1 (including original tweet):

    First example of a screenshot with tweet text

    Screenshot Example 2 (including original tweet):

    Second example of a screenshot with tweet text

    Screenshot Example 3:

    Third example of a screenshot; screenshot of phone call on iPhone

    Screenshot Example 4:

    Fourth example of a screenshot; screen capture of a post on Facebook

    Screenshot Example 5:

    Fifth example of a screenshot; screenshot of Soundcloud app on phone

    Screenshot Example 6:

    Sixth example of a screenshot; screenshot of Vine app on iPhone

    Screenshot Example 7:

    Seventh example of a screenshot; screen capture of Youtube app

    Screenshot Example 8:

    Eighth example of a screenshot; screenshot of music app on iPhone

    Informational Pictures

    Some form of graphics that go along with and is important to the text in the photo; text is usually overlaid on the picture; picture with text explaining the photo–e.g. movie posters, screenshot/still frame with subtitles, advertisement with text.

    Informational Picture Example 1 (including original tweet):

    First example of an informational picture with tweet text

    Informational Picture Example 2:

    Second example of an informational picture; advertisment for a new album on Spotify

    Informational Picture Example 3:

    Third example of an informational picture; still frames with captioning underneath each frame

    Informational Picture Example 4:

    Fourth example of an informational picture; informational movie poster

    Informational Picture Example 5:

    Pictures of Text/Mostly Text

    Any image that mostly contains text—e.g. pictures of pure text, screenshots of conversations/SMS/IM’s, pictures of book pages, picture with mostly text and an accompanying photo (e.g. Tumblr photo + commentary)

    Picture of Text Example 1 (including original tweet):

    First example of a screenshort with the tweet text

    Picture of Text Example 2 (including original tweet):

    Second example of a screenshort with the tweet text

    Picture of Text Example 3:

    Third example of a screenshor; only text on plain background

    Picture of Text Example 4:

    Fourth example of a screenshort; a conversation over iPhone messaging

    Picture of Text Example 5:

    Fifth example of a screenshort; accompanying photo with text on the right

    Picture of Text Example 6:

    Sixth example of a screenshort; Tumblr post with accompanying photo

    Drawings/Graphics

    Picture that was created through digital or physical means (Photoshop or hand drawn)—e.g. cartoon, hand-drawn art, digital artwork, etc.

    Drawing Example 1 (including original tweet):

    First example of a drawing with tweet text

    Drawing Example 2:

    Second example of a drawing; political cartoon drawing

    Drawing Example 3:

    Third example of a drawing; digitally edited image of breakfast foods

    Drawing Example 4:

    Fourth example of a drawing; hand-drawn cartoon strip about a knot

    Drawing Example 5:

    Fifth example of a drawing; painting of a road with two people and a dog walking down

    Photographs of Real-Life Objects

    Picture of something in real life—e.g. selfies, a person’s facial reaction, animals, nature, real locations, etc.; Snapchat screenshots included—the text in a snapchat is negligible (characteristics of Snapchat: translucent grey text bar across the picture, small circular or square timer/countdown at the top right corner)

    Photograph Example 1 (including original tweet):

    First example of a photo with the tweet text

    Photograph Example 2 (including original tweet):

    Second example of a photo with the tweet text

    Photograph Example 3:

    Third example of a photo; photo of a city at night

    Photograph Example 4:

    Fourth example of a photo; Snapchat photo with negligible text

    Photograph Example 5:

    Fifth example of a photo; image of a real cake

    Broken Links

    The link to the image is broken; there is no picture that shows up.

    None of the Above

    The image is either a combination of the categories above or doesn’t fall under any of the categories above.

  • Question 2:

    Is there any text in the picture? If yes, would the text serve as a good caption for the picture?

    • Yes, there is text in the picture; yes, the text would be a good caption
    • Yes, there is text in the picture; no, the text would not be a good caption
    • No, there is no text in the picture

    Yes, there is text in the picture; yes, the text would be a good caption

    Example: The text in the picture “Raspberry vanilla éclair” would be a good caption for the picture.

    Picture of an eclair with the text

    Yes, there is text in the picture; no, the text would not be a good caption

    Example: The text in picture “Guess Who?” would not be a good caption for the picture.

    Man standing on sportsfield with the text

    No, there is no text in the picture

    Satellite image of the Earth with no text
  • Question 3:

    How well does the content/text of the tweet serve as a caption for the picture?

    • Very Well
    • Well
    • Average
    • Poor
    • Very Poor
    • There is no text in the tweet

    Very Well

    Example 1 of “very well”:

    Tweet text with a picture of bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough with a whisk on the right

    Example 2 of “very well”:

    Tweet text with a picture of rainbow sherbet ice cream

    Well

    Example of “well”:

    Tweet text with picture of a bar of soap with the word

    Average

    Example of “average”:

    Tweet text with a picture of an older man in a picture with three blonde young women

    Poor

    Example of “poor”:

    Tweet text with a picture of two Miley Cyrus's vertically next to each other

    Very Poor

    Example of “very poor”:

    Tweet text with a selfie of Justin Beiber wearing a hat and a gold necklace

    There is no text in the tweet

    Example of “there is no text in the tweet”:

    Selfie of a girl with black hair in a room with red cloth

  • Question 4:

    How important is the photo to the intent of the tweet? In other words, can the tweet stand on its own and not lose any meaning without the photo?

    • The photo is very important
    • The photo is somewhat important
    • The photo is nice to have but not necessary to fully appreciate the tweet
    • The photo is nonessential to the tweet and the tweet will have lost nothing without the picture

    The photo is very important

    Example of “very important”:

    Tweet text with a picture of a still frame and captions for the still frame

    The photo is somewhat important

    Example of “important”:

    Tweet text with a picture of a young girl making a funny face

    The photo is nice to have but not necessary to fully appreciate the tweet

    Example of “not necessary”:

    Tweet text with a picture of a damaged house

    The photo is nonessential to the tweet and the tweet will have lost nothing without the picture

    Example of “non-essential”:

    Tweet text with a picture saying