  The use of social media is ubiquitous and nowadays well-established in our
everyday life, but increasingly also before, during or after emergencies. The
produced data is spread across several types of social media and can be used by
different actors, such as emergency services or volunteer communities. There
are already systems available that support the process of gathering, analysing
and distributing information through social media. However, dependent on the
goal of analysis, the analysis methods and available systems are limited based
on technical or business-oriented restrictions. This paper presents the design
of a cross-platform Social Media API, which was integrated and evaluated within
multiple emergency scenarios. Based on the lessons learned, we outline the core
challenges from the practical development and theoretical findings, focusing
(1) cross-platform gathering and data management, (2) trustability and
information quality, (3) tailorability and adjustable data operations, and (4)
queries, performance, and technical development.
