Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List

Nursu Tunalıoğlu; Bahattin Erdoğan; Taylan Öcalan; Duygu Arıcan; Cemali Altuntaş; Tümay Arda; Ali Hasan Doğan; Elif Zeynep Arıkan

doi:10.26833/ijeg.1635501

Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List

Abstract

Cultural and natural heritage assets, as a set of tangible and intangible values that reveal the shared past and historical accumulations of the communities living together, are important not only for the past but also for the transfer to future generations and are the responsibility of all nations of the world. Today's digitalized information age, development, and change in science and technology contribute to producing highly accurate three-dimensional (3D) inventories of these cultural heritages. However, in addition to natural degradation and destruction processes, unexpected events such as war, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters can hinder the formulation of the traditional inventories. At this point, it is important to carry out 3D modeling studies using crowdsourced images and videos from social media, to enhance modeling accuracy and support digital documentation, virtual museum initiatives, and heritage preservation. This study aims to present a strategy following the Structure-from-Motion approach to create 3D models of cultural heritage assets by using shared crowdsourced images and videos collected via social media platforms and applying a normalization procedure for scale standardization to assess model accuracy. Data obtained during nighttime, snowy conditions, or overly filtered captures were excluded, and a segmentation procedure using the Segment Anything model was implemented to remove irrelevant objects. As a result, an approach that can be used in inventory studies has been presented by using images and videos shared by users on social media platforms through an integrated and mutually supportive methodology. Quantitative analysis using the M3C2 method showed that RMSE values ranged from 0.0010 to 0.0036 across the models, with over 93% of the matched points falling within ±1σ. These results confirm the reliability of the proposed approach for large-scale digital heritage documentation.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

Yildiz Technical University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit

Project Number

FBA-2023-5042

Thanks

This work has been supported by Yildiz Technical University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit under project number FBA-2023-5042. Duygu Arican is a Ph.D. scholarship holder from the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) in the field of "GIS and Informatic Applications", which is one of the 100 national priority areas determined by YÖK within the scope of the YÖK 100/2000 Doctorate Program.

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Nursu Tunalıoğlu
0000-0001-9345-5220
Türkiye

Bahattin Erdoğan
0000-0002-8060-9208
Türkiye

Taylan Öcalan ^*
0000-0003-0861-013X
Türkiye

Duygu Arıcan
0000-0002-4618-4357
Türkiye

Cemali Altuntaş
0000-0002-9660-6124
Türkiye

Tümay Arda
0000-0002-4526-8727
Türkiye

Ali Hasan Doğan
0000-0002-8490-890X
Türkiye

Elif Zeynep Arıkan
0009-0007-3467-1290
Türkiye

Early Pub Date

August 25, 2025

Publication Date

October 1, 2025

Submission Date

February 7, 2025

Acceptance Date

April 7, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 11 Number: 1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.1635501

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA62YY39HN

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Tunalıoğlu, N., Erdoğan, B., Öcalan, T., Arıcan, D., Altuntaş, C., Arda, T., Doğan, A. H., & Arıkan, E. Z. (2025). Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences, 11(1), 21-39. https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.1635501

AMA

1.Tunalıoğlu N, Erdoğan B, Öcalan T, et al. Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List. IJEG. 2025;11(1):21-39. doi:10.26833/ijeg.1635501

Chicago

Tunalıoğlu, Nursu, Bahattin Erdoğan, Taylan Öcalan, et al. 2025. “Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List”. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences 11 (1): 21-39. https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.1635501.

EndNote

Tunalıoğlu N, Erdoğan B, Öcalan T, Arıcan D, Altuntaş C, Arda T, Doğan AH, Arıkan EZ (October 1, 2025) Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences 11 1 21–39.

IEEE

[1]N. Tunalıoğlu et al., “Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List”, IJEG, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 21–39, Oct. 2025, doi: 10.26833/ijeg.1635501.

ISNAD

Tunalıoğlu, Nursu - Erdoğan, Bahattin - Öcalan, Taylan - Arıcan, Duygu - Altuntaş, Cemali - Arda, Tümay - Doğan, Ali Hasan - Arıkan, Elif Zeynep. “Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List”. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences 11/1 (October 1, 2025): 21-39. https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.1635501.

JAMA

1.Tunalıoğlu N, Erdoğan B, Öcalan T, Arıcan D, Altuntaş C, Arda T, Doğan AH, Arıkan EZ. Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List. IJEG. 2025;11:21–39.

MLA

Tunalıoğlu, Nursu, et al. “Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List”. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences, vol. 11, no. 1, Oct. 2025, pp. 21-39, doi:10.26833/ijeg.1635501.

Vancouver

1.Nursu Tunalıoğlu, Bahattin Erdoğan, Taylan Öcalan, Duygu Arıcan, Cemali Altuntaş, Tümay Arda, Ali Hasan Doğan, Elif Zeynep Arıkan. Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List. IJEG. 2025 Oct. 1;11(1):21-39. doi:10.26833/ijeg.1635501