An apparatus comprising: one or more computer readable storage media; and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media that, when executed by a processing system, direct the processing system to at least: in response to a gesture associated with an item displayed on a display system , identify an interaction model specific to a format of the item ; wherein to identify the interaction model , the program instructions direct the processing system to identify the format of the item and select the interaction model from a plurality of interaction models associated with a plurality of formats, wherein the format comprises a one of the plurality of formats; identify a response to the gesture in accordance with the interaction model ; and render the response with respect to the item on the display surface, the apparatus further comprising the display system configured to accept the gesture by way of a touch interface and display the response to the gesture and the processing system configured to execute the program instructions, wherein the display system is configured to display a multi-format canvas including a plurality of various content items having various formats, wherein at least two formats have differing interaction models relative to each other. one or more computer readable storage media; and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media that, when executed by a processing system, direct the processing system to at least: in response to a gesture associated with an item displayed on a display system , identify an interaction model specific to a format of the item ; wherein to identify the interaction model , the program instructions direct the processing system to identify the format of the item and select the interaction model from a plurality of interaction models associated with a plurality of formats, wherein the format comprises a one of the plurality of formats; identify a response to the gesture in accordance with the interaction model ; and render the response with respect to the item on the display surface, the apparatus further comprising the display system configured to accept the gesture by way of a touch interface and display the response to the gesture and the processing system configured to execute the program instructions, wherein the display system is configured to display a multi-format canvas including a plurality of various content items having various formats, wherein at least two formats have differing interaction models relative to each other. in response to a gesture associated with an item displayed on a display system , identify an interaction model specific to a format of the item ; wherein to identify the interaction model , the program instructions direct the processing system to identify the format of the item and select the interaction model from a plurality of interaction models associated with a plurality of formats, wherein the format comprises a one of the plurality of formats; identify a response to the gesture in accordance with the interaction model ; and render the response with respect to the item on the display surface, the apparatus further comprising the display system configured to accept the gesture by way of a touch interface and display the response to the gesture and the processing system configured to execute the program instructions, wherein the display system is configured to display a multi-format canvas including a plurality of various content items having various formats, wherein at least two formats have differing interaction models relative to each other. <EOS>