ABSTRACT

Chat application can be define an intelligent and secure communication and collaboration tool, built for teams. The internet has been a platform for individuals, groups of people and companies to interact with one another through the social media. The social media has truly aided interaction and even other business services through social networks, forums, blogs, etc. Social media chat applications are now been used as tools/platforms to create discussions, connect to people (mostly of similar interests) and as sources of relevant information. This work intends to make use of chat application as tools in helping prospective university students to make the right decisions about their choice of career, choice of environment, etc.

Based on an in-depth review of some relevant literatures, some key requirements have been considered in the development of a suitable web application. This social media chat application will be developed for students to cater for some of their needs and solve some of the issues they face with their choice of career, their course of study, the accessibility of relevant information about any institution, etc.

Cover page

1. Certification

iii. Dedication

1. Acknowledgement
2. Abstract:

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the Study
• Problem Statement
• Aim and Objectives of Study
• Research Methodology
• Significance of Study
• Limitation of Study
• Methodology

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1              INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPT

2.1.1        History of the Social Media

2.1.2        What is an Online Forum?

2.1.3        Structure of an Online Forum

2.1.4        Features of an Online Forum

2.1.5        Definition of Other Terms

2.1.6        Applications of online forums

2.2              Concept of social media

2.3              Review of existing systems

CHAPTER THREE

3.0     REQUIREMENTS, ANALYSIS, AND DESIGN

3.1 Overview

3.2 Requirements Specifications

3.3 Use case Diagram

3.4   System Design

CHAPTER FOUR

IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING

4.1                          Overview

4.2                          Project Scope and features

4.3      Methodology

4.4   Tools and Technology

• Testing

4.6              Use Guide

4.7              Summary

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1        Overview

5.2        Objective Assessment

5.3        Limitations and Challenges

5.4        Future Enhancements

5.5        Recommendation

5.6        Summary

References

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1            BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The emergence, growth and development of Information Communication Technology (ICT) all over the globe have improved communication a great deal. Of course, communication has a long history as the existence of man but the invention of ICT has brought information to the finger tip of people. One cannot dispute the fact that the emergence of computers and mobile phones coupled with the corresponding internet facilities has aided the development and growth of many social media. People can now share ideas, thoughts, feelings, opinions, pictures, music, videos and make friends via different Social Networking Sites (SNSs). Thus, the social media has indisputably become one of the most important communication means in recent times (Idakwo, 2011).

Through the social media, the internet community has drastically increased over the years. The social media has become a significant part of today’s modern civilization. It is a defining trait of how integrated social interactions have become. The impact of the social media have been seen in basically five different contexts; news, interactions, political landscapes, learning and marketing (Guha, 2013).

With over 80 percent of teen Internet users frequenting social media sites, it’s no wonder the real world social lives are seeing some changes. Social media is definitely changing the way people communicate, but in many ways it’s for the better as we expand our social circles and explore new horizons through our online connections (Chopra, 2013).

Every age it has passed through has been based on beliefs and new technologies, responding to the needs of individuals anxious to adjust to new forms of socialization. A time of great change is a period in which society looks for meaning. Information is already a tool, the principal tool, which people use to perceive and understand their environment (Idakwo, 2011).

The emergence of online forums has become hugely popular in recent times with interactions based on similar discussions, posts and threads (Xiaolin, et al., 2009) (Sumit & Prasenjit, 2010). Online forums have become powerful tools for sharing information (Bedmar, 2010). Online discussion forums have also become one of the most popular places to ask and answer questions (Falls, 2012).

Online Forums, compared to the other social media sites, have various unique features like threads; where discussions and posts are made, RSS feeds, polls, etc. Online Forums, provide a unique type of social environment that enables people to share and access information freely. Users can either start new topics or leave comments in the threads of existing topics (Xiaolin, et al., 2009).

1.2              STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Prospective students of an institution (the University) have had issues in the past when it comes to selecting careers, choosing their course of study and indecisions about the right school to apply for (Ogu, 2008) (Orndorff & Herr, 1996). However, to solve these problems, a platform needs to be created where these students can relate with others who can answer these questions. Consequently, relevant requirements have to be taken into consideration in the development of a web application to solve these problems stated above.

1.3              AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To develop a social media chat applications where students within and outside the school can share different questions or views on various topics and majorly make information about any institution accessible. This will be achieved through the following objectives:

1. Gathering the right requirements for this application.
2. Modeling the requirements gathered using a Unified Modeling Language (UML).
3. Implementing the system by creating a user-friendly platform that will be easier for these students to interact with each other and ask questions using threads and

1.4              RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research work will be conducted by using different sources of relevant data for research like online surveys, journals, books and reviews of relevant literature. The requirements needed for the development of this application will be gotten by a review of existing systems. A platform where users who will reply to the questions from other users or provide any form of information will be created by some ‘question and answer’ techniques to solve the problems stated above successfully. The online forum will also be designed showing all the different functions that will be performed by using UML diagrams like use cases, class diagrams, etc. The implementation of the web application can now be done by making use of the design diagrams and programming will be done with PHP and the database management will be done by MySQL database taking a clue from existing forum softwares. The system will later on be evaluated by making use of feedbacks and reports from relevant users.

The objectives stated above will be achieved through these means: Table I: Research Objectives and Methodology

1.5            SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study has its relevance in solving real life problems affecting students today like indecisions about student’s course of study, career choices and misinformation about that institution. The application will also be flexible to provide different categories where users can have specific choices to select from.

Information is the bane of decision-making for students and present time web applications cannot live up to providing real time information that can be accessed from anywhere by the end user. It is important to put interest into the development and usage of online forums in solving these problems.

1.6              LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

 The basic limitation of this project is that the right set of university students with the right information and answers to any question may not be available to make this project a success. But, this will also be taking into consideration during the implementation of the project.

1.7              PROJECT ORGANIZATION

In Chapter Two, relevant literatures will be reviewed so as to elicit requirements for the proposed system. In Chapter Three, the requirements for the proposed system using the unified modeling languages will be designed. Chapter Four will be discussing and showing the system development, deployment and evaluation. Chapter Five will summarize the work and give recommendation for future work.