DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SOCIAL MEDIA BASED WEB APPLICATION FOR PROSPECTIVE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

1.1 Introduction

Social media is the social interaction among people in which they create, share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Social Media is the future of communication, a countless array of internet-based tools and platforms that increase and enhance the sharing of information. This new form of media makes the transfer of text, photos, audio, video, and information in general increasingly fluid among internet users. The use of social media in education provides students with the ability to get more useful information, to connect with learning groups and other educational systems that make education convenient. Social network tools afford students and institutions with multiple opportunities to improve learning methods. Contrary to this, some students have diverted social media usage towards non-educational, unethical and inappropriate actions and behaviours. It appears that some students, instead of taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by social media for learning purposes, have shifted their attention to using it for other reasons.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

Social media has relevance not only for regular internet users, but for business as well. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Whatsapp have created online communities where people can share as much or as little personal information as they desire with other members. The result is an enormous amount of information that can be easily shared, searched, promoted, disputed, and created. Social Bookmarking tools and news sites such as Digg, Delicious, reddit, and countless others make finding specific information, images, or websites increasingly simple by assigning or tagging individual sites with searchable key words. Due to the fast growing Information Communication Technology, English is a vital tool for communication among people around the world. That is because the Internet or World Wide Web enables an important event happening in a part of the world to be simultaneously and clearly broadcast to people in other parts of the world with pictures, texts, and video clip, etc. People with different races who speak different languages can consume the same piece of information or news, and share it to other internet users or netizens, and of course the core language used on the internet or websites is English language.

Communication is a basic human need and for that reason, man has always found a means of meeting this need. The media, which is an umbrella term for various means of communication, has become an integral part of human life around the world. The earliest forms of personal media, speech and gestures, had the benefit of being easy to use and did not necessarily need complex technology (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).

1.3 Statement of Problem

Investigation revealed that social media for students have become a major part of their lives. In Nigeria higher institutions, it is very uncommon to find a student who is not engaged in one form of social media. For every class of 100 students, at least 50% is registered on more than one social media platform. This act of belonging to several social media platforms, affords the students the opportunity to receive and send information whether doctored or genuine. This platform has proven overtime to be able to help keep the students updated.

The 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.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to design and implement a Social Media Based Web Application for Prospective University Students. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to develop an application software that will:

1. Gather the right requirements for this application.
2. Model the requirements gathered using a Unified Modeling Language (UML).
3. Implement 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 topics.

1.5 Significance of 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. Lastly, this application will be focused on one institution i.e. Covenant University rather than addressing a greater audience, in other student forums.

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 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Design and Implementation of a Social Media Based Web Application for Prospective University Students.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).

1.8 Definition of Terms

Social Media: Social media are computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.

Language: Language is a system that consists of the development, acquisition, maintenance and use of complex systems of communication, particularly the human ability to do so; and a language is any specific example of such a system.

Student: A registered and recognize member of an academic learning.

Participation: The act of belonging or contributing to a particular task, activity, or group; whether passively or actively.