DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CHATHUB (A SOCIAL MEDIA FOR STUDENTS)

ABSTRACT

Individuals, organizations of people, and businesses have used social media to engage on the internet. Through social networks, forums, blogs, and other means, social media has assisted interaction and even other commercial services. Forums are currently being used as tools/platforms to start conversations, interact with others (usually with similar interests), and find out about new things. This project aims to use forums as a tool to assist students in making the best choices possible about their career, surroundings, deciding which school to apply to, struggling to develop habits such as time management, prioritization, staying healthy and other factors.

Several requirements have been considered in the creation of a suitable application based on an in-depth research of some relevant literature. The online forum has been created for students to meet some of their needs and address some of the difficulties they encounter with their career choices, academic programs, and access to important information about any school, among other things. The name of the forum is ChatHub.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1    Overview

ChatHub is a social-networking platform that takes advantage of technological advancements to allow users to communicate and ask questions. It provides a fantastic one-stop experience for asking school-related questions.

It allows you to converse with others and respond to their questions.

1.2    Background and Motivation

Human beings are social by nature, they rely on cooperation to survive and thrive. For a long period of time, people have taken this behavior to cyberspace. They rely on applications like WhatsApp, Facebook,Instagram, twitter, etc. to connect with each other.

With almost 80% of teen Internet users using social networking sites, it's no surprise that their real-world social lives are changing. The way people interact is changing, but in many ways for the better as we broaden our social circles and explore new possibilities through our internet connections (Chopra, 2013). Since communication is a fundamental human need, man has always devised ways to satisfy it. The media, which is a catch-all word for a variety of forms of communication, has become an inextricable aspect of human existence all over the world. The earliest forms of personal media, speech and gestures,  had the advantage of being simple to use and did not require complex technology (Idakwo, 2011).

Online forums have exploded in popularity in recent years, with interactions based on similar conversations, postings, and threads (Xiaolin et al., 2009). (Sumit & Prasenjit, 2010).Online forums have evolved into effective platforms for exchanging knowledge (Bedmar, 2010).One of the most common locations to ask and answer questions is online discussion forums (Falls, 2012).When compared to other social networking sites, online forums include a variety of unique features such as threads, where conversations and postings are created, RSS feeds, polls, and so on. Online Forums are a special kind of social environment that allows individuals to freely share and access information. Users can either start new topics or comment on current subjects' threads (Xiaolin, et al., 2009).

1.3    Statement of the Problem

In the past, students of an institution (the University) have had difficulty picking careers, choosing their course of study, and deciding which school to apply to, struggling to develop habits such as time management, prioritization, and staying healthy (Ogu, 2008). To overcome these issues, however, a platform must be developed where these students may connect with others who can provide answers to their questions. As a result, in order to overcome the difficulties mentioned above, appropriate requirements must be considered throughout the creation of the application.and what makes my own forum unique is that it is specifically designed for universities only, my user interface makes it easy for students to find the university they like.most other chat rooms greet you with many and irrelevant questions. and most of the forums are websites but with the increasing number of smartphones, a mobile app needs to be developed, so i created an app instead of a website.

1.4    Aim and Objectives

Develop an online platform where students may exchange numerous questions or points of view on various issues, as well as information about any school.

The following goals will be used to accomplish this:

1. Gathering the necessary requirements for this application.
2. Using a Unified Modeling Language to model the requirements gathered(UML).
3. Putting the system in place by developing a user-friendly platform that allowsthese students to communicate with one another and ask questions through threads and topics.

1.5     Significance of the Project

This research has application in addressing real-world issues that students face today, such as indecision about a student's course of study, career choices, and disinformation about the school. The program will also be versatile enough to give multiple categories from which users may choose. Finally, rather than targeting a larger audience in various student forums, this application will focus on one institution, Baze University.

Information is the bane of student decision-making, and current web apps cannot provide real-time information that can be accessed by the end user from anywhere.

1.6     Project Risks Assessment

RISKS

Inability to carry out research due to loss of hardware/software resources	Be aware of and observe school IT security procedures Secure Android mobile phone when not in use.
Loss of work due to equipment failure /loss	Weekly data backup to Hard drive
Software availability (Unavailability of API’s)	Alternative API’s will be checked for. Software requirements will be identified in good time for possible contentious softwares
Late delivery of hardware component	Hardware requirements will be identified in good time to be able to order them in good time

1.7    Scope/Project Organization

The following sections of this project report include the literature review in This explains how the project's chapters are arranged. The report is divided into five sections, as follows:

Chapter 1: Provides a broad overview of the project, including history and motivation, a definition of the problem, goals and objectives, project importance, and project risk assessment.

Chapter 2: Provides an introduction to the literature review, as well as a historical overview, relevant work, and a summary.

Chapter 3: Requirement Analysis and Design is depicted in this chapter.

Chapter 4: This section covers the project's components' implementation and testing.

Chapter 5:This chapter contains the discussion, conclusion, and suggestion.

Finally, the report's reference and appendices section is included at the end.

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CHATHUB (A SOCIAL MEDIA FOR STUDENTS)

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