Development of Social Networking Site Final

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Preamble

A social networking website is an online platform that focuses on building and reflecting of

social networks or social relations among people, who share interests and/or activities. A

social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile),

his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most Social Network Websites are

web based and provide means for users to interact over the internet, such as e-mail and instant

messaging. Social Networking Sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests

within their individual networks. (Boyd & Nichole, 2007)

The main types of social networking website are those which contain category places (such as

former school year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-

description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now

combine many of these, with Facebook and Twitter widely used worldwide.

There have been attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries

of friends and interests.

1.2 Statement of Problems.

National Open University of Nigeria is a distance learning school where students interact with

the school through study centers that are spread all over the country. This approach created a

wide communication gap among the students, and between the student and their departments

and / or the school as a whole.

As a result of this, most students are not properly coordinated due to lack of timely

information. More so, these students, either of the same department / faculty or the school in

general need a way of reaching out to each other from time to time in order to share interests

and ideas. A saying “Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much and better”.

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1.3 Objective Purpose of Study

The aim of this project is to build a website that will serve as communication tool between

students and lecturers, departments, faculty, and the school and also among the students. The

website will also provide a chance for students to network with professionals for internship

and job opportunities. Also the site includes a platform where educational topics can be

discussed in real-time mode

1.4 Significance of the Study

The significance of a Social Networking Site for National Open University of Nigeria is

majorly for effective collaborations and sharing of materials among the students from every

study centre across the country. Its aim is to assure uninterrupted communications within the

school. This significance will also include;

Creating an Attractive and Secure Login page for users to have access to their

personal areas.

An interface for user account creation that is user friendly and proper

validation of details.

Integration of advance search module for locating classmates and other people

from all study centers across the nation.

Send/Accept friend request to/from other users to make friends.

Creating a public profile having social, professional and personal information.

A profile editing interface for updating users information

Uploading and sharing of files, audio, videos, and photographs on the site.

Send internal message to other friends.

Quick reply to incoming messages.

Group creations and subscriptions

Administration page to keep an eye on users’ operations.

Easily recover your password with a password recovery module.

1.5 Scope of the Study

The study will significantly measure the speed of communication in the school. The operation

such as; creating groups and subscribing to a particular group like Osogbo Study Centre

group, thereby enabling users to get latest updates from the school at the most appropriate

time.

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1.6 Methodology

The project will employ the top-down approach of software development. The project will

develop the individual pages that present different individual functionality before integrating

the whole pages together to form a whole working website. It employs tools like;

Adobe collections (Dreamweaver CS5, for designing the graphical interface,

Fireworks and flash, for animation of graphics.

PHP5.0 (PHP Hypertext Processor) for the processing of server side request, session

handling and security.

Mysql server will be used as the backend relational database for storage, retrieval and

manipulation of persistent data

Wamp2.oa (Windows Apache Mysql PHP) will be used as the backend server for the

project.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, we discussed various forms of Social Networking Site that has been in

existence for generations, their social impacts, and their typical structures. The chapter also

discussed briefly, the emerging trends in social networking and the various issues that are

associated with them.

2.1 Background and Related Work

The potential for computer networking to facilitate new forms of computer-mediated social

interaction was suggested early on. Efforts to support social networks via computer-mediated

communication were made in many early online services, including Usenet, ARPANET,

LISTSERV, and Bulletin Board Services (BBS). Many prototypical features of Social

Networking Sites were also present in online services such as America Online, Prodigy, and

CompuServe. Early social networking on the World Wide Web began in the form of

generalized online communities such as Theglobe.com (1995), Geocities (1994) and

Tripod.com (1995). Many of these early communities focused on bringing people together to

interact with each other through chat rooms, and encouraged users to share personal

information and ideas via personal webpages by providing easy-to-use publishing tools and

free or inexpensive web space. Some communities - such as Classmates.com - took a different

approach by simply having people link to each other via email addresses. In the late 1990s,

user profiles became a central feature of Social Networking Sites, allowing users to compile

lists of "friends" and search for other users with similar interests. New social networking

methods were developed by the end of the 1990s and many sites began to develop more

advanced features for users to find and manage friends. This newer generation of Social

Networking Sites began to flourish with the emergence of SixDegrees.com in 1997, followed

by Makeoutclub in 2000, Friendster in 2002, and soon became part of the Internet

mainstream. Friendster was followed by MySpace and LinkedIn a year later, and finally,

Bebo. Attesting to the rapid increase in Social Networking Sites' popularity, by 2005,

MySpace was reportedly getting more page views than Google. Facebook, launched in 2004,

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has since become the largest Social Networking Site in the world. Today, it is estimated that

there are now over 200 active sites using a wide variety of social networking models.

2.2 Social Impacts of Social Networking Sites

Web based social networking services make it possible to connect people who share interests

and activities across political, economic, and geographic borders. Through e-mail and instant

messaging, online communities are created where a gift economy and reciprocal altruism are

encouraged through cooperation. Information is particularly suited to gift economy, as

information is a nontrivial good and can be gifted at practically no cost.

Facebook and other social networking tools are increasingly the object of scholarly research.

Scholars in many fields have begun to investigate the impact of Social Networking Sites,

investigating how such sites may play into issues of identity, privacy, social capital, youth

culture, and education.

Several websites are beginning to tap into the power of the social networking model for

philanthropy. Such models provide a means for connecting otherwise fragmented industries

and small organizations without the resources to reach a broader audience with interested

users. Social networks are providing a different way for individuals to communicate digitally.

These communities of hypertexts allow for the sharing of information and ideas, an old

concept placed in a digital environment.

In 2011, HCL Technologies conducted research which showed that 50% of British employers

had banned the use of Social Networking Sites/services during office hours.

2.3 Typical Structure of Social Networking Sites

2.3.1 Basics

Social Networking Sites to share some conventional features. Most often, individual users are

encouraged to create profiles containing various information about themselves. Users can

often upload pictures of themselves to their profiles, post blog entries for others to read,

search for other users with similar interests, and compile and share lists of contacts. In

addition, user profiles often have a section dedicated to comments from friends and other

users. To protect user privacy, social networks usually have controls that allow users to

choose who can view their profile, contact them, add them to their list of contacts, and so on.

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In recent years, it has also become common for a wide variety of organizations to create

profiles to advertise products and services.

2.3.2 Additional Features

Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create groups that share

common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums.

Geosocial networking co-opts internet mapping services to organize user participation around

geographic features and their attributes.

There is also a trend for more interoperability between social networks led by technologies

such as OpenID and OpenSocial.

Lately, mobile social networking has become popular. In most mobile communities, mobile

phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create

chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using

their mobile phone. Some companies provide wireless services which allow their customers to

build their own mobile community and brand it.

2.4 Emerging Trends in Social Networking

As the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the

technology are constantly being observed.

At the forefront of emerging trends in Social Networking Sites is the concept of "real-time

web" and "location based." Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then

broadcasted as it is being uploaded - the concept is analogous to live radio and television

broadcasts. Twitter set the trend for "real time" services, where users can broadcast to the

world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit. Facebook

followed suit with their "Live Feed" where users' activities are streamed as soon as it happens.

While Twitter focuses on words, Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo

sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Friends and

nearby users can contribute their own photos and comments to that event stream, thus

contributing to the "real time" aspect of broadcasting photos and comments as it is being

uploaded. In the location based social networking space, Foursquare gained popularity as it

allowed for users to "check-in" to places that they are frequenting at that moment. Gowalla is

another such service which functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging

the GPS in phones to create a location-based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time

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space, is also a location based Social Networking Site since events created by users are

automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr

iPhone app. Yet another social networking tool, SceneTap, has allows users to view data

regarding how many individuals are in a given bar or business and even the male-to-female

ratio in that establishment. SceneTap accomplishes this by steaming real-time data to its

website and a user's mobile application through the use of cameras which analyze crowds at

establishments. Recently, Yelp announced its entrance into the location based social

networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes

detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is still considered a new space in

the internet technology industry.

One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies

have found that Social Networking Sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build

their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive, there are five major

uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation

management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a

lead gen tool to intercept potential prospects. These companies are able to drive traffic to their

own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to

improve or change products or services.

One other use that is being discussed is the use of Social Networks in the Science

communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how New

Biotechnology Firms are using Social Networking Sites to share exchanges in scientific

knowledge. They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one

another, they are able to "increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would

not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization." Social networking is

allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these

new means of communicating their theories might become "isolated and irrelevant".

Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool.

Because many students are already using a wide-range of Social Networking Sites, teachers

have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage.

Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to

extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with

homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster

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teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents

to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face.

Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing.

Extensive use of an array of Social Networking Sites enabled organizers of the 2009 National

Equality March to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a

cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.

The use of online social networks by libraries is also an increasingly prevalent and growing

tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending

the services provided by individual libraries.

A final rise in social network use is being driven by college students using the services to

network with professionals for internship and job opportunities. Many studies have been done

on the effectiveness of networking online in a college setting, and one notable one is by

Phipps Arabie and Yoram Wind published in Advances in Social Network Analysis.

2.5 Social Network Hosting Service

A social network hosting service is a web hosting service that specifically hosts the user

creation of web-based social networking services, alongside related applications. Such

services are also known as vertical social networks due to the creation of SNSes which cater

to specific user interests and niches; like larger, interest-agnostic SNSes, such niche

networking services may also possess the ability to create increasingly niche groups of users.

2.6 Business Model

Few social networks currently charge money for membership. In part, this may be because

social networking is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has not been firmly

established in customers' minds. Companies such as MySpace and Facebook sell online

advertising on their site. Their business model is based upon large membership count, and

charging for membership would be counterproductive. Some believe that the deeper

information that the sites have on each user will allow much better targeted advertising than

any other site can currently provide.

Social networks operate under an autonomous business model, in which a social network's

members serve dual roles as both the suppliers and the consumers of content. This is in

contrast to a traditional business model, where the suppliers and consumers are distinct

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agents. Revenue is typically gained in the autonomous business model via advertisements, but

subscription-based revenue is possible when membership and content levels are sufficiently

high.

2.7 Issues with Social Networking Sites

2.7.1 Privacy

Privacy concerns with social networking services have been raised growing concerns amongst

users on the dangers of giving out too much personal information and the threat of sexual

predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of data theft or viruses. However,

large services, such as MySpace and Netlog, often work with law enforcement to try to

prevent such incidents.

In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal

information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to

be produced on an individual's behavior on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may

be taken.

Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of data—information that was altered or

removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was

highlighted when the controversial Social Networking Site Quechup harvested e-mail

addresses from users' e-mail accounts for use in a spamming operation.

In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is

normally strictly scrutinized by institutional review boards, for example, to ensure that

adolescents and their parents have informed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules

apply to researchers who collect data from Social Networking Sites. These sites often contain

a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are

public, republishing it in a research paper might be considered invasion of privacy.

Privacy on Social Networking Sites can be undermined by many factors. For example, users

may disclose personal information, sites may not take adequate steps to protect user privacy,

and third parties frequently use information posted on social networks for a variety of

purposes. "For the Net generation, Social Networking Sites have become the preferred forum

for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However,

because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone

with an interest in the users' personal information".

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Following plans by the UK government to monitor traffic on social networks schemes similar

to E-mail jamming have been proposed for networks such as Twitter and Facebook. These

would involve "friending" and "following" large numbers of random people to thwart

attempts at network analysis.

2.7.2 Data Mining

Through data mining, companies are able to improve their sales and profitability. With this

data, companies create customer profiles that contain customer demographics and online

behavior. A recent strategy has been the purchase and production of “network analysis

software”. This software is able to sort out through the influx of social networking data for

any specific company. Facebook has been especially important to marketing strategists.

Facebook’s controversial and new “Social Ads” program gives companies access to the

millions of profiles in order to tailor their ads to a Facebook user’s own interests and hobbies.

However, rather than sell actual user information, Facebook sells tracked “social actions”.

That is, they track the websites a user uses outside of Facebook through a program called

“Facebook Beacon”.

2.7.3 Notifications on Websites

There has been a trend for Social Networking Sites to send out only 'positive' notifications to

users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace will not send notifications to

users when they are removed from a person's friends list. Similarly Bebo will send out a

notification if a user is moved to the top of another user's friends list but no notification is sent

if they are moved down the list.

This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without

confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It

also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to

unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships.

2.7.4 Access to Information

Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who

can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.

Parents who want to access their child's MySpace or Facebook account have become a big

problem for teenagers who do not want their profile seen by their parents. By making their

profile private, teens can select who may see their page, allowing only people added as

"friends" to view their profile and preventing unwanted viewing of the profile by parents.

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Most teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and

their parents.

To edit information on a certain social networking service account, the Social Networking

Sites require you to login or provide a password. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from

adding, changing, or removing personal information, pictures, and/or other data.

2.7.5 Potential for Misuse

The relative freedom afforded by social networking services has caused concern regarding the

potential of its misuse by individual patrons. In October 2006, a fake MySpace profile created

in the name of Josh Evans by Lori Janine Drew led to the suicide of Megan Meier. The event

incited global concern regarding the use of social networking services for bullying purposes.

In July 2008, a Briton, Grant Raphael, was ordered to pay a total of GBP £22,000 (about USD

$44,000) for libel and breach of privacy. Raphael had posted a fake page on Facebook

purporting to be that of a former school friend Matthew Firsht, with whom Raphael had fallen

out in 2000. The page falsely claimed that Firsht was homosexual and that he was dishonest.

At the same time, genuine use of social networking services has been treated with suspicion

on the ground of the services' misuse. In September 2008, the profile of Australian Facebook

user Elmo Keep was banned by the site's administrators on the grounds that it violated the

site's terms of use. Keep is one of several users of Facebook who were banned from the site

on the presumption that their names aren't real, as they bear resemblance the names of

characters like Sesame Street's Elmo.

2.7.6 Risk for Child Safety

Citizens and governments have been concerned by a misuse by child and teenagers of social

networking services, particularly in relation to online sexual predators. A certain number of

actions have been engaged by governments to better understand the problem and find some

solutions. A 2008 panel concluded that technological fixes such as age verification and scans

are relatively ineffective means of apprehending online predators. In May 2010, a child

pornography Social Networking Site with hundreds of members was dismantled by law

enforcement. It was deemed "the largest crimes against children case brought anywhere by

anyone."

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2.7.7 Trolling

A common misuse of Social Networking Sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used

to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare

for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. Trolling can occur in many

different forms, such as (but not limited to) defacement of deceased person(s) tribute pages,

name calling, playing online pranks on volatile individuals and controversial comments with

the intention to cause anger and cause arguments. Trolling is not to be confused with cyber-

bullying.

2.7.8 Online Bullying

Online bullying, also called cyber-bullying, is a relatively common occurrence and it can

often result in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to

39% of users admit to being “cyber-bullied”. Danah Boyd, a researcher of social networks

quotes a teenager in her article, Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager

expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too

much emotional stress. There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when

online. Inherently individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that

could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual.

2.7.9 Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned

to social networking as a means of communication."Benniger (1987) describes how mass

media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further,

Social Networking Sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves,

relationships, and share cultural artifacts". A Privacy Paradox Many teens and social

networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as

Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University Neuroscientist,

"My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children

who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and

who live for the moment."

2.7.10 Psychological Effects of Social Networking

Social Networking Sites have risen in popularity over the past years; people have been

spending an excess amount of time on Social Networking Sites and on the Internet in general.

The excessive amount of time that people spend on Social Networking Sites has led

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researchers to debate the establishment of Internet addiction as an actual clinical disorder.

Social networking can also affect the extent to which a person feels lonely. In a Newsweek

article, Johannah Cornblatt explains “Social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace

may provide people with a false sense of connection that ultimately increases loneliness in

people who feel alone.” John T. Cacioppo, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago,

claims that social networking can foster feelings of sensitivity to disconnection, which can

lead to loneliness.

2.8 Application of Social Networking Sites

2.8.1 Investigations

Social networking services are increasingly being used in legal and criminal investigations.

Information posted on sites such as MySpace and Facebook has been used by police (forensic

profiling), probation, and university officials to prosecute users of said sites. In some

situations, content posted on MySpace has been used in court.

Facebook is increasingly being used by school administrations and law enforcement agencies

as a source of evidence against student users. The site, the number one online destination for

college students, allows users to create profile pages with personal details. These pages can be

viewed by other registered users from the same school which often include resident assistants

and campus police who have signed-up for the service. One UK police force has sifted

pictures from Facebook and arrested some people who had been photographed in a public

place holding a weapon such as a knife (having a weapon in a public place is illegal).

2.8.2 Government Applications

Social networking is more recently being used by various government agencies. Social

networking tools serve as a quick and easy way for the government to get the opinion of the

public and to keep the public updated on their activity. The Centers for Disease Control

demonstrated the importance of vaccinations on the popular children's site Whyville and the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a virtual island on Second Life where

people can explore underground caves or explore the effects of global warming. Similarly,

NASA has taken advantage of a few social networking tools, including Twitter and Flickr.

They are using these tools to aid the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee,

whose goal it is to ensure that the nation is on a vigorous and sustainable path to achieving its

boldest aspirations in space.

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2.8.3 Business Applications

The use of social networking services in an enterprise context presents the potential of having

a major impact on the world of business and work (Fraser & Dutta, 2008)

Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepreneurs and small

businesses looking to expand their contact bases. These networks often act as a customer

relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can

also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses

operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the

world.

One example of social networking being used for business purposes is LinkedIn.com, which

aims to interconnect professionals. LinkedIn has over 100 million users in over 200 countries.

Another is the use of physical spaces available to members of a social network such as Hub

Culture, an invitation only social network for entrepreneurs, and other business influentials,

with Pavilions in major cities such as London, UK. Having a physical presence allows

members to network in the real world, as well as the virtual, adding extra business value.

Applications for Social Networking Sites have extended toward businesses and brands are

creating their own, high functioning sites, a sector known as brand networking. It is the idea a

brand can build its consumer relationship by connecting their consumers to the brand image

on a platform that provides them relative content, elements of participation, and a ranking or

score system. Brand networking is a new way to capitalize on social trends as a marketing

tool.

2.8.4 Dating Applications

Many social networks provide an online environment for people to communicate and

exchange personal information for dating purposes. Intentions can vary from looking for a

one time date, short-term relationships, and long-term relationships.

Most of these social networks, just like online dating services, require users to give out certain

pieces of information. This usually includes a user's age, gender, location, interests, and

perhaps a picture. Releasing very personal information is usually discouraged for safety

reasons. This allows other users to search or be searched by some sort of criteria, but at the

same time people can maintain a degree of anonymity similar to most online dating services.

Online dating sites are similar to social networks in the sense that users create profiles to meet

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and communicate with others, but their activities on such sites are for the sole purpose of

finding a person of interest to date. Social networks do not necessarily have to be for dating;

many users simply use it for keeping in touch with friends, and colleagues.

However, an important difference between social networks and online dating services is the

fact that online dating sites usually require a fee, where social networks are free. This

difference is one of the reasons the online dating industry is seeing a massive decrease in

revenue due to many users opting to use social networking services instead. Many popular

online dating services such as Match.com, Yahoo Personals, and eHarmony.com are seeing a

decrease in users, where social networks like MySpace and Facebook are experiencing an

increase in users.

The number of internet users in the U.S. that visit online dating sites has fallen from a peak of

21% in 2003 to 10% in 2006. Whether it’s the cost of the services, the variety of users with

different intentions, or any other reason, it is undeniable that Social Networking Sites are

quickly becoming the new way to find dates online.

2.8.5 Educational Applications

The National School Boards Association reports that almost 60 percent of students who use

social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent

talk specifically about schoolwork. Yet the vast majority of school districts have stringent

rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school day — even though

students and parents report few problem behaviors online.

Social networks focused on supporting relationships between teachers and their students are

now used for learning, educator professional development, and content sharing. Ning for

teachers, Learn Central, TeachStreet and other sites are being built to foster relationships that

include educational blogs, eportfolios, formal and ad hoc communities, as well as

communication such as chats, discussion threads, and synchronous forums. These sites also

have content sharing and rating features.

Social networks are also emerging as online yearbooks, both public and private. One such

service is MyYearbook which allows anyone from the general public to register and connect.

A new trend emerging are private label yearbooks only accessible by students, parents and

teachers of a particular school similar to Facebook beginning within Harvard.

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2.8.6 Finance Applications

The use of virtual currency systems inside social networks creates new opportunities for

global finance. Hub Culture operates a virtual currency Ven used for global transactions

among members, product sales and financial trades in commodities and carbon credits. In

May 2010, Carbon pricing contracts were introduced to the weighted basket of currencies and

commodities that determine the floating exchange value of Ven. The introduction of carbon to

the calculation price of the currency made Ven the first and only currency that is linked to the

environment.

2.8.7 Medical Applications

Social networks are beginning to be adopted by healthcare professionals as a means to

manage institutional knowledge, disseminate peer to peer knowledge and to highlight

individual physicians and institutions. The advantage of using a dedicated medical Social

Networking Site is that all the members are screened against the state licensing board list of

practitioners.

The role of social networks is especially of interest to pharmaceutical companies who spend

approximately "32 percent of their marketing dollars" attempting to influence the opinion

leaders of social networks.

A new trend is emerging with social networks created to help its members with various

physical and mental ailments. For people suffering from life altering diseases,

PatientsLikeMe offers its members the chance to connect with others dealing with similar

issues and research patient data related to their condition. For alcoholics and addicts,

SoberCircle gives people in recovery the ability to communicate with one another and

strengthen their recovery through the encouragement of others who can relate to their

situation. DailyStrength is also a website that offers support groups for a wide array of topics

and conditions, including the support topics offered by PatientsLikeMe and SoberCircle.

SparkPeople offers community and social networking tools for peer support during weight

loss.

2.8.8 Social and Political Applications

Social Networking Sites have recently showed a value in social and political movements. In

the Egyptian revolution, Facebook and Twitter both played a pivotal role in keeping people

connected to the revolt. Egyptian activist have credited Social Networking Sites with

providing a platform for planning protest and sharing news from Tahrir Square in real time.

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By presenting a platform for thousands of people to instantaneously share videos of mainly

events featuring brutality, social networking proves to be a vital tool in revolutions.

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CHAPTER THREE

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

3.1 Information on the Existing System

Currently, National Open University of Nigeria maintains different forms of communication

as a means of reaching out to students and a way of serving official information to the

appropriate officers within the school. The methods include;

3.1.1 Internal Memo

This is a written communication similar to a letter but without the formal address blocks at the

beginning, especially one that is circulated to people within an office or organization. It also

at times a note intended to serve as a reminder of something. (Microsoft Corporation, 2009)

3.1.2 Media

Television, newspapers, and radio collectively: the various means of mass communication

considered as a whole, including television, radio, magazines, and newspapers, together with

the people involved in their production. Newspaper, publication usually issued on a daily or

weekly basis, the main function of which is to report news. Many newspapers also furnish

special information to readers, such as weather reports, television schedules, and listings of

stock prices. They provide commentary on politics, economics, educations and arts and

culture, and sometimes include entertainment features, such as comics and crossword puzzles.

3.1.3 Bulk Messaging

Bulk Messaging is the dissemination of large numbers of SMS messages for delivery to

mobile phone terminals. It is used by media companies, enterprises, banks (for marketing and

fraud control) and consumer brands for a variety of purposes including entertainment,

enterprise and mobile marketing.

3.2 Social Networking Site versus Other Existing Methods

Basically, two (internal memo, bulk messaging) out of the three existing methods of communication that are currently being used by NOUN that we just discussed above only facilitate communication between the school and student in a textual form. While media methods can be used to communicate graphic, audio and video messages to the students but

19

the communication is always been done in a restricted ways. This kind of communications are said to be restricted since the students will not have access to those information outside the media through which the information was served.

Meanwhile, Social Networking Site facilitates information sharing without any limitation or restrictions. This gives the users (both students and lecturers) a chance to share unlimited characters of textual information, enables photo, videos, and audio sharing. Students can upload study materials for the benefit of others. The information that’s been shared on the SNS can be printed, downloaded and saved for future purposes.

With SNS, all limitations and restriction problems encountered with the existing methods of communications at NOUN are minimized.

3.3 Features of the Proposed System

The SNS is a creative idea of sharing information within an organization or even the entire world with features that makes it simple, flexible and easy to use. The features include;

Uploading: With this feature of the SNS, a user can easily share information at no

cost by simply uploading a file (audio, video, text, and image) to the website.

Downloading: This compliments the uploading feature of the SNS, a user can

download what is been uploaded by another user depending on the access level setting

the owner of the file set for it.

Printing: With this feature, the users can have access to the information off the SNS

by simply printing the file and get the hard copy.

3.4 Advantages of the Proposed System

Some of the advantages of using Social Networking Site as a medium of communication in banking the school include:

Reduction in individual cost of communication

It enhances sharing of unlimited information at a reduced cost

With its integrated search module, users can easily get the required information at the

appropriate time

Latest information from different sources are easily located on the homepage of the

site.

Unlimited storage space for uploading and sharing of files

Information can be printed, downloaded, and save for future access.

User can have access to information from any part of the world once they have an

internet connection.

20

SERVER ADMINISTRATION

Provides Authentication

USERS

Register an account

Generate custom page

SOCIAL NETWORKING

SITE

With its mobile phone compatibility, users don’t necessarily have to be on a computer

table before they can access the site.

The site contains an administrative backend where an Administrative user can monitor

user activities.

3.5 Disadvantages of the Proposed System

Access to the site depends majorly on internet connections

People can abuse the site by posting things that are irrelevant to the site

A hacker can hack a user’s access details and take control of such user’s profile

illegally.

3.6 Data Flow Diagram for the Proposed System

3.7 Entity Relationship Diagram

An Entity Relation Diagram (E.R.D) is a graphical tool used to describe and analyze the movement of data through the system-manual or automated-including the Entities, the relations between different entities and the attributes of different relations or attributes are the central tool and the basis from which other components can be developed. While drawing the ERDs, the approach as given by Yourdon has been followed. The Symbols used in the E.R.D are.

SYMBOL MEANING

Figure: 3.1

Data flow diagram for social networking site

RELATIONS

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Request

A

City

STUDENT

Username Password Phone

Picture

Address

Country Sate DOB

Sex

Email

Name

FName

LName

Make Friends

STUDENT FRIENDS

Friend

FName

Image

AUTHENTICATES

ADMINISTRATOR

ID

Username USER PAGE FName

FName

ImageUsername

COMMUNICATE Message

Chat

Private msg

Name

ENTITIES

Figure 3.2a

Entity relation diagram for the proposed system

ATTRIBUTE

Password

Friend’s Username

22

A

View / Upload

STUDENT PHOTOS/ MEDIA /DOCS

File Caption File Name

STUDENT PROFESSIONAL

Edu

Career

Year

DegreeOrg

Industry

Occupation Colg

View / Edit

STUDENT SOCIAL

Passion

HobbiesMarital

Sport

About me

Religion

URL

Music

LikesFigure 3.2b

Entity relation diagram for the proposed system

23

Enter username and password

If username and password are valid

True

Members Area

Latest Activities of FriendsChats

Invite FriendsUploads Settings Messages

Homepage of the system

Database

Queries the database

Returns true if correct, else false.

False

3.8 Program Flow Chart

3.9 Programming Approach

The site was developed with PHP, AJAX, and SQL. We adopted advanced programming in writing the code where by the whole project was segmented into different modules. This approach of web programming is popularly known as Model – View – Controller, (MVC).

Figure 3.3

Program Flow Chat of the Proposed System

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CHAPTER FOUR

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

4.1 Technologies and Requirements

4.1.1 Software Requirements

Application Language: HTML / CSS / Java Script and PHP

Operating System: Linux / Windows

Protocols: HTTP

Web Server: Apache

4.1.2 Hardware Requirements

Any computer system which have an Intel p4 or above processor, minimum server

configuration of 512 MB RAM and 10 GB free hard disk space.

Web server capable of uploading PHP Scripts.

Internet Access

4.2 Programming Process

Below are the steps to be followed to demonstrate Social Networking Site:

1. Create a project flow design.

2. Design good looking and attracting web pages and site flow with Hypertext markup

language (HTML) and Cascading Style sheets (CSS).

3. Decide the database structure to store the registered user’s contact, log-in and other

details.

4. Develop the code needful to navigate the application dynamically.

5. Test the application to locate and remove any bugs.

6. Compile the tested application and deploy the files in the server.

7. Buy a domain name and point it to our server to make it live.

4.3 Programming Maintenance

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Apart from the bugs, we have to maintain the program we created. Program Maintenance is a

term used for the updating of a program after the program is put into use. This updating may

be a result of the users request or a change in the way the program needs to operate.

4.4 System Design

This stage has to do with the development of a new system, and other necessary designs are

provided. The design is used on the satisfaction of the objectives that are stated in this project

work.

The design of the new system contains the following:

1. Input design specification

2. Output design specification

3. Form Design

4. Database Design

4.4.1 Input Design Specification

The input design specification makes specification to accept data at the right time and those

data will be entered through keyboard and with the aid of the mouse. The system contains

operational data. These are the data in the database. The data collected from the students

during their registration process will be used to confirm them during retrieving and

assessment.

Also data are collected from the administrative officers of the school, lecturers, and the

facilitators. All of these individual are put together to form the social network.

The input data needed for the system include:

User Profile

Display Name

About me

Brief Description

Location

Interest

Skills

Email Address

Telephone

Mobile phone

Website

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Twitter username

Username

Password

Optional Uploads

Avatar

File

Pictures

Videos

4.4.2 Form Design

A form is for capturing student information that is required to identify the student. The

information contained on the form will be entered into the site through the user friendly

interface that has been designed on the site. Such information will be used to analyze statistics

of the member of the network and to connect users having similar information together for

effective relationship on the site. Such relations will make communications easier on the site.

Registration form: This is issued to students that want to register on the social

network, all the necessary information are expected to be filled by the new member,

and all information like, name, sex, ages, department, school, study centre etc. will be

entered by the students while only the administrative member of the site can

approve/disapprove a request to join the network.

4.4.3 Output Design

A clear picture of what is to be developed is very essential before developing or actual design

of a system to implement it. The system output is mostly paramount and synonymous in the

mind of the user and these users are less concerned on how the system works.

Output is the information delivered to users through the information system. Some data do not

require any process before they can become an output. They are stored and retrieved as output

while some require extensive processing before they can be served as output. It is the

information displayed on the screen that will determine the user friendliness of the system.

In developing a Social Networking Site for a school, output is the step that user must

understand how to operate and/or navigate so as to interpret the outcome in his own language.

The completion of this phase is very important because it determine the input and method of

processing and also provides the information to the users.

27

The output format for this application contains the following:

The member statistics

Currently Online Users

Latest Activities of the users

Newest Users

These outputs are designed with the following objectives

To cover the scope of the project

To deliver the appropriate quantity of output

To observe pattern between accounts

For user friendliness

4.4.4 Database Design

Just as it was discussed in section 1.5 of this thesis, the database resides on MYSQL Server.

The database contains twenty three tables. Below are the database details, the list and

structures of some of the tables.

Database: SNS_DB

Username: SNS_Admin

Password: P@55ME

Figure 4.1: sns_access_collections table

Figure 4.2: sns_access_collection_membership table

Figure 4.4: sns_annotations tableFigure 4.3: sns_api_users table

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4.5 System Evaluation

System evaluation is very essential in project development. This is to ensure the system

design meets up with the aims and objective of the projects.

This evaluation comprise of all input data that were used in this program and see if it will give

correct output result as it was planned. Therefore the output produce will be checked if the

data is accurate and dependable.

Figure 4.5: sns_config table

Figure 4.6: sns_datalists table

Figure 4.7: sns_entities table

Figure 4.8: sns_entity_relationships table

29

CHAPTER FIVE

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

For the purpose of this project, Demo of the developed Social Network Site can be accessed from www.smsparo.com/myproject. However the project maybe fully launched as a real life project, based on the approval I may get from the school authority to do so. If am lucky to get the approval then it will be registered as www.nounsocial.com or www.nounsocial.net. But bellow is the explanation of how it works.

5. 1. Home PageThe Figure 5.1 bellow shows the homepage of the application, otherwise known as welcome

page. Every visitor of the page are always been updated by the latest activities of other

members of the site on the homepage. However, the visitor will only be limited to reading the

activities only; as such they will be denied opportunities to perform actions like ‘liking’ any

of the activities or putting a comment. Every users, including the administrator is required to

login before having access to other features of the site

Figure 5.1 : Homepage of the Application

The Login PanelAt the right hand side of the home page is the login panel where existing users can simply

logged into the application to have full access to the features of the application. New users can

30

also create a new profile on the application by clicking the register button at the bottom side

of the login panel.

5.2 Activities UpdatesFigure 5.2 shows the updates of latest activities of the users. The logged in user can filter the

activities by selecting either ‘All’, ‘Mine’ and ‘Friends’ or by selecting an option from ‘Show

All’ drop down. The user can also click the like icon to show an adoption of an activity of

other users. Comments can also be put on any activity by clicking the comments icon that is

attached to the activity

Figure 5.2: Users Activities Updates

5.3 Blog PostsThe figure 5.3 bellow is the blogging interface of the application. The user can add blog by

clicking the add blog post button at the top. Figure 5.4 shows how the adding blog interface

looks. Also, the Latest comments on the blogs are shown on the panel at the right hand side of

the screen.

Figure 5.3: Blog Posts

31

5.4 Adding Blog Posts

Figure 5.4 is the snapshot of the add blog post interface. Adding a blog includes adding and

setting the Title, Excerpt, Body, Tags (Keywords for searching), Comments (set it off if you

don’t want people to contribute to the post), Access (Public, Private, Friends Only, Logged in

users), Status (Published or Draft), and the save button

Figure 5.4: Add blog Post

5.5 Uploaded FilesThe Figure 5.5 shows the list of all the files that has been uploaded to the site. The right side

contains the latest comments and tags of all the files.

Figure 5.5: Uploaded Files

32

5.6 How To Upload Files

The Figure 5.6 below shows the interface for uploading a new file. Click the browse button to

select the file to be uploaded, type the title of the file, describe the file in the best way you

can, type keywords (that others can use to search for the file) that are related to the file, set the

access level (access level works in the same way as that of the blogs) and click the Save

button.

Figure 5.6: Uploading a File

5.7 Groups

This Figure 5.7 shows the groups page of the application. The page contains all the groups

that have been created on the site. You can however filter the groups with the options at the

right side and those at the top

Figure 5.7: Groups

33

5.8 Group Creation

This is the interface for group creation. The owner of the group can set the options like enable

group activity, enable group blog, enable group discussion, enable group bookmarks, enable

group files, enable group pages based on his/her own discretion

Figure 5.8: Create Group

5.9 View Members

This shows the list of registered members on the site. The user can click on the name of any

member to see the complete profile of suck member as shown in figure 5.8

34

Figure 5.9: Members

5.10 Member’s PageThe Figure 5.10 above shows the page of a member. You can add the member as a friend by

clicking the add friend button, report the user or send him/her a message.

Figure 5.10: Member’s Page

5.11 Discussion Pages

The figure 5.11 below shows the list of all the pages that have been added by users.

Figure 5.11: Site Pages

35

5.12 Adding Pages For Discussion

The figure 5.12 below shows the interface for adding pages. The read and write access setting

determines who can see the page and make contributions on the page.

Figure 5.12: Add Page

5.13 User’s Personal Settings

A user can use the interface in Figure 5.13 below to change their settings. The panel at the

right hand side contains the options for the user to check for notifications.

Figure 5.13: Settings

36

CHAPTER SIX

SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

6.1 Summary

Our project goal was to study and implement a Social Networking Site for national Open

University of Nigeria. Our first step was to identify the problems facing the students of the

school in terms of collaboration and organization. This was followed by stating the aims and

objectives of our project work in other to solve the problems. Once the above were

completed, the focus was shifted to the study of previous works that are related to our project

work. This was followed by the theoretical framework, where we discussed the current

methods of interaction at NOUN and the associated challenges. We later proceeded to the

actual design and the implementation of the Social Networking Site, the Software and

Hardware requirements were well stated. We also discussed the programming process,

maintenance and the design. This was followed by the explanation of the system. The goal of

this project work was successful and the functionality implemented by us was working

satisfactorily.

6.2 Recommendations

The major interest of the study is to come up with suggestion from the objective of the study

on way to make communications easier in National Open University of Nigeria, in order to

relieve students and staff of the school of the difficulties they encountered in getting adequate

information from and about the school. The following recommendations are differed with the

hope that this will help improve and suit the performance of the school’s communication

when implementing Social Networking Site.

It is imperative as well as essential for comprehensive updating of the system to be carried

out at least every six months; this will improve the performance of the system.

Social Networking Site depends so much on the Internet. Users require internet

connection for ease access to the Portal. It’s recommended that the school provides good

internet connection access point in all study centre of the school.

There must be quality back up for the information on the system in case of any natural

disaster.

37

Unauthorized staff should be given administrative access to the system in order to avoid

disarrangement, abuse of other users’ privacy or loss of data in the system.

6.3 Conclusion

This study has undertaken a thorough assessment on how to improve communication

methodologies between the National Open University of Nigeria and her Audience, thereby

enhancing better relationship among the students and between the school and the students.

Social Networking Sites play a very important role when it comes to communications within

an Educational Settings.

Conclusively, Social Networking Sites help companies/organizations particularly Schools,

and Corporate Organization to maintain a reliable method of communicating and sharing files

within the organization. Thus it is becoming a necessity in this Information and

Communication Technology era to adopt the use of one of the latest technologies in our day

to day communications.

38

REFERENCES

Boyd, D. (2006). "Friends, Friendsters, and MySpace Top 8: Writing Community Into Being on Social Network Sites". First Monday 11 (12).

Boyd, D., & Nichole, E. (2007). Social Networking Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13 (1).

Ellison, N. B.; Steinfield, C; Lampe, C (2007). The benefits of Facebook "friends": Exploring the relationship between college students' use of online social networks and social capital". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12 (4).

Fraser, M., & Dutta, S. (2008). Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking will Transform Your Life, Work, and World. Wiley. ISBN 978-0470740149

Mazer, J. P.; Murphy, R. E.; Simonds, C. J. (2007). "I'll See You On "Facebook": The Effects of Computer-Mediated Teacher Self-Disclosure on Student Moltivation, Affective Learning, and Classroom Climate". Communication Education 56 (1): 1-17. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a769651179~fulltext=713240930. on Jan 2, 2012.

Microsoft Corporation. (2009). Microsoft® Encarta®. In Memo.

39

APPENDIX

The Codes for Index.php

<?php

require_once(dirname(__FILE__) . "/engine/start.php");

sns_set_context('main');

// allow plugins to override the front page (return true to stop this front page code)

if (sns_trigger_plugin_hook('index', 'system', null, FALSE) != FALSE) {

exit;

}

if (sns_is_logged_in()) {

forward('activity');

}

$content = sns_view_title(sns_echo('content:latest'));

$content .= sns_list_river();

global $autofeed;

$autofeed = FALSE;

$login_box = sns_view('core/account/login_box');

$params = array(

'content' => $content,

'sidebar' => $login_box

);

$body = sns_view_layout('one_sidebar', $params);

echo sns_view_page(null, $body);

?>

The Codes for Start,php

if (!file_exists(dirname(__FILE__) . '/settings.php')) {

header("Location: install.php");

exit;

}

40

global $START_MICROTIME;

$START_MICROTIME = microtime(true);

global $CONFIG;

if (!isset($CONFIG)) {

$CONFIG = new stdClass;

}

$lib_dir = dirname(__FILE__) . '/lib/';

$required_files = array(

'snslib.php', 'views.php', 'access.php', 'system_log.php', 'export.php',

'sessions.php', 'languages.php', 'input.php', 'cache.php', 'output.php'

);

foreach ($required_files as $file) {

$path = $lib_dir . $file;

if (!include($path)) {

echo "Could not load file '$path'. "

. 'Please check your Sns installation for all required files.';

exit;

}

}

set_error_handler('_sns_php_error_handler');

set_exception_handler('_sns_php_exception_handler');

if (!include_once(dirname(__FILE__) . "/settings.php")) {

$msg = sns_echo('InstallationException:CannotLoadSettings');

throw new InstallationException($msg);

}

// load the rest of the library files from engine/lib/

$lib_files = array(

// these need to be loaded first.

41

'database.php', 'actions.php',

'admin.php', 'annotations.php', 'calendar.php',

'configuration.php', 'cron.php', 'entities.php', 'export.php',

'extender.php', 'filestore.php', 'group.php',

'location.php', 'mb_wrapper.php', 'memcache.php', 'metadata.php',

'metastrings.php', 'navigation.php', 'notification.php', 'objects.php',

'opendd.php', 'pagehandler.php', 'pageowner.php', 'pam.php', 'plugins.php',

'private_settings.php', 'relationships.php', 'river.php', 'sites.php',

'statistics.php', 'tags.php', 'user_settings.php', 'users.php',

'upgrade.php', 'web_services.php', 'widgets.php', 'xml.php', 'xml-rpc.php',

//backwards compatibility

);

foreach ($lib_files as $file) {

$file = $lib_dir . $file;

sns_log("Loading $file...");

if (!include_once($file)) {

$msg = sprintf(sns_echo('InstallationException:MissingLibrary'), $file);

throw new InstallationException($msg);

}

}

// confirm that the installation completed successfully

verify_installation();

// Autodetect some default configuration settings

set_default_config();

// needs to be set for links in html head

$viewtype = get_input('view', 'default');

$lastcached = datalist_get("simplecache_lastcached_$viewtype");

$CONFIG->lastcache = $lastcached;

sns_trigger_event('boot', 'system');

42

sns_load_plugins();

sns_trigger_event('plugins_boot', 'system');

sns_trigger_event('init', 'system');

if (!defined('UPGRADING')) {

$lastupdate = datalist_get("simplecache_lastupdate_$viewtype");

$lastcached = datalist_get("simplecache_lastcached_$viewtype");

if ($lastupdate == 0 || $lastcached < $lastupdate) {

sns_regenerate_simplecache($viewtype);

}}

sns_trigger_event('ready', 'system');

?>

The Code for settings.php

<?php

global $CONFIG;

if (!isset($CONFIG)) {

$CONFIG = new stdClass;

}

$CONFIG->dbuser = 'user';

$CONFIG->dbpass = 'general';

$CONFIG->dbname = 'sns';

$CONFIG->dbhost = 'localhost';

$CONFIG->dbprefix = 'sns_';

$CONFIG->broken_mta = FALSE;

$CONFIG->db_disable_query_cache = FALSE;

$CONFIG->min_password_length = 6;

?>

The Code for login.php

<?php

// set forward url

43

if (isset($_SESSION['last_forward_from']) && $_SESSION['last_forward_from']) {

$forward_url = $_SESSION['last_forward_from'];

unset($_SESSION['last_forward_from']);

} elseif (get_input('returntoreferer')) {

$forward_url = REFERER;

} else {

// forward to main index page

$forward_url = '';

}

$username = get_input('username');

$password = get_input("password");

$persistent = get_input("persistent", FALSE);

$result = FALSE;

if (empty($username) || empty($password)) {

register_error(elgg_echo('login:empty'));

forward();

}

if (strpos($username, '@') !== FALSE && ($users = get_user_by_email($username))) {

$username = $users[0]->username;

}

$result = elgg_authenticate($username, $password);

if ($result !== true) {

register_error($result);

forward(REFERER);

}

$user = get_user_by_username($username);

if (!$user) {

register_error(elgg_echo('login:baduser'));

forward(REFERER);

44

}

try {

login($user, $persistent);

} catch (LoginException $e) {

register_error($e->getMessage());

forward(REFERER);

}

system_message(elgg_echo('loginok'));

forward($forward_url);

?>