A Mobile Social App for College Students Based on Perceived Similarity and Trust

Having a social life is import in college education, and mobile social applications (apps) cannot be absent in students' modern life. However, many mobile apps have trust issues more or less. To solve trust issues and promote both online and offline social life in campus, a mobile social app specifically for campus users is designed. The proposed way to solve trust issues between users is based on perceived similarity and trust. Certification mechanism is used to improve perceived similarity between users, while online social and offline social functions are implemented. After testing and analyzing, this app can generally meet users' needs. College students prefer apps with more practical and interesting functions. Trust stimulated by perceived similarity is proved to have positive effect on online social and offline social, and the positive effect of trust influences online social better than offline social.