Evaluation Question Three

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

As the main segment of my target audience were supposed to be teenagers, one of the best ways to obtain audience feedback was through Facebook - in the online age, pretty much everybody is signed on.

I put all three of my products onto the networking site and asked people to leave comments.

For all three products, the comments were almost entirely positive, with only a few negative points about the use of colour on the double page spread. Below I have shown the most substantial of the comments.

Double Page Spread

The thing most enjoyed by those who commented was the title - they thought it was quirky and modern, and fits in with similar documentaries currently aired on BBC Three. The thing most negatively commented on was the red bar - some didn't think it fitted well with the rest of the colours.



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There actually weren't any negative comments at all on this piece. The audience felt the colours and image used worked well together all round.

Documentary

The comments for the documentary were all pretty much the same as the one below. The audience liked the two stories, but felt the presenter should have been filmed somewhere more 'homely' at the start.

I also showed and gave out post-questionnaires to a small, randomly selected group of 15-16 year olds, asking them whether they liked the documentary; if they thought the music worked well; if they understood the documentary and whether they learned anything from it.

Some feedback I got was:

• "I preferred Lauren's story because it was more interesting"
• "Didn't like seeing the pregnant girl in a pub"
• "Loved the choice of music"
• "Would have liked to see more of Rachel's partner"

After the screening of the documentary, one girl in particular approached me and told me that she had felt "isolated" and "guilty" watching Lauren as she could relate to her story. I felt that this was brilliant feedback, as it shows my audience feel strongly about the topic.

What have I learned?

• I shouldn't have altered the colour scheme on my double page spread
• The choice of music and language was appealing to my audiences - they also loved the quirky title
• Brighter colours are appealing to younger audiences - they look more modern
• Teenage pregnancy is a contraversial subject: most of my respondents had had experiences with teen parents and, whilst most felt prejudice initially, we sympathise with young people in these situations
• My target audience enjoyed my documentary, as they liked watching the vulnerable girl - because her life had more negatives than positives, she was more interesting to watch. This is definitely the most significant discovery as I believe it explains why you see so many 'trashy' teenage mothers on television - negative stories are more entertaining and, in the media industry, people will do anything to maintain an audience.