WEEK 6 REFLECTION

Researching

I have recently learned new research techniques that I consider very helpful for my study, which are the correct steps to conduct social listening effectively on social media channels. I learned about this technique in my process of completing Assignment 1 for this course. In the team, my responsibility includes researching the client and the target audience in order to have the necessary information for the short film production. Because we need to dig deep into the opinions of people about the channel, Vietnam’s short-film scene and popular content, we decided to go with a qualitative research method, which would give us a more humanistic approach (Kalra 2013). Particularly, we would use social listening, which helped us get insights into the brand and industry (Sprout Social nd.). I followed the steps listed by Richardson (2015), where I first conducted exploratory research, and then refinement of data.

There were a number of difficulties because the client’s channel did not have enough data for me to use measuring tools such as Fanpage Karma to collect secondary data. Therefore, I conducted primary research about the client through the Youtube channel and two blog sites to understand its values and the message that it wants to put forward. As the client’s channel is a Buddhism site, our short film must steer clear of swear words, depiction of violence, provocative images or alcohol. I also looked at the past productions from other students to analyze the positive aspects that we could learn from as well as took note of negative points to avoid.

Nextly, I must find information about the current liking of the target audience, but there were hardly any academic sources for my specific target in Vietnam. Basu et al (2001) recommended using many information sources on the Web to obtain accurate and timely data. Thus, I used tools to find the most subscribed Youtube channels in Vietnam and analyzed the popular topic of content that the target audience enjoys. Within them, I scanned over the comment section to read what aspect they are most interested in. As Wummer (2013, pg 9) said, “ Comments have more value than “likes”. I then researched further on analyzing the well-received films with similar subject matters, and our solution is to put emphasis on our technical features.

This alternative research style that doesn’t rely entirely on academic sources and encourages exploring a broader subject view has been helpful to me. Before, I believed that only information from academic sources is beneficial, but this process has helped me understand the usefulness of combining many sources in effectively gathering insights. It has also taught me how to look for other angles to explore when there is a shortage of information, which will help generate a more well-rounded output.

A significant benefit of this process is that I now have more experience and confidence in conducting research in the future. This experience allowed me to be more flexible and creative in gathering data than before, when my research techniques were heavily rooted in academic resources.

My new understanding of research techniques will be crucial for me in this course, the Communication profession and in my future career. In my professional development in the Public Relations stream, I will apply this skill in learning theories and researching information for future assignments. The frequent practice of this technique will enable me to become more observant, reflective and have more diverse perspectives in the working environment later on as well.