To help me further with my research I decided to create a Facebook page. Although I had handed out questionnaires asking people their views and opinions, I thought that people would be more likely to leave comments and messages on a Facebook page and I would be able to get more information.
I asked people to leave their thoughts and opinions of existing soaps, what ones were their favourites and why etc. “Can you guys please just leave comments about what your favorite soap is, why, what your favourite storylines have been and what characters you like the best and why etc. Even if you don’t watch soaps or don’t like them that’s fine jus leave a comment saying why you don’t and that and just leave anything that you think generally relates to soap operas”
This is the link to my facebook page
Below are the results i found and some analysis
Favourite soaps
· Eastenders – really dramatic
· Eastenders – always have watched it with family
· Hollyoaks – appeals to me
· Hollyoaks because of the sexy men – Calvin and Warren
· Home and away and Eastenders- amusing
· Eastenders – most realistic
· Eastenders is brilliant – timing is brilliant as it comes on when nothing else interesting is on and the whole soap appeals to all ages, genders, sexual orientations, races etc
· Eastenders – funny, I love the characters and wide range for example there are old people as well as little children, acting is really good
· Hollyoaks – acting can be really unrealistic but storylines are good
Over all I found that Eastenders was by far the most popular soap. Whilst others liked Hollyoaks and Home and Away, it was argued that Eastenders was the most realistic in terms of acting and storylines. Eastenders has been around for a very long time and people have been watching it with their families for years, therefore they have become familiar with the soap in terms of setting and old characters.
Favourite characters
· Stacey
· Sean
· Justin is hot
· Calvin is sexy
· Stacey is going mental!
· Hannah
· Warren
· Dawn from Eastenders was fit I was sad when she left
· Sean, Bradley, Stacey
· Calvin, Gilly, Rhys, Hannah, Ravi
Favourite characters ranged from both females to males; however the majority of people seemed to like Stacey from Eastenders because of her storylines and acting quality. Someone showed interest in Dawn saying “she was fit, I was sad when she left” This shows that attractive characters can boost ratings in soap operas. Justin and Calvin from Hollyoaks were also mentioned as favourites as they are “hot” and “sexy”
Favourite storylines
· Christian and Sayeed
· All of Stacey’s storylines!
· Sean going mental after Roxy’s baby
· H – Justin and Baca storyline, going to jail, dying etc
· Ruby finding out her sister is actually her mum
· Danielle and Roxanne – dragged on but was good
· Lil mo and Trevor – domestic violence really stuck in my head
· Jamie Mitchell dying and Sonia leaving
· Hannah and eating disorder
· Warren and Louise!
· Christian and Sayeed
· Ravi being ill, Calvin cheating with Mercedes! Justin and Hannah
· Ricky and Bianca coming back!
The Christian and Sayeed love storyline was one of the most popular storylines that people mentioned. A lot of Stacey’s storylines were also mentioned from her “going mental” to her ”cheating on Bradley with his dad” old storylines from Eastenders also came up like the Trevor and Moe one where Trevor abused his wife, “the domestic violence really stuck in my head” Another old storyline which was mentioned was “Jamie dying and Sonia becoming a lesbian,” Favourite storylines from Hollyoaks which came up were the eating disorder one with Hannah, the Warren and Louise storylines and the love storyline between Justin and Hannah. An old storyline which came up was “All of the Becca and Justin’s; them getting together, Beca going to prison, having the baby Charlie and then dying.” Most of the favourite storylines mentioned included love and social issues such as eating disorders and mental health. My results also showed that old storylines do stick in peoples head and are remembered.
Why I don’t like soaps
· Rubbish acting, fiction, really fake and a waste of time
· Waste of time, not in series so if you miss one episode you need to sit through the whole omnibus just to watch the 20 minutes you missed – might not have access to online
· Uninteresting and cheesy
· Used to watch Hollyoaks but has become rubbish now – cant be bothered to keep up with the new characters
· There all rubbish – rubbish storylines and actors
· Hollyoaks used to be good but then started with the weird introductions and Eastenders started bringing back people from the dead (Den)
· The acting is so rubbish, storylines can be so unrealistic and fake and annoying, drag on for time.
A lot of people showed their disinterest towards soap operas as a whole. Most people argued that they are extremely unrealistic, a waste of time and have “rubbish actors and storylines.” One persons comment which I found really interesting was “not in series.” This person argued that as soaps aren’t in series if you miss one episode then you have to sit through the whole omnibus to watch the little bit you missed, and although you can catch up online not everyone has the time or access to internet. Overall people who didn’t like soaps disliked them because they thought they were “cheesy”, a waste of time and “fiction and really fake.”
