𝐬𝐚𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ➙ 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘤.

↠ the downfall of wattpad

  

THE DOWNFALL OF WATTPAD ⤵︎
may seventh, 2024

I feel like a YouTuber with the title of this chapter, lmao. This chapter is mainly just a follow up to the message board announcement I made a few days ago. I commented on how often I think of the differences between 2014 Wattpad & 2024 Wattpad, how lonely this app feels, & how I wished things were different.

I wanted to make a chapter to combine my thoughts & talk about the things that have changed since I started writing on here. Plus, I thought this would be a great way to kick start a conversation & connect with all of you on a different level.

To start this off, let's talk about my history with Wattpad. I started writing on here in early 2014. I just recently celebrated my tenth Wattpad anniversary back in January. I've hit a lot of amazing milestones while being on here. A few being reaching over 30K followers, having a book reach 1M, & becoming a Wattpad Ambassador. I was an Engagement Ambassador for a little over 8 months. I've always loved & hyped up Wattpad, I used to say it was my favorite app, & more than just a hobby. It's always been a place for me to come & connect with others who love what I love.

Now, let's talk about the most recent change Wattpad has made, which is removing the private messaging feature here on the app & website. I know a lot of people were against this. Hence, the entire petition that was created & which currently sits at over 12K signatures. Personally, I think this was a really poor choice on Wattpad's end, because it limits users in yet another way to easily communicate with other users.

While Wattpad is a reading & writing app, and not a typical social media platform, I still believe private messages are a key point for any website or app. Having the ability to communicate with others, having that freedom to talk to someone else with the guarantee of privacy, & the overall act of building a genuine, personal connection / relationship is everything.

I have made dozens of close friends on Wattpad, and a lot of those friends were made through private messaging. Talking to each other, learning about one another, & bonding over those close conversations is truly a reason why I'm still friends with them to this day. Now, with only having comments & message boards to talk to one another, it takes away that personal touch. That privacy aspect, the ability to share information one on one, it's been ripped away.

Not to mention, private messages were not only a form of conversation, but also a form of delivery. A lot of users on here offer graphic shops, giveaways, contests, & more. A main form of connection for those users is private messaging, sending users links, personal questions, other social media handles, & more. It just blows my mind how much removing PMs effects.

In the same realm, with PMs now removed, it leaves this blanket of darkness over Wattpad, in a sense. For years now, I've noticed this, but have only truly felt its effect now. Wattpad has gone from a bustling, hyped community, full of fun & engaging users to an empty hole. I used to feel included & involved in the Wattpad community, but now, I feel insanely lonely. I'm lucky if I talk to a handful of people every week.

I recognize the platform I have & I'm entirely grateful for it every single day. I wouldn't be the author or person I am today without Wattpad and the community of endless support. It has brought into me into a life I once could only imagine. With that being said, even with my platform, it is still incredibly lonely, dry, & often silent. It is incredibly difficult at times, especially for authors who are trying to get their stories out there or just make a friend, when no one is seeing anything that you post.