Wattpad is an online social platform where users can write and share stories with a wider audience. Accessible both via computers and mobile devices, Wattpad offers users an interactive storytelling experience.
Wattpad has helped facilitate over 100 book deals internationally for stories originally featured on its platform and over 76 of these stories have been turned into digital series or films. Parents should monitor their children’s use of Wattpad as any social media app would.
What is Wattpad?
Wattpad is an online platform where amateur writers can share their work and interact with readers. Launched in 2006, it now boasts more than 80 million registered users; each year the Watty Awards honor popular stories on Wattpad. Wattpad can also serve as an excellent place for beginners learning to write as well as encouraging young people towards becoming authors themselves.
Wattpad allows users to create profiles and be accessed via web, app, and mobile phone access points. No specific hardware or downloads are necessary and it works on most modern mobile devices. Wattpad offers various ways for users to interact with one another through chat rooms, message boards, forums, groups and group functions; users can upload content, read stories written by other users, comment on these stories as well as create cover images for their stories.
Stories on this site are unmoderated, meaning they may contain anything from sexual to graphic violence themes. Although authors can label and ‘tag’ their stories for easy identification by readers, none appear to be monitored to protect children from accidentally encountering inappropriate material.
Wattpad allows users to search book titles by keyword, which could potentially expose them to harmful content. For instance, searching the word ‘family’ could yield results with explicit sexual scenes, abuse and racism.
Wattpad is a free social media platform, but does generate revenue through display advertisements and paid upgrade options for users and subscription models for those who do not like advertisements (see our ‘Safety tips for apps and websites’). As this service does not offer rigorous age verification processes, it is important that conversations take place between you and your children about how to stay safe when browsing Wattpad.
What is ‘Fanfiction’?
Fan fiction, often written by fans of movies, TV shows or books they love, is simply what its name implies – fictional works written by fans to express their passion about certain series or works they find compelling. While fan fictions tend to draw heavily upon popular works (movies, TV shows or books), unpopular or lesser known ones may also inspire fanfics written by fanfic authors based on them; other times authors can take existing characters and write original narratives around them; some fanfics feature original characters while others simply adapt existing ones into new settings/stories/stories using existing characters from different works altogether; while fanfic authors sometimes publish full-fledged fandoms themselves!
The internet has made it easier than ever for large fandoms to form and for writers to share fanfiction stories, leading to an explosion in its popularity; many stories created using Wattpad fanfictions, like Cats or The Emoji Movie have amassed billions of reads – some even becoming Hollywood movies (ie Cats started as Wattpad stories!).
As with any genre, fanfiction varies considerably in quality. While some stories feature creative plotlines with compelling character development and unexpected twists that keep readers hooked, others can be shallow with shallow plots, bland characters and stilted dialogue that don’t hold your interest for very long.
Fanfiction can be defined in various ways, with one common definition being any fictional work that draws inspiration from preexisting works such as movies, TV shows, books or any other fanwork – including movies, TV shows, books or any other fanwork that features scenes or characters from canon works without explicit approval from their authors or copyright holders. This definition often serves to censor works that take place outside canon without prior author approval or author/copyright holders approval.
What is ‘Watty Award’?
Wattpad’s annual writing competition, the Watty Awards, recognizes and celebrates the most inspiring, innovative, and diverse voices on its platform. Winning entries receive the title ‘Watty Award Winners’ and may be considered for Wattpad Stars writer development programs or publishing deals with Wattpad Books.
Wattpad is an accessible and free platform that gives users a platform for writing, reading and connecting with a global community of readers and writers. Wattpad has become particularly popular among aspiring young authors looking to showcase their creativity while building readership – plus it has genres to satisfy every taste!
Wattpad users have long been known for writing Fanfiction stories based on existing works of fiction or popular culture characters they like, often including highly sexual content as well as sensitive subjects such as self-harm. Although such writing can often be found on Wattpad, many users have gone on to become successful authors with works published in print form after starting on Wattpad.
Wattpad offers numerous features that enable authors to write and publish stories quickly, such as editing and publishing their work at any time, adding tags for readers to find it more easily, and receiving help from editors and community managers in improving writing skills and promoting the website. Wattpad has raised over $400 million from investors and is valued at more than $450 million; its user base continues to expand quickly along with reader engagement – so much so that major publishing houses have begun offering publishing deals to Wattpad users!
How do I publish my story on Wattpad?
Wattpad can be difficult to navigate at first, but for the committed writer there are numerous ways of getting their work noticed. To begin with, create a free account. When verified, begin writing chapters to your story before publishing by selecting the ‘Publish’ option in either the top menu or center widget on desktop site/mobile app.
Once your story is out there, readers must engage with it to ensure its success. They can comment on each chapter and even specific lines of text, providing invaluable feedback that will help the author refine and enhance their writing style.
Many Wattpad stories feature fan art and videos created by fans to foster engagement with both audience and writer. Some Wattpad authors have even received book deals after becoming popular on the platform.
If you want your work to attract more readers, including a description is vital. According to Wattpad’s analysis, stories with descriptive elements have up to 100 times more reads than those without. There are various tools that can help create professional-looking descriptions; Pixlr and Desygner offer tutorials online so that newbies can get going immediately.
Wattpad may not be suitable for all writers and is definitely not intended as a fast path to fame and fortune, but for serious writers seeking to make an impactful difference through their writing, Wattpad can be an engaging and authentic platform to tell a story.
What is the minimum age rating for Wattpad?
Wattpad is an open platform that enables its users to write and share stories, providing the platform is used responsibly by anyone who signs up as a member. While this may benefit up-and-coming writers, it also makes Wattpad vulnerable to unscrupulous users looking to take advantage of innocent members by manipulating age settings for kids who access explicit sexual, violent or vulgar material – leading to potential drug abuse, rape or suicide for some members.
Wattpad’s terms of service state that it is age-gated; users must be 13 years old in order to create an account on this service. However, its app rating on Apple Store and Google Play allows it for users between 13-17 years old – meaning children may still gain access even though the app itself has an age restriction rating for adolescents.
Wattpad does have a Code of Conduct, yet there’s no foolproof way to protect children from exposure to inappropriate content. This is due to its connectivity, which enables users to communicate and share comments directly between themselves, potentially leading to cyberbullying and inappropriate communication for kids. Wattpad also promotes users following one another which makes it easy for strangers to impersonate people they know through following them on Wattpad.
Wattpad offers up-and-coming writers an incredible platform, including the possibility of being discovered by Netflix producers and seeing their works turned into movies or television shows. However, parents must monitor their children’s Wattpad usage to make sure that they do not encounter explicit or inappropriate material online and encourage any issues they encounter with communicating directly to Wattpad and reporting any suspicious activities that arise online.
