Chasing Wattpad

Leaving Wattpad

In the time I have been here on Wattpad I have seen a couple of people who I follow announce they are leaving Wattpad or just stop posting stuff until Wattpad fixes things. The people who said they were not going to post stuff, however, could not stay away and posted stuff anyway. The people who said they were going to leave actually left.

But I have seen an increase in this in the last month. In just the last month I have seen 5 people announce they are leaving Wattpad for good and at least 10 others complain that they are tired of posting  stuff without getting the results they used to when Wattpad was young. 

The reasons for leaving Wattpad make sense. Some people are tired of writing and not getting feedback from readers because of the way Wattpad does things now. They are tired of Wattpad making sure that the people with numbers get more numbers and the people who don't have any don't get any. 

The notification system is something that has almost never worked since I have been on here. I have been active on Wattpad for about 8 months and of all the people I follow or stories I follow in my libraries I have only gotten notifications of updates from 3 people. I have to manually search people I am following to find their updates. I do get email notifications they send to followers, but not all people I follow notify people of updates through them. And those who do, well, you know what I do with those. Lol. 

Even in the time I have been here I notice that Wattpad has moved more from a writing site to a social medial site.  Wattpad doesn't just wants us to read. They want us to talk to each other and connect with each other on daily basis. Every little click we give each other is something they can sell to advertisers. They have figured out that people writing or reading stories is not making them enough money. They need us to interact more. One of the ways they do that is by holding back certain abilities that they used to give us. It keeps us clicking more. It makes us stay here longer. It's all about the money folks, don't tell yourself anything different. 

And because of that (and other reasons)  people are leaving more than ever. They are frustrated. They are sick of trying and not getting anywhere. People are getting tired of Wattpad fixing what is not broken and ignoring what is. 

To all of those that are leaving - I applaud you. It is not a bad thing to leave this mess. But don't stop writing. Remember, Wattpad is not the center of the writing universe. It doesn't have a hold on you that way. You are the center of your writing universe. Wattpad was just a tool, and when that tool no longer helps you then you need to get rid of it. 

So Wattpadders if you gotta go then go. There is no crying on Wattpad so don't do it. Just go. Leave this mess. If Wattpad doesn't care enough about the writer to help then don't help them make millions every year by clicking away on their site. 

But, and this is a big but (lol), if you are going to stay then suck it up and write like a mad person. Write your little heart out and don't worry about the Wattpad devil or the Wattpad elite and just write. Someone out there will find your words and fall in love with them and no one, not even Wattpad, can take that away from you. 

Hope all you writers are having a great writing day.