Hi fiction lover! I was on my Wattpad app one day, and when I went to check my private messages, I was met with something horrifying. Wattpad announced that they will end all private messaging between users starting May 6th. By the time I’m writing this, the ban on PMs has already been put into effect. What do you think? Is this the end of an era? Let’s talk a bit about Wattpad ending private messaging.
Do you remember when Wattpad used to have its forums? A lot of users were rightfully upset when that was removed. I remember browsing through many discussions about stories, and even seeing people offer services to make covers—it felt like a place where people could grow and gradually improve their storytelling abilities. Apparently, private messaging also doesn’t match Wattpad’s vision on community going forward.
There’s been some talk about safety issues going on, especially with potential predators lurking on the private messaging feature. If it’s for safety reasons, I understand Wattpad’s decision to remove PMs. However, this doesn’t take away from the massive loss that will hit many Wattpad users, who used private messaging to exchange reads on stories, talk about different fandoms, and even grow friendships that have lasted for years.
I remember my first significant experience with Wattpad private messaging. I just decided to return to Wattpad and to really start taking it seriously. That began with my decision to publish a story called Will O Wisp, a YA figure skating story set in the near future. Of course, I had no idea about cover-making. I decided to search up a cover shop and message a user about whether she could create me a cover. After going back and forth a little bit on the PMs, she ended up making me a cover that I still love to this day. If PMs didn’t exist, I don’t think I would’ve had that experience—or it would be much harder for me to contact someone. I see a lot of people moving out to different apps, such as Discord, but I really will miss the days when I could just open Wattpad and see the messages related to my books, covers, and other works that I’m reading.
It’s also not a secret that after Will O Wisp, I started going down the rabbit hole of what I’ll call my fanfic era. I started with TOMORROW X TOGETHER fanfic, then moved into BTS. Through private messaging, I found a lot of other MOA and ARMY who were interested in the same stories that I was writing. Eventually, I met some people who were also pursuing traditional publishing. It felt like I finally could find other writers who were in the same boat as me.
Through private messaging, I managed to do a lot of read for reads, which is beneficial for both parties and can actually be quite fun when done genuinely. I read not only fanfic works, but originals too. Some of these exchanges were short and more transactional, but other writers who wanted to become friends and critique partners made the experience all the more enriching. I found so much talent on the platform through PMs, and I’ll miss these connections that I made very greatly.
Of course, Wattpad has their reasons—and again, for safety reasons maybe the people who wanted PMs to stay didn’t have much say in the matter. I wonder whether Wattpad will introduce a new feature to bolster up the community aspect? Thankfully, we still have the message boards, so we can post on peoples’ walls much like Facebook. I can’t help but wonder whether message boards will be spammed for requests. I guess time will tell how Wattpad users will get around the lack of PMs.
What are your thoughts on the evolution that Wattpad is going through? Do you think they made the wrong decision or are going backwards? I’m interested to see what you have to say about Wattpad ending private messaging. Until next time! And don’t forget to check out my blog for other posts like this one!
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