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Three Things We Can Learn From Wattpad

Three Things We Can Learn From Wattpad

by Rescel Ocampo

WATTPAD has gained a not-so-pleasant reputation nowadays. When someone says that a thing is ‘just like Wattpad’, it usually implies a negative connotation— either it is being likened to a red-flag-filled relationship, a cringe-worthy ideal, or a badly written prose. 

However, Wattpad’s influence on the country’s pop culture could not be denied. Many of the big names in the Philippine show business have found their footing on Wattpad adaptations to screen. 

For example, Nadine Lustre and James Reid’s breakthrough came from the adaptation of  Diary ng Panget, a classic Filipino Wattpad story by HaveYouSeenThisGirl. It was then that their loveteam, JaDine gained a huge fanbase. They were further propelled into popularity by another Wattpad adaptation, Talk Back and You’re Dead by Alesana Marie. 

Jonah Mae Pacala, more famously known for her alias Jonaxx, is one of the most successful Filipino authors of the current era, having her published books consistently rank among the best selling local novels. Like JaDine, Jonaxx’s success could also be traced back to Wattpad, where her works first gained popularity. 

As shown by both JaDine and Jonaxx, Wattpad is a success of Popular Culture. And we all know that Popular Culture is a rich reservoir for observations and knowledge that often go unnoticed by many. 

That’s what we’re gonna talk about in this article— the 4 things we can learn from Wattpad. From the good things to the bad, Wattpad can teach us a lot about Filipino culture. 

1. Pinoys love to read

With talks about Filipinos ranking last at the 2022 PISA reading tests, it is easy to picture the Philippines as a country that doesn’t read. It doesn’t help that most Filipino students openly express their hatred for reading, dreading any task that involves quite a lengthy flick through. 

However, if Filipinos don’t like to read, then why are we among the top users of Wattpad— one of the world’s largest e-book communities? 

Why, if you browse through the Filipino romance list on the site, do books there have millions of reads? 

How do Wattpad-adapted movies— such as Diary ng Panget and Talk Back or You’re Dead— perform well in the box-office without the big star names? 

If Wattpad has made anything obvious, it is that Filipinos love to read. I know of classmates and friends who could devour Wattpad stories overnight, who would pour their vacant hours into reading Jonaxx’s novel, and who would spend every discussion talking about how they couldn’t wait for another chapter release. 

The perceived dislike for reading arises not from the act itself, but rather from what is being read. It is not that the Filipino students hate reading, it’s just that they hate what they’re reading or being forced to read. Reading is no fun when you treat it as a chore, and not something to be enjoyed. 

2. Accessibility encourages reading

Wattpad has also shown us how accessibility could impact reading. It contains user-generated content, allowing consumers to read (mostly) free books on the site, thus, giving them more choices on what they like to read without being constrained by their financial capabilities.

But ‘accessibility’ here doesn’t only pertain to our financial capacities to buy books. It also involves the language used by the author. Since Wattpad allows anyone with an account to publish their work, we see the trend of teen and young adult authors taking a shot on writing. 

Unlike in research papers and academic journals which tend to use a lot of ‘zombie’ nouns, Wattpad books contain language that are more informal and relatable for the readers. Because of this, many books containing teenspeak are on the roll. This encourages people to read more, seeing that they can understand the language. 

Of course, in school, we’re taught to consume more critical texts. But would things change if we let people deal first with a language they can understand? For instance, instead of forcing a grade one student to read an English story when his or her grasp on the language isn’t that good yet, maybe, we should just let them enjoy the short Filipino prose from local children’s book writers. In this way, their love for reading would develop, and they would see it more as a hobby rather than a chore. 

3. Filipinos glorify red flags

Save the worst for the last. 

Of course, something as influential as Wattpad also has drawbacks.

One of the most prominent criticisms of Wattpad is its tendency to glorify toxic relationships and red flags. Most Wattpad authors, even the famous ones, have been called out for their portrayal of fictional relationships where the leading men’s (often a mysterious bad boy with mommy/daddy issues) controlling and borderline abusive actions are deemed to be romantic. Critics of the site said that this is detrimental, especially for the mindset of young girls, Wattpad’s primary consumers. It makes them think that abusive behaviors are normal and continues to perpetuate the idea of misogyny. 

However, I would argue that the reinforcement of these ideas are not Wattpad’s fault alone, but are reflective of our very own culture. After all, stories do not exist in a vacuum— they are influenced by the dominant culture from which they stem from. 

Even when Wattpad ceases to exist, we will still see the perpetuation of these ideas in popular culture such as telenovelas, films, pocketbooks, and even our music. It just happens that Wattpad got big and became the mainstream medium for our culture. 

Wattpad is a double-edged sword, like every other influential thing in our culture. But like them, it is also just a medium, a vehicle of ideas that tells more about us than about itself. 

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