Wikipedia experts often joke about the mantra "experts are scum," humorously illustrated by a fictional "Randy from Boise" who insists on giving amateur opinions equal credence to those of experts. Wattpad operates similarly: all advice is worth its weight in gold, no matter its origin. Democracy is considered one of the site's greatest assets, something that sets it apart from traditional publishing houses—there is no hierarchy separating the experienced from the novice, the popular from the niche, the "highbrow" from the "lowbrow." This means, however, that all feedback is considered equal, and therefore expected to be taken with the same degree of consideration. A quorum of amateur opinions outweighs the advice of one expert by sheer virtue of their quantity, only further discouraging said experts from offering more nuanced and measured advice. Now, this may be a good thing if one's goal is to effectively preach to said choir, but what if it isn't? Where is the room for anything challenging in a room of people whose sole interest is parroting advice everyone has heard a thousand times before?
Despite boasting 90 million users, Wattpad caters to a very specific demographic of readers and writers. This means that writing on the site tends to adhere to specific trends and preferences, and therefore most criticisms will be geared toward shaping a story to fit those trends and preferences: shorter paragraphs to accommodate both short attention spans and mobile app users, stories oriented toward immediate hooks to lure indecisive readers over "slow burn" pacing, single relatable protagonists over multifaceted ensemble casts. It is true that when one receives feedback from multiple people on the same issue, saying more or less the same thing, then one should probably look into correcting that issue. But when a writer's intentions do not align with Wattpad's literary tastes and expectations—with what Wattpad defines as a "good" story—the feedback, however well-intentioned, may prove detrimental to the story. What might be considered conventional wisdom on Wattpad might run counter to the opinions and tastes of non-Wattpad writers, whose tastes and prose styles might not be influenced by the same works that inform the unofficial Wattpad "house style."
Yet as much as writers' input is upheld regardless of experience level, the opposite holds true for reader opinions: feedback from non-writers is looked down upon. Say you're looking for feedback on a manuscript, and you have two potential groups of beta readers to choose from. One is a forum of Wattpad users, who read and write extensively but not in the genre or style that you write in; the other is your college friend group, which consists primarily of STEM majors who read for fun but do not otherwise have any investment in writing their own work. It's true that professional and even dedicated amateur writers will have more of a working knowledge of craft and the mechanics of how and why a story works, and therefore may be able to provide valuable technical feedback in a way readers cannot. However, just as it doesn't take a seasoned chef (pun intended) to know when a dish doesn't taste good, it doesn't take an experienced writer to know when something about a book isn't working. Though readers might not always be able to identify why certain aspects of a book might not appeal to them, those who have read enough books will generally have a grasp on what constitutes good prose and pacing. This is not to say that you should entrust your beloved manuscript to any Joe Schmo on Wattpad who claims to know what good writing is just because they've read through the Wattys winner's list three times over, but rather to point out that readers can be just as capable of thinking critically about a work as writers are. While the Wattpad writers may provide well-meaning but ultimately misguided advice to cut perceived "filler" scenes from your story, use fewer adverbs, or employ less lofty diction, your STEM friends may be able to take a more analytical approach, one no doubt influenced as much by the media they consume (as well as their own experience with academic writing) as the demands of their field.
The intent of this essay is not to belittle amateur writers or suggest that one needs an MFA from a prestigious arts college to be able to call oneself a writer. Rather, this essay invites you to reconsider how Wattpad defines and qualifies reviewer credibility. Not all feedback from writers will be useful, and not all feedback from non-writers inherently lacks value. Everyone's a critic, but you as the writer get to decide who is most qualified to judge your work.
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Why Wattpad Reviews Fail
Non-FictionA dissection of review culture on Wattpad: where it fails and how to fix it.
