Hey yall, after finding out that Beg For It was taken down from the platform, I decided to write a letter addressing the situation to the Wattpad team. This is in loving memory of Estrella and Silas (the two mc's of the book for those who haven't re...
This petition is in reference to Wattpad's decision to take down Beg For It. This book has held a presence on Wattpad's platform for over 2 consecutive years, with views well surpassing 3 million and thousands of comments. It was well known throughout the Wattpad community and clearly liked & respected by many. When BFI was unexpectedly removed, which was now over a week ago. @_himeros_'s feed was and still is being flooded with comments expressing their concerns and frustrations. If you won't take my word for it, visit her profile; seeing is believing.
One issue that needs to be addressed is the lack of effort made on behalf of the Wattpad team to notify the author about the termination of their book. Both the author and users were left confused when they opened Wattpad only to discover that BFI was no longer accessible. It's a bad reflection on the Wattpad team, unprofessional, and it stimulates uncertainty in authors as well as aspiring authors who have books/stories on this platform. It makes people start to wonder, is my book next? Rather than feeling the excitement of creating more stories. In the future, it would be advised that authors are sent messages in advance. Thus ensuring that proper communication is administered between the two parties before their books are "erased". Not only was BFI taken down from Wattpad without notice, but it was also taken down from Wattpad without the author's consent. Although users and authors are using Wattpad to read and create their own content. The stories are original and personalized, meaning that they still technically belong to those authors. Therefore, all dealings involving those stories should be run through with the authors, whether the official Wattpad Team wants to make a decision or not. Removing stories without seeking permission from the creators is almost demeaning in a sense. It makes those stories seem "replaceable", "insignificant", and "unimportant". Additionally, the Wattpad team comes across as careless and ignorant towards the feelings and sentiments of the author and readers, who seriously resonated with the story. The backlash towards the removal of BFI from the platform spoke volumes about its appeal and likeability. Many comments stating that this decision was "disappointing" and "disrespectful", and some even going as far to make threats towards the official wattpad account. In summary, the Wattpad team needs to do better in terms of communicating with authors and being more mindful of how their actions impact the users.
Wattpad's mission statement, voiced by the founders, Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen, is to encourage "users to create and share their own stories in all genres from teen fiction to poetry to action, adventure and more". Removing BFI from this platform contradicts Wattpad's goal for their users because it is silencing the author's voice. Writing exercises one's freedom of expression, composed of their thoughts, ideas, views, and opinions. For Wattpad to claim that users can openly "create" and "share" their "own stories" but then spontaneously take down those stories, indicates that Wattpad is unreliable and not genuine in their promise to users. The book, "Beg For it", abided by community guidelines, which will be further explained in the next paragraph. Since Wattpad did not provide the author with a probable cause as to why the book was removed. It can be implied that BFI was removed without reason. Wattpad is supposed to be a safe space that nourishes the imagination and the mind, not to make people feel like they are "boxed in" or "confined". Wattpad advertises this "escape from reality", but they are essentially "selling a false dream".
In accordance with the Wattpad Help center, it says, "There is also a 'New Adult' category which contains erotic, relationship and romance stories with titles such as 'booty call' and 'I slept with my stepbrother' along with 'smut' stories containing sex and inappropriate language". Clearly showing in words that Wattpad is fully aware of the mature content that is published on their platform. The key aspect is that they are the ones who enable it. As means of catering to their younger audience, Wattpad offers the features, "Ratings", which allows authors to set age rankings for their stories, and "Tagged content", functioning the same as those used on social media that identify specific subject matters embodied in the story (Ex. Romance, Highschool, Sports, ect.). Based on all of this information and the points made by Wattpad's Help Center. The story BFI was not in any violation of Wattpad's protocol. The BFI author provided multiple warnings in chapters that included topics and content that are deemed as sensitive, triggering, graphic, and or explicit in any way shape or form. By forewarning readers about the type of material they are going to be exposed to. It emphasizes how mindful and aware the author @_himeros_ is of Wattpad's guidelines and content restrictions. If there are a variety of other books labeled as "New Adult" that also contain similar content ("sex, inappropriate language and erotic, relationship and romance"), what makes "Beg For It'' so different? So deplorable? So criminal that it had to be removed from Wattpad entirely? At the end of the day, readers choose what they want to read. Don't blame the author, don't blame the story. Blame the consumer. To reiterate, the story, "Beg For It", did not deserve to be taken down because the author did not violate any of Wattpad's guidelines and content restrictions.
The point of this letter is to argue the unfairness and bias involved of the removal of BFI from Wattpad. As a frequent re-reader of the story. I can speak on the type of topics that are covered. Beg For It did contain profanity, sex, rape, dark romance, torture/abuse, and murder. Yet, BFI is one of many books on the platform that have these types of storylines. The difference is, they are still permitted and accessible and BFI is not. In no way am I trying normalize or glorify these subject matters because they do have real world connotations. However, my point is BFI shouldn't be held to a higher standard when other books on the platform are not. Any company that truly wants to succeed, would want to provide the best experience for their users. This letter is a plea from the users of Wattpad to bring Beg For It back.
Sincerely,
Wattpad uncensored
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Some of you may be asking yourselves, "Why is she taking this so seriously?". My answer? I'm an advent reader and I really enjoy good quality books. Himeros is such a talented author and it genuinely made me sad when BFI was taken down. I've read that book about 6 times and its honestly a waste of talent and potential to see it go. Reading all the comments on her profile about BFI inspired me to write this, and I truly hope Wattpad brings it back *fingers crossed*
Author of BFI: @_himeros_
Thoughts and Opinions:
Signatures:
For the signatures, type your user and then @ the wattpad official account
