Hi everyone !
I'm writing this message after something that happened to me a few minutes ago.
The cover of my one shots book got flagged because it "doesn't respect the Guidelines of Wattpad".
Which is not the case.
I have sent a message to Wattpad explaning that fact, clarifying that it is a misunderstanding and I have asked them to put it back.
I'm making this post because it is not the first time this has happened on the Wattpad community in the past few weeks. A couple of days ago, an author I really like got HER ENTIRE STORY REMOVED (with all her drafts, ideas and completed work for the next chapters) for the same reasons, when it wasn't true.
Some people are going around reporting stories or content for no reason other than to be a pain.
You do not realise how damaging that is to authors. Even if they get their work or content back, being flagged means that you are under the website's radar and you get "demonised" kind of like on Youtube. You get less visibility, not only for the flagged content but it can also apply to the rest of your work. Therefore you get less visibility on the site and you cannot have access to recognition in contests as much.
It is a truly malicious and low thing to do.
So please, do not do that because it's "fun" or because you're jealous of other people's work because it could happen to you too.
And please, support the authors that are victims of this type of unfairness.
I will keep you updated regarding Wattpad's response ; I still may have to change the cover regardless.
Thank you and stay safe.
Maria B.