Let’s Talk About Wattpad 2013-2015

The year is 2014, your parents told you something reasonable but because you just got home from school and you’re full of teen angst, you’re angry. You take out your phone, plug in your earphones, and press play on Chocolate by The 1975. Your phone buzzes and all the stress suddenly disappears because it’s a notification — it’s Wattpad telling you your favorite fanfic was updated. You open up the app and get lost in your own mythical world. 

Do you remember this moment in your life, or something similar? How old were you? 

Talking about fanfiction is strange because it’s as if there’s a big secret you’re hiding from the world. This really isn’t the case. I’m 19 and sometimes I find myself going on Archive of Our Own (because I’ve matured!) and reading wholesome Dramione content. It’s stress-relieving! 

People love reading/creating content about their favorite people/characters because they genuinely love them and provide a level of comfort. Just because it isn’t officially published, or never really happened, doesn’t mean there’s not passion for the author’s work. 

There were and are some great authors out there. One of my favorite books continues to be a Zayn Malik fanfic I read when I was 13 and in junior high. My favorite quote comes out of a Harry Styles fanfic I had printed and glued into my notebook for English. 

Fanfiction led people to their passion, too. A favorite author of mine said she decided to pursue a career in Public Relations because she had stumbled upon it while doing research for her fanfic. My best friend decided to become a director because through writing fanfiction, she was able to dive into worlds she could one day envision on the big screen. My love for graphic design only became what it is because I started making manips and Wattpad book covers for my mutuals on Twitter. 

But as much as there were moments I enjoyed and led me where I am today, there were moments I now take a pause at and internally cringe. 

When I was 12 I was first introduced to the world of Wattpad. 

I had just finished elementary and was off to junior high, where I knew no one. After a few weeks, however, I became friends with a group of girls who were obsessed with One Direction. Soon enough, I found myself having a Wattpad account under the user @MidnightLovesx.

The username was sweet but the content I was reading underneath was definitely not. 

At 12, my friends were sending me links to Zayn Malik and Liam Payne smut (#ZiamForever). 

I vividly remember reading Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles fanfiction and being so confused at what I was reading. 

I had never been exposed to that kind of content before, but because all my friends were reading it, I soon became knowledgeable as I didn’t want to be out of the loop. I would have my iPad open beside me and every time a sex term I didn’t know appeared, I would search it up. 

At 12, I suddenly became an expert in sex according to the writing of other teenagers on the internet. Had they ever encountered any of the things they wrote? Who knows, but I read it anyway. Was it accurate? I didn’t have a clue, but I read it regardless. Were they fetishizing their favorite celebrities? Looking back on it right now, I would argue they were, but at the time, I didn’t give it a second thought. 

Every night, I read the latest books under several different tags with different genres once I had conquered the world of gay ships. 

My browsing history was full of: #DarkZayn #PunkNiall #DarkHarry #BullyLouis #AlphaLiam #SoldtoOneDirection #Kidnappedby1D #MafiaOneDirection #Psychotic1D 

My friends and I would obsessively talk about the fanfics we read during lunch. We even read the latest updates in the middle of class on our Androids so we could discuss them in our group chat. It's so shocking to me today that I was actually reading smut during math.

Recently I got in touch with one of my friends who accumulated 1 million reads on her Jack Gilininsky fanfiction. We had a conversation about the impact the 2013-2015 Wattpad era had on us mentally, now we’re older.

We both agreed it gave us a better understanding of sex education, however it was terrifying to think it came from people our age. 

We also talked about the way drugs and depression were glorified in these stories, and to an extent, still are. For example, my friend had a fanfiction series based heavily upon the usage of drugs, and I had a phase where I solely looked for stories about crime and drugs because I thought it was cool.

Oh, and the part of stories where the premise was being kidnapped by celebrities? Or sold to our favorites? Yes, after reading a few of both “genres,” we both understood how weird it was and decided to give up that corner of fanfics. 

“We were literally glorifying child trafficking at 12,” is something we kept repeating throughout this part of our conversation.

But was it really all bad? 

Of course not. 

While Wattpad did expose me to certain topics rather quickly, I learned from them. I researched outside of the stories I read and made sure to actively become knowledgeable. I learned to love the people I read about from all different angles. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing at times, but I’m glad I’m able to acknowledge it. I’m now 19 and I genuinely have taken all the stories I’ve ever read and put them in the back of my mind. They only come up when I’m in a situation I’ve never been in or some crazy story which sounds like something I read when I was in junior high. 

Sure, it might’ve been crazy but it worked out for the better in the end. Whether I would still reread everything I ever did again though, I’m not sure.