Wattyfever: More than just a...

From Page B3 with their worshipped authors?

Today, when someone throws out sweeping remarks like “nobody reads anymore”, or “literature is dying”, will surely receive scathing retorts from this online community of literature devotees. Although, one could outright argue that what Wattpad offers is inconsistent with the traditional context of literature because this kind of distribution system of literary masterpieces the likes of Shakespeare, Tolstoy or Chekhov can only be experienced through flipping the pages of a good old library- smelling kind of book. At some degree, we could probably concur with this argument, however, reading is still reading, no matter the type of avenue employed.

Furthermore, how can we refute the influence of Wattpad on its power to engage users, when according to their data, the average amount of time each user spent per Wattpad session is 30 minutes to an hour. That is an astonishing level of engagement if we are talking about users in their teenage years.

Surely, the effects of the internet in relation to literacy rate is dubious at best, but one that needs an unbiased discussion to point out its pros and cons. However, in the case of Wattpad is different. As researchers from LPU Laguna confirmed through their paper “The ‘ Wattyfever’: Constructs of Wattpad Readers on Wattpad’s Role in their lives” published in LPU Laguna Journal of Arts and Sciences, Wattpad appears to be playing a big role not just as a medium for reading but also as a medium that gratifies the participants‘ emotional and cognitive needs and wants. (