This was a great read. I know next to nothing about serialized fiction writing online, I now feel informed. I didn’t know that Wattpad was Korean owned, I’m also not surprised that they steal ideas from writers for their film industry. Lately I’ve been watching a channel on YouTube about the Korean entertainment industry and it’s depressing. Unfortunately, as soon as big money enter the scene anything goes.
And not just for the Korean industry, they also sell story trends and user data to US media, which of course it isn’t uncommon for social media to sell data but it does feel shadier when it’s writer’s IP being sold, but writers not getting paid, though this is what writers on Wattpad agree to.
Quite a few writers I’ve encountered on Substack used to write on Wattpad, but left.
This was a great read. I know next to nothing about serialized fiction writing online, I now feel informed. I didn’t know that Wattpad was Korean owned, I’m also not surprised that they steal ideas from writers for their film industry. Lately I’ve been watching a channel on YouTube about the Korean entertainment industry and it’s depressing. Unfortunately, as soon as big money enter the scene anything goes.
And not just for the Korean industry, they also sell story trends and user data to US media, which of course it isn’t uncommon for social media to sell data but it does feel shadier when it’s writer’s IP being sold, but writers not getting paid, though this is what writers on Wattpad agree to.
Quite a few writers I’ve encountered on Substack used to write on Wattpad, but left.
Thank you! Yes, Wattpad was originally begun by Canadians in Toronto, but later bought by Naver corporation, a South Korean company for $600 million.