The Frankfurt Book Fair has kicked off in Germany. For those not familiar, the Frankfurt Book Fair is a global event that brings together not only publishers but also jacket designers, digital programmers, readers, writers, and anyone (or anything) connected to the world of books. To jumpstart the event, discussions already arose about a fast-emerging digital application (for smartphones, tablets, and computers) known as Wattpad. Allen Lau, co-founder of Wattpad, before has discussed how Wattpad has been affecting people on a global scale. For example, he received a letter from a remote African village, and in the letter, the writer tells Allen that his village has no schools, libraries, and not even books, but it did have cell phones. Luckily, Wattpad existed for this individual and village’s reading capabilities.
The Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest, is underway in Frankfurt, Germany.
Such a story as this causes you to step back for a moment and to really examine the whole reading paradigm. Because, in all honesty, up until the last 50 years or so (in the Western World, that is), READING has equaled PRIVILEGE. Margaret Atwood, a major advocator of Wattpad, points out this accessibility advantage as a major strong suit to the site:
“Wattpad opens the doors and enlarges the view in places where the doors are closed and the view is restricted.”
By “restricted,” I think Atwood moves beyond just issues of class or socioeonomics and even beyond gender and race. The unrestricted is a space for those who are not subjected to the eyeing glare of the “Literary Judgers.” Yes, I refer to all those the-women-come-and-go-speaking-of-Michelangelo followers, the ones who measure their lives in coffee spoons and clasp onto hard copies of Hemingway (aka me.) However, Wattpad seems to be a communal space that does not necessarily offset this pretentious air, but it does not condone it. For many, as evidenced by Wattpad, there are those whose writing is a social and communal act – it’s an act of swapping stories, from one writer to the next, or for the reader, it’s about perusing something simple and relatable to their life. Essentially, you –the reader– have the ability to browse pieces of writing done by people just like you – that’s ultimately the idea behind Wattpad.
Wattpad describes itself as “the world’s largest community for discovering and sharing stories on the web and across every mobile device”
And Wattpad certainly is not the first. Since the advent of the Internet, Fan Fiction has been booming and booming. Think of E.L. James’ success with her Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy (who was indeed a fan-fiction writer herself). Altogether, Wattpad is a microcosm of the metaphorical walls of privilege collapsing. For those who find Fan Fiction a debased form of “literature,” it is a true symbol of decline; for the millions who participate though, it is a true sign of moving towards writing and reading as an ubiquitous and even quotidian action.
As Wattpad keeps reiterating, “they are the world’s largest community for discovering and sharing stories on the web and across every mobile device.” The word, community, gets thrown around now as about frequently as the word “digital.” Community surfaced in the academic discourse long ago, but since then has become synonymous with online social networking and in particular writing or reading groups (such as Stanley Fish’s theory behind “reading communities”). All-in-all, Wattpad has the “privilege” of opening the largest book fair in the world for many reasons but mainly due to this buzzword, especially the phrase ‘online communities.’ Book “Clubs” are out, communities are in. The sticker of Oprah on the book cover, the often feminized and stereotyped venture of housewives gathering together to read Jane Austen, is starting to change. Reading Groups, now Communities, are about a little give and take; I read your stuff; now, you read mine. Communities are with people who may not be so different from you who can emphasize or tell you to shut up better than, say, the few people you meet for weekly cocktails. This idea is just reflected in the many sites/apps/platforms that hope to foster a “community” for readers and writers alike. Wattpad, Scribd, Goodreads, Authonomy, and social networking sites like Meetup and Facebook (of course). Michael Larsen, a renowned literary agent, recently wrote a column in the Writer’s Digest, in which he said the key to a successful online bookselling venture lies in the community aspect. He envisions an online site, autonomous from Amazon and Barnes and Noble that appeals to readers as readers, as part of a community. He calls this hypothetical online community:
“Mosaic, because it would be a unified image yet each imprint would be distinct and enrich the whole. The slogan to improve on: ‘We care about books.’”
This is where the act of reading and writing has been heading: forming a bond over ideas or a character or a specific kind/genre of narrative. With technology services like Wattpad, featured at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the social transference that comes with reading becomes much more accessible, allowing you to potentially enter a safe-place where reading and writing are de-politicized, a.k.a boundaries disintegrate. For all the pessimists and naysayers, just think about that for a moment.