Fanfiction frenzy

How the story-telling community Wattpad shaped an entire generation

LONDON:

Remember the good old days when kids would read classics like The Hobbit and Pride and Prejudice? Neither do I. Those days were long gone by the time Wattpad stormed onto the scene, turning bookish teens into fanfiction-crazed insomniacs, utterly convinced that they were destined to marry Harry Styles. A website with an accompanying app, the platform allowed users to read and write alternate versions of their favourite books, films, series and of course, celebrities.

Wattpad didn't just create a new form of entertainment; it unleashed a chaotic force that had teenagers across the globe glued to their phones under their covers at 3 AM, devouring stories that ranged from "mildly disturbing" to "full-on fever dream."

If you were a 13-year-old on Wattpad, odds are you were reading (or writing) some barely coherent narrative about One Direction or Harry Potter. You weren't satisfied with JK Rowling's ending? No problem. On Wattpad, you could find an entire library dedicated to reimagining Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger as soulmates—because who cares about canon when you can write your own twisted version of events where Draco's intense hatred was actually just misunderstood teenage love?

Trope heaven

And let's not forget the real gems. If you wanted Justin Bieber to be your new bad-boy neighbour or you were pining for an angsty biker with a tragic backstory, Wattpad was there for you. These tropes didn't just exist—they thrived. Wattpad wasn't just a platform; it was a breeding ground for every teenage fantasy and trope imaginable, no matter how unhinged. And the best part? Literally anyone could write a book. It didn't matter if your grammar was on par with a fifth grader's or if your plot made absolutely no sense.

For those of us lucky—or perhaps unlucky—enough to have been sucked into the Wattpad vortex, we know the experience all too well. We remember the all-night reading sessions, hiding our screens under blankets and scrolling through stories, inserting "Y/N" (that's "Your Name" for the uninitiated) into every romantic scenario imaginable. I mean, who wouldn't want to be forced into an arranged marriage with a brooding, fictionalised version of Zayn Malik? It was intoxicating and utterly ridiculous, and we loved every minute of it.

And, oh, the comments section. It didn't matter if the story you were binging until dawn was a well-crafted piece of fiction or a dumpster fire of spelling errors and questionable plot choices—there was always gold in the comments. Whether it was delusional fans blissfully unaware of how bad the writing was, or more self-aware readers dropping gems like, "This is so bad, but I can't stop reading it," the comments section was a never-ending source of entertainment. It was the digital equivalent of passing notes in class, except the notes were often deranged and filled with all-caps declarations of love for fictional characters.

Poisoned pens

Now, let's not ignore the red flags. Wattpad was, and still is, a completely unfiltered platform. Teenagers were writing things that teenagers had absolutely no business writing. If you want to know why an entire generation has such a distorted view of love and intimacy, look no further than Wattpad. Sure, it's hilarious to think that a whole army of teens genuinely believed that a jealous, possessive, borderline psychotic male lead was the epitome of romance, but it's also kind of terrifying. Thanks to Wattpad, we've got a generation of young adults out in the world romanticising toxic relationships. Because nothing says "I love you" like a partner who threatens anyone who so much as looks at you, right?

And let's not even get started on the whole "success stories" angle. The Kissing Booth, the Wattpad-originated story that somehow launched Jacob Elordi's Hollywood career, is living proof that Wattpad's influence extends far beyond our adolescent nightmares. Then there's the After series, which started as Harry Styles fanfiction with a heavy dose of Fifty Shades of Grey toxicity, and inexplicably morphed into a five-film franchise. So, not only did Wattpad give teen girls a platform to indulge their obsessive fantasies, but it also pushed the narrative that toxic, borderline abusive relationships are the height of romance. Thanks, Wattpad, for teaching an entire generation that love is pain and that it's totally normal to fall for the guy who treats you like garbage.

"Now that I look back on it, I was way too young to be exposed to those themes," says Sana. Sana is a 21-year-old student who also grew up reading Wattpad from the age of 12. "All my friends were reading fanfiction - I wouldn't say I was peer pressured into reading that stuff, but I was curious about what the hype was about," she says. "I think the worst part is that Wattpad made a whole generation think toxic relationships were the norm, and more than that, were desirable. And that thinking stays with you. There are times now where I've had to remind myself that this is not the way I'm supposed to be treated. There's a lot of re-wiring the brain involved."

Falling of the page of reality

This obsession didn't just temporarily satiate the skin crawling urge to imagine yourself in the same room as your celebrity crush, it created parasocial relationships with them. According to Forbes Health, these relationships often manifest when fans have access to and feel a part of their favourite celebrities' lives. And even though they were far from close to the skinny-jean-clad object of their desire, Wattpad gave them the illusion that they were.

"We truly believed we had a connection to these people. Not in the normal way which is like 'I really relate to your music or lyrics', it was their personal lives we thought we had a connection to," says Shazreh, also an ex-Wattpader. "These lives were made up for the purpose of a plot. We didn't realise that these characters were just that - characters. The only similarities were that they had the same physical description, job and name as the celebrity you were obsessed with. It's just made for some really out-of-touch-with-reality adults."

So here we are, a whole generation shaped by the chaotic, unfiltered, and wildly imaginative world of Wattpad. We're out in the world, holding down jobs and pretending to be functional adults, but deep down, every time we hear guests in our living room, we hope it's Simon Cowell talking to our parents about how he wants to hire us as a babysitter to all five One Direction boys.