On July 29, 2020 the wattpad forums went into read mode only and this message appeared a the top of every page:

Hello Wattpadders,

We launched the Community Forums with the goal of creating a space for writers and readers to connect and share questions and learnings with each other. While this has been a useful space for many, we cannot ignore that many members of our community don't always feel safe or welcomed in the Forums. In recent months we've spent a lot of time talking and listening to many of you to better understand your experiences in the Forums. From what many have told us, the Forums are not working for you, and more importantly, are not creating the type of space we want for you. We acknowledge that we as a company have not provided sufficient moderation and product support to our Forums. As a result we will be deactivating the Community Forums on August 12, 2020.

Connection is a core value of Wattpad. By deactivating the Community Forums in their current form, we'll be able to re-evaluate the Forums' role in how connection comes to life in our product. This will also create an opportunity to update our moderation practices and policies, ensuring they are consistently enforced and more in line with our commitment to diversity and inclusion for everyone in our community and in our office. We may relaunch the Community Forums at a later date, but it's also possible we'll develop a better way for Wattpadders to connect with each other.

What's important is that we're taking this step with you and the entire Wattpad community in mind.

Starting today all threads will be in read-only format until the Community Forums are deactivated on August 12th.

We're grateful for the many positive contributions you've made and connections you've formed in the Community Forums. But we also know it's time to reevaluate what the Community Forums mean to those who have not always felt welcome in that space.

Many writers come to the Forums to connect and share tips on navigating their writing journey. Writers are central to Wattpad and everything we do. Without writers, the Wattpad platform could not exist. We will continue to invest in and support writers' programs, such as Wattpad Stars, Paid Stories, Wattpad Books, and the Wattys. If you're looking for additional support as a writer, make sure to visit the for writing resources and programs. Our team is constantly working on additional support for writers and all new resources will be added there.

Most importantly, we want your feedback. Our long-term goal is to create a space that is safe and beneficial for our entire community. We want to know what aspects of the Community Forums were useful to you. The best way to share your feedback is by completing this survey . Members of the Wattpad team who work across the organization will review your feedback as we work to create better ways for our community to connect.

Thank you!

I will be linking that survey and I urge everyone to fill this out.

So why am I here?

Why am I writing this? I've always been one to stay quiet and keep my mouth shut. Not anymore. When I read that message, I was reduced to tears because I use the forums every day. I've made memories there, some good, others... not so much. But thats ok. That's just life. People complain that they are being shut down or that the rules aren't fair or they aren't being carried out correctly and your solution is to shut it down? Not cool, Wattpad, not cool. I am pleading with you to reconsider.

Why did this happen?

My guess would be because there was a group of people who wanted to see change(some subjects were just shut down for seemingly no good reason), and started using peaceful protest methods. There were also threads made by users who were just hating on the ambassadors and the rules. Wattpad saw this as an uh oh and instead of fixing the problems, just shut down. Not enough users (myself included) were speaking up about the positives.

Now is the time to rise up and to use our voices to show Wattpad we want our forums back. We need to do this with positivity, if we go right back to throwing hate at Wattpad we will never get what we want.

Wattpad is looking for our feedback so lets give it to them? What do we want in a forum? We'll fill this book up with what we want and show them. Maybe we'll get lucky and they won't deactivate the forums, just prepare for change. If this place is important to you, LET THEM KNOW!

I plan on making good use of this book. We can discuss the changes we want to see implemented in a new and improved forums.

If this raises in popularity I will find ways to implement a sort of share your story, book club advertisement (as r4r is hard to pull off), and even IYW questions.

For the Cafe and Pub there are some discords being made that, with permission, I can direct you to.

With permission I also may even be able to bring some important and useful writing things over from the forums.

Lastly, just a few rules:

1) NO story advertising unless its specifically stated.

2) Be kind, respectful, and positive at all times.

3) tag your friends and spread this so we can make our voices HEARD!

And if anyone has ideas for a cover, make it please, I don't have the time at the moment.

Stay strong everyone!

~Forever_D_A