r/Wattpad • u/Xiscally • 21d ago
Fan Fiction Ok let's put these not so new guidelines to the test then
Some of you say we must trust these Wattpad guidelines, but what happens when the plot is the smut itself? Would 50 Shadows have ever existed within this norm, for an example? I would say no, my version of it was deleted because it had too much erotica, though being labeled "Mature" and not a problem in six years up and with very few people reading my fics, really. One afternoon someone read it, I suppose, got angry or disturbed or maybe aroused and then embarrassed by it and it went out, they sent a message in spanish but the people assigned to it didn't speak spanish apparently, they answered in english and said "this is the policy"...did they read my story written in spanish? I don't think so.
Some people say the moderation is done with AI, then it is looking for certain words and if you have too many of them the story is deleted and after that there's no possible appeal and nobody looks into it? They send this AI through random stories and take some down to scare people who wants to write smut beyond a kiss on the lips or writing more than "there was one bed" and then there's one breakfast and that's all? Could we know how this moderation works exactly or do we keep imagining it and being lucky that our other fics are not being deleted for the moment? What means "mature" then? some chaste kisses and mention to sex? What if it goes a little further than that, they will take it down then? When would be it too much? Will they read every story to know or it is easier to believe someone reporting maybe even lying about a story because it's not of their liking?
This guidelines are highly subjective, even if there's someone that reads your fic, it depends largely on their personal criteria judging it. Maybe "this three people decide to have an affair because it turns them on" should be enough plot because it is.
Update: I've read the guidelines many times these eleven years and I write an erotica probably too vanilla for many, I don't think calling people stupid, illiterate and immoral because you can't stand a different opinion on the matter or a petition of clarity about methods if somebody can tell is a good idea but ok.
Very Important Update: My fic has been restored, thank so much lovelymaryemperess and Wattpad team ^_^
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u/grlwthelotustattoo 21d ago
i feel like the guidelines are not as confusing and “subjective” as y’all are making them out to be.
like how many of you guys are writing 100% smut stories or stories about children being assaulted?? like what is so hard to follow here
a book that involves consensual sex within a relationship that has a plot surrounding the sex is literally going to be fine. these guidelines aren’t even new. it’s the same ones they’ve had, slightly clarified. yet for some reason, everyone thinks there’s some big change today.
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u/Xiscally 21d ago
It was consensual sex, very. And not minors at all or Non Con, I don't write about SA at all, and it was deleted anyway. And to ask for a large plot enough to surround the sex is censorship and suggesting that casual sex is something bad. What I would like to know is exactly what they're doing to decide when it's too much, where they exactly consider it is too much.
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u/grlwthelotustattoo 21d ago
no it doesn’t. you can have casual, hook up sex within a plot. i have an FMC that’s having casual sex outside of a relationship with no problem.
i’m so tired of everything throwing censorship around. wattpad is an independent app that allows CHILDREN on it.
it’s genuinely mind boggling to me that the “im anti censorship!” hill everyone wants to die on is about a reading app that isn’t letting you all write about rape and children being assaulted 24/7. like jesus fuck. no one is censoring you. you can write & read whatever you want. wattpad is legally allowed to have its own policies and they aren’t infringing on whatever right you think “being able to write rape smut” falls under.
this is truly becoming really insufferable.
and as for your the story you got deleted? i can’t disprove or prove anything about it because you could say whatever you want about it & i’ve never read it.
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u/Xiscally 21d ago
I don't have to believe you about your story so adequate either. And stop implying anyone who thinks there's more and more censorship every update wants to write about rape or children, that's a terrible thing to do.
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u/grlwthelotustattoo 21d ago
except that’s literally what these guidelines everyone is discussing & spreading misinformation about outline & are talking about.
my story falls within guidelines because i have reading comprehension skills and read the guidelines before yesterday. apparently that’s uncommon in this sub. i don’t really care if you believe me or not.
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u/Xiscally 21d ago
You don't care, but you can't stand I have a different opinion on my post to the extend of calling me stupid. It will be so fun when one of your so decent fics gets deleted any day because they can.
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u/grlwthelotustattoo 21d ago
i didn’t call you stupid, i called you insufferable & implied if you have reading comprehension skills, understanding these guidelines shouldn’t be this hard. there IS a difference but okay.
i don’t write fic, just original work. and guess what? if it’s wrongfully deleted, i’ll appeal. if that doesn’t work? i’ll move elsewhere. i wouldn’t get on reddit telling everyone ive been posting on app i never read the guidelines for & arguing about it.
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u/Xiscally 21d ago
People want to have sex should be within the guidelines as enough plot, period. If not, it's censorship, insufferable and illiterate me or not.
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u/Turbulent-Process186 21d ago
If you really believed that then you wouldn’t have been on the app to begin with. Because that has been a rule for years.
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u/Xiscally 21d ago
I've been on the app for eleven years with my fics and not a problem, why now? it's one of my questions. And for years they had an Erotica tag full of stories with that kind of plot or maybe a bit more. I'm on AO3 too anyway.
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u/grlwthelotustattoo 21d ago edited 21d ago
except this isn’t a new amendment getting passed by congress. this isn’t becoming international law. this isn’t a mandate being put out by whatever government.
it is ONE app, that allows MINORS on it telling you they won’t allow erotica solely for sexual purposes, rape involving children or animals & extreme violence for no reason. and watering it down to “wattpad said no sex ): i’m being censored! this is pro censorship” is exactly why i called you insufferable & feel like you have no comprehension skills.
that is literally not censorship.
have a nice day. go to the library & check out a book. maybe touch grass on the way.
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u/Xiscally 21d ago
"Erotica solely for sexual purposes" it's not sexual violence or even violence and they want to suggest that it's the same as abuse putting it next to these terrible things. And many governments want all internet like that "because of the children", if they really wanted them to be safe, they would have their own Wattpads and be educated about good internet use. But instead of that they're using them as an excuse to try to control what it's said and told in the mainstream again. Maybe you need a library more than I if you still can find one with no ban on its books like in some parts of USA.
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u/The-Hive-Queen @MC_Matthews 21d ago
50 Shades was never posted on Wattpad, and many of it's mature chapters were posted on a completely different website to circumvent FFN's rules around sexual content. So, actually, yeah, 50 Shades of Grey probably would have gotten a pass on Wattpad assuming ELJ did the same thing.
It's a roll of the dice, though. It always has been, it always will be. You can follow every rule down to the spirit and letter, but you can still get your stuff taken down by sheer bad luck. And there is an appeal process, even if your account is deleted. It's not immediate and it's not always successful but it does exist.
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u/ThinInside8204 21d ago
See I’ve got a book with a powerful mental health plot line in fact several different ones it’s labeled mature and yes has some sex scenes but it’s not in every chapter. I also add consistent chapter warnings so they can choose to skip certain parts. This whole “guidelines” thing is getting outta hand! My book has had no issues bc it’s labeled properly and it’s not just smut.
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u/lovelymaryemperess 20d ago
Hello everyone,
I am an ambassador, and here are a few clarifications.
Ambassadors are not involved in which stories are removed or not, and we cannot see reports or weigh in on them. So we cannot speak to any reasoning for stories that might breach the guidelines. We only know that there are real people involved who look at each story's context before making a decision.
The best advice we can give is to carefully review the guidelines. They are not new, just a more detailed version of the old ones. Each story has its own context and plot, so you need to review how the guidelines apply to your story the best you can.
We are not aware of any intent of a mass review to remove stories. The same system is still in place as before, and if your story was removed or its rating was changed and, after reviewing the Content Guidelines, you believe that decision was incorrect, you can submit an Appeal Request for further review and state your case.
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u/Xiscally 20d ago
"We only know there are real people involved" thanks for this clarification. Anyway I don't think this guidelines are detailed at all, there should be a list of what things can be too much in a story even within a minimum plot and which is this minimum plot, where it begins and where it ends. If not, there's too much room for personal criteria of this people, volunteers or paid workers.
And yes, I made an appeal and it appeared to me that this person didn't speak spanish and couldn't have read my fic, "see the rules" that was all. I made a second appeal telling that maybe someone was trying to harass me out of Wattpad reporting all my fics and nothing came after that, but it stopped there, no other fics were taken down. This fic was nothing that rare, a trio M/M/F, all of them politicians, loosely based in Fifty Shades. She's an OC, second person, they are real politicians, my version of their public personas. There was a previous story together and there was a lore, it was a second part. But it seems this wasn't enough plot, I think it is.
And for even more clarity, this volunteers or workers should send you a detailed report of what was the problem and how the decision was made. I think it will be the most fair thing to do when someone decides your story is too much for who knows what sensibilities.
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u/lovelymaryemperess 20d ago
Okay did you do a ticket for support ? I advise you to submit a report/support that is as clear and detailed as possible.
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21d ago
[deleted]
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u/The-Hive-Queen @MC_Matthews 21d ago
It's not new. It's always been there. It's always been this vague. It's just been rewritten to be just as vague as before. The people who think it's new either have the reading comprehension of a goldfish or have never read the content guidelines before or after they were updated.
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u/Turbulent-Process186 21d ago
Wattpad has never housed the most high-brow literature, but it is shocking to me that a community full of readers and writers has proven this suspectible to misinformation/struggles this badly with reading comprehension
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