The more than 5 million monthly users of the Wattpad application in the Philippines is proof that Filipinos love to share stories through mobile devices and social connections, says chief executive officer and co-founder of Wattpad, Allen Lau. After the United States, the Philippines is the largest community of Wattpad users in the world.
“Wattpad is a huge part of entertainment in the Philippines. In fact many Filipino best sellers and blockbusters get a head start on Wattpad,” said Lau, who was in the country for the Manila International Book Fair. “Last month, FilipinoWattpadders spent close to a billion minutes immersed in free stories. We’re excited and encouraged by the response we have had from the community in the Philippines.”
The Philippines has been very prolific with 11 movies already adapted from Wattpad stories and close to 100 books published after their Wattpad stories were discovered by interested publishers. This is no mean feat for an app that promises, quite simply, to connect the world’s readers and writers.
Allen Lau, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Wattpad
Based in Toronto, Wattpad is revolutionizing the way we read, write, and think about story-telling. Anyone with internet access, regardless of where they live, can read stories and share their own writing for free. To date, more than 35 million people all over the world are Wattpadders and they connect with each other while discovering and sharing millions of free stories.
On Wattad, readers can interact with the written word by leaving comments or messages or embedding images and videos for the authors. There are tens of thousands of stories generated and being revised each and every day. Wattpadstories are available in more than 50 languages and can be read or written from any phone, tablet, or computer. Writersno longer have to stay stuck to their desk, brainstorming forcreative story ideas. Writing stories are made easier now that authors can share their stories chapter-by-chapter in a supportive and positive community.
According to Allen Lau, “Having writers like Ariesa Domingo, Louisse Carreon, Sic Santos, Freesia Lockheart and their fans at MIBF sharing their support of a mobile, social story-telling means a lot to all of us at Wattpad. Moving forward, we hope to convince more of Philippines and the world, to join us in spreading the love for reading and writing on the go.”
