The COVID-19 pandemic dominated headlines and changed lives in 2020. Though it was and still continuing to be difficult for everyone, it has been a little harder for GenZ.?
With limited human connection and work-life largely restricted to virtual meetings, GenZ struggled to cope up not only with changing way of life but so many other local and global issues like scuttled financial growth, fewer new job opportunities, rising mental health issues, LGBTQ rights and Black Lives Matter movement.?
However, the pandemic also inspired GenZ to address the aforementioned issues in creative new ways, and in the process, bring people together. Most notably, they resorted to reading and writing to express their issues, concerns and opinions, and social media platforms provided them with an excellent venue to engage with others.?
And among all other platforms, Wattpad exclusively stood out.??
WattPad provided a platform that wasn't just full of positivity and progressive ideas but it made people focus on important conversations like mental health and well-being through storytelling.
Storytelling, for change, isn¡¯t new to the Wattpad community, and lockdown made a lot of people go back to it to spread positive messages about a variety of causes.?
In fact, GenZ came together to tell stories and this empowered them to establish a rock-solid community that made them feel they're not alone.?Wattpad turned into a community of writers and readers finding solace and collaboration amidst the isolation that felt like never-ending imprisonment.?
It's just that their worries are primarily focused on the ¡°bigger picture,¡± aka the fight to obtaining equality, and that they are not all self-obsessed generation. GenZ is not only worried about their future, instead, they are also worried about everyone¡¯s future.? ??
This year on Wattpad, readers and writers sought catharsis through creativity, turning to stories to support social justice and create a community in a year of quarantine to spark a positive conversation around inclusivity and gender fluidity.
In fact, last year,?Wattpad¡¯s GenZ Census research?found that 47% of GenZ Wattpad users surveyed have experienced mental health challenges, particularly depression and anxiety.?
Mental health challenges have been a growing struggle for GenZ youth for years,?but with fewer in-person social connections, 2020 has been particularly difficult for people. The number of stories tagged #mentalhealth increased by 32% compared to 2019, and users spent 240 million minutes reading stories with this tag. These stories ranged from first-person explorations of anxiety and depression to narratives about supporting a loved one dealing with mental illness.?
In 2020, Wattpad¡¯s global community of more than 90 million people supported each other through the COVID-19 pandemic while rallying around Black Lives Matter.? ?
Global protests against racism and police brutality spread awareness in the streets and online, inspiring Wattpad authors to write about the fight for equality. The Wattpad community raised their voices and pens to support the Black Lives Matter movement and elevate Black authors on the platform. Users spent more than 18 million minutes reading stories tagged #blacklivesmatter, like Emani Jasmine¡¯s (@emani_jasmine) Shades Darker (268k reads), which follows protagonist Kendra Lyon as she navigates the fallout from a tragic act of police brutality.?
The global Wattpad community also mobilized to elevate and celebrate Black writers and experiences across different genres this year. Stories tagged #blacklove, and #blackjoy saw a significant increase in reading time compared to last year. Electric Impulse (1.7m reads) by Angel Hilson (@AngeltheAuthor320) and The Many Dates of Indigo (476k reads) by Amber S. (@AmethystAmber87) were standout examples of stories celebrating Black romance and love.
2020 also saw the rise of activism and political engagement as central themes in popular Wattpad stories, with readers spending millions of minutes reading stories tagged #protests, #voting, and #election. The number of stories tagged #activism and touching on political themes increased by 93% compared to 2019, exemplified by Wicked, Wild, Wonderful (174k reads) by Matthew Dawkins (@MatthewD_Writes).?
The story currently has more than 443,000 reads on Wattpad and will be available from Wattpad Books on Feb. 2, 2021. Revenge of the Sluts is also part of #projectwomanup, a movement among Wattpad writers to empower women. Reading time for stories tagged #projectwomanup saw a 24% increase compared to 2019.?
V.S. Santoni¡¯s (@vssantoni) series I¡¯m a Gay Wizard (670k reads) and the sequel, I¡¯m a Gay Wizard in the City of the Nightmare King (66k reads), continued to win fans for its rich, unique fantasy world of magic and wizardry, but featuring a diverse range of protagonists. In 2020, users spent more than 725 million minutes reading tagged #LGBTQ, up 58% from last year.
Writers from across the LGBTQIAP+ spectrum, like Lena Mano (@Lena-Presents), were some of the most exciting storytellers this year on Wattpad. Readers loved her #OwnVoices story. This is Not a Tragedy (138k reads), which featured an aromantic and asexual protagonist.
(This story is a part of #StoryCollective, an Indiatimes and Wattpad initiative to encourage storytelling and provide a platform for this generation to meet in a story.)