The Wattpad app itself is easy to use: install, set up an account, choose a few favorite genres, and start reading. Mind you, the app started off by recommending books in genres like Romance and Adventure that I had specifically not listed as ones I'm interested in. (This probably won't be your go-to app for reader's advisory.) I hadn't realized that Wattpad had out-of-copyright classics as well as modern writing—I may finally get around to reading "The Picture of Dorian Gray." If you're comfortable reading on a tablet (I haven't tried Wattpad's iPhone app yet), you'll be fine reading things on Wattpad. The font is clear and navigation is intuitive.
Wattpad is a social network as well as a reading app, which will take some getting used to on my part. I mean, Amazon is sort of trying to promote social reading by giving you the option of making your Kindle notes and highlighting public, but Wattpad goes far beyond this (perhaps this is why Amazon acquired Goodreads). Naturally, the app offers you the standard option of inviting your friends from other social networks to come join you. I'm guessing that if I did have friends on Wattpad, the news feed would be showing me what they're up to, and not just Wattpad's recommendations for what to read next. But I'm used to this sort of thing from being on LibraryThing and Goodreads. What I'm not accustomed to is social networking practically written into the text itself. The book I chose was peppered with comment counts (this is the part that's sort of like the Kindle option of seeing what other readers have highlighted). Intrigued, I clicked through on a few of them. Some comments were about how much the readers were enjoying the book, some were asking for clarification on one point or another, some were offering editorial advice. The author was participating in the discussion at points, which has the potential to be really interesting. But I also found the discussions distracting, because I had to stop reading the book itself to read the comments. It's like trying to listen to the commentary on a DVD and watch it simultaneously—I have to commit to one or the other, not both. And completely unlike LibraryThing, Goodreads, or Kindle, Wattpad invites you to write your own stories. One tap on the Create icon, and a blank screen with keyboard appears: no obstacles between you and the muse. Whoa.
Okay, this is another app I'll be hanging onto for a while to explore further. Unfortunately, Wattpad hasn't solved the problem of how to find the good stories in these millions of self-published works, and it'll probably take me a while before I trip over one on my own. Not surprisingly, I can't see any use for this app in a law library. If someone wanted to read fanfiction, Wattpad can certainly deliver it to them. Do patrons ask to read self-published works that aren't fanfics? I'd think that reading the library's e-books might be more satisfying simply because most of them will have been edited at some point in the publication process. Of course, if the patron wants the social networking experience while reading, then they're probably going to want something like Wattpad, or maybe Goodreads or LibraryThing. (Yes, the perennial question: What do patrons want?)
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Another free source of fanfiction is Archive of Our Own (AO3). This isn't an app, but the site can be bookmarked on a tablet or smartphone. It has a much better search engine than Wattpad, allowing you to specify precisely what you're looking for. Membership is required to comment on works or create your own, but you don't need to be a member to read the stories.
Okay, this is another app I'll be hanging onto for a while to explore further. Unfortunately, Wattpad hasn't solved the problem of how to find the good stories in these millions of self-published works, and it'll probably take me a while before I trip over one on my own. Not surprisingly, I can't see any use for this app in a law library. If someone wanted to read fanfiction, Wattpad can certainly deliver it to them. Do patrons ask to read self-published works that aren't fanfics? I'd think that reading the library's e-books might be more satisfying simply because most of them will have been edited at some point in the publication process. Of course, if the patron wants the social networking experience while reading, then they're probably going to want something like Wattpad, or maybe Goodreads or LibraryThing. (Yes, the perennial question: What do patrons want?)
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Another free source of fanfiction is Archive of Our Own (AO3). This isn't an app, but the site can be bookmarked on a tablet or smartphone. It has a much better search engine than Wattpad, allowing you to specify precisely what you're looking for. Membership is required to comment on works or create your own, but you don't need to be a member to read the stories.
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