Wattpad is an online literature platform intended for users to read and write original stories. The founders Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen say that the platform aims to create social communities around stories and remove the barriers between readers and writers. The platform allows users to write and publish stories, or read stories written by other users. In January 2021, Naver Corporation announced that it would be acquiring Wattpad; the deal was completed in May 2021. As of November 2021, Wattpad has a monthly audience of more than 90 million users, who can directly interact with the writers and share their opinions with fellow readers. Wattpad has stories available in more than 50 languages, and nearly 300,000 writers from 35 countries take part every year in the largest writing competition, The Watty Awards. Some of these stories have been transformed into TV dramas and movies; examples include After and The Kissing Booth. In January 2019, Wattpad launched a publishing division named Wattpad Books in an effort to take the "guesswork" out of publishing for authors.
