I felt like doing another vent about Wattpad. Specifically, the fact that Wattpad forces me to watch advertisements... when I'm trying to read my own stories on the app... Like, fam, I produced these words. Let me access them for free. This is like giving birth to a child but then having the doctors take the child away until I download some rip-off Candy Crush app.

Stop.

But then I realised that 1,500 words about Wattpad advertising is probably... not the most helpful topic!

So here I am, to talk about community accounts!

First of all: what are community accounts? They're essentially accounts across Wattpad that are specifically designed to run awards or review stores or graphic stores, so that people can request from them and get their services. It's very much like a business. There is a CEO or a few administrators (the people who can access the account), and these ones are not into BDSM (usually). There are employees, who actually do the reviews/designs/judging. There are the customers, who do the requests. You even have, like, sponsors or sister communities who support each other through shout-outs.

You can usually find them by searching up, "The [insert word] Community." The word is usually replaced with some sort of dreamy, whimsical sounding word. Treasure Communities (yes, I'm calling myself out), Crystal Communities, Magical Communities, Unicorn Communities, Sparkle Communities, Red-Velvet Communities, Mango Communities, Ice-Cream Communities, I-Realise-I'm-Talking-About-Food-Again-Communities, Tapwater Communities, Waterfall Communities, Artsy Fartsy Communities -- you name it.

Some people don't like them, some people adore them, some people run them, some people are still messaging me to ask if they can join my on-hiatus community (which is really sweet, by the way).

Anyways, so what do I think about them?

I love them.

My own community account, as well as hosting awards and reviews on that account, is what has introduced me to many incredible people. The people who worked with me to supply reviews and judge the stories were always so supportive, and it's the reason I've met so many incredible and beautiful authors whose work I love and champion with all my being.

However, I also have seen icky sides of communities. For example, the old admin of that community had done it specifically to gain as many followers as possible, and did it spitefully after she had been fired from another community. She didn't do any of the work, and dumped it all onto me, and we were always at conflict. When she left for six months, and so I changed all the payments to ensure no one had to follow her if they didn't want to, she tried to delete the account.

However, I am devious and while I am very happy and friendly, I think I would have been extremely upset if Treasure deleted with no warning. Also, I was needing those notifications. So while she had been absent--

Okay, y'all have to promise not to think badly of me. This is so naughty and no one else should do it. Unless you have to.

But, anyways, I basically found a way to access into the email she had set up for the Treasure Community (same password as the Wattpad log-in, go figure), and I changed the email to my own email. That way, when she tried to delete it, she couldn't.

Yay!

Anyways, so, I think Community Accounts have great aspects to them. So, let's go through them!

- You will meet some incredible people. I could list them here, but I fear that I'll miss some people out. Through my community account, I had met some beautiful hearts and some gifted authors and adorably sweet potatoes, who I still talk to now.

- It's an opportunity to teach people to learn. Obviously, as you can probably tell, I love spreading grammatical knowledge. So, the opportunity to do that, and be taken seriously was wonderful -- people are more likely to listen to community accounts than individual accounts, unless you are well known.

- It is easier to be discovered. You will become extremely popular, actually, if you update regularly and provide good services. People are way more likely to find you, especially if you host awards.

- It separates you from your actual account. It's part of what I loved so much -- I liked being able to separate my work from my reviewing side.

- There is just a beautiful sense of... well, for a lack of better words... community. If done well, some of my community members would rally together for each other, whether we knew each other that well or not. I see one of my reviewers being attacked on their profile? I'll step up for them. And all the other reviewers would join in, too. There's this sense of family that just comes in.

- You can get amazing services! All my covers come from community accounts! A lot of people get wonderful and life-changing critiques from awards and review shops that come from communities!

- You will learn so much responsibility. It's a lot of work. And you will gain so much organisation.

The universe is balanced. And life hates it when we have good things. So there are definitely some frustrating elements to awards.

Here is a list of some of these frustrating things, and how to avoid them!

Looks awkwardly at The Treasure Community.

Because, let's face it, when it comes to social media, it isn't likely that all of us will be able to run it forever. Some of us have other things pop up in life that makes it overwhelming.

My goodness, whenever I see parents who manage to have eight children, run between all their ballet classes, spend time with their family, but consistently update their stories and their reviews and their community accounts... what are you? How? Teach me? You are my heroes.

Anyways, some of us are bound to either lose interest or energy in our community accounts -- and it's not your fault! Can you imagine if we stayed obsessed with things forever? How many of us would still be rubbing our tongues across Justin Bieber posters? How many of us would still be crying because Mufasa died? How many of us would still be blushing at the sight of Lightning McQueen? Oh. That one is just me? Okay. Got it. Um.

However, the best ways you can prevent this are to:

- not chew more than you can swallow.

If you can't swallow it, don't chew it.

Only host as much as you can handle. Don't open up millions of stores when you only can spend ten minutes on Wattpad every day. Test the waters, and grow slowly!

- do not be afraid to say 'enough'.

If you are done with the account, there is absolutely no shame in telling people that you'd like to close the account. Don't be a zombie. Just bite the bullet.

You know how I said that there are some amazing people you meet through communities?

You'll also meet some... really frustrating people. People who try to force their story down your throat. People who argue when their story doesn't come first place, because their step-aunty from Iceland told them it was a work of pure genius. People who ask to join your community, demand followers, but then don't do the things they said they would do.

How to fix this?

- be careful on who you 'employ'.

If someone wants to join your community, check out their stories to make sure that they can review. If you can't understand their story because it's a whole lot of gibberish, then do you really want them to represent your community? Mind you, I totally understand the concept of growth, but you can gently guide them towards good learning websites or teach them a thing or two yourself, and tell them to try again once their skills are more developed.

- if it is a really frustrating customer, then just breathe, and leave them be.

Honestly, there are gonna be some ratty people on this site. I did a whole chapter about them. It's best to just breathe and move on. It'll be okay. I promise.

Also, sorry to anyone whose name is Karen. I actually know some amazing Karens, like my grade eight biology teacher who was really passionate about swan reproduction and spent a whole year spying on swans as they... did the rump-da-pump. She was super cool.

Sometimes, you request a review, and because it's part of a community, you have to follow all six of the admins, their parents' accounts, their alt accounts, the reviewer, and read all their stories and add them to at least seventeen of your playlists.

And you're like... "Screw that, goodbye!"

So, my advice to people who want to run a community: try to keep payments fair. I do agree that admins do a lot of hard work, so I 100% understand why you'd ask for a follow, but just be careful that you're not asking too much.

Similarly, if you're not happy with payment, there's no need to fuss and call out the account. Just... find a different one that you're happy with. There will be one, I promise!

I think there are a lot of great things to do with community accounts. However, please follow the three golden rules if you want to start one:

1. Only take on as much as you can handle. It is a lot of work. Be ready for it.

2. Keep it fair and ethical. Don't force people to be involved, and don't charge unfairly in return for poor service.

3. Remember that you are here to help others grow, and that everything you do will be appreciated. Check in with the people who work with you to make sure they're okay, and most importantly, check in on yourself.

And for those who are looking into community accounts:

1. Only sign up for ones that look reliable, fair and organised. If there hasn't been a message posted by the admin in nineteen years, chances are, it's not worth your time.

2. Be patient with them. It's a lot of work for the admins. Appreciate them!

3. Don't overcommit by being a reviewer for, like, six of them. It will become way too much to handle.

And for both sides of the equation:

Be ready, with an open-mind, to grow as a writer and person. And be ready to meet some kickass people!

As you can see, I honestly did not have much to--

Oh, it's nearly 2,000 words.

How?

How?

Anyways! Those are my overall thoughts on community accounts. I know it can be quite controversial, but these are just my open thoughts, so don't bash me, please. I've just gotten too much good from community accounts! After all, this book wouldn't exist if I hadn't met Painite who gave me this idea! And Painite, bless them, was my first ever 'employee' -- and while they're not active here anymore, they still show me wholesome cat videos on FaceBook.

Next time, I'll be talking about writing styles! Any questions about this? Let me know!

And also, let me know if you'd like me to discuss something!