What are the benefits of being an Ambassador?

In addition to hanging out with your fellow Ambassadors, you get to talk to some of the folks who help run and maintain Wattpad too. It's always fun to see behind the scenes, and Ambassadors often help test new products, work on projects with staff, and see how things work. You'll also get to learn new skills and being an Ambassador counts as voluntary work (which is always good on your resumé).

What happens if an Ambassador abuses other users, or uses their position to denigrate, belittle or bully other members of the community?

Abuse of power is not tolerated within the Ambassador team. If you think an Ambassador is abusing their power you can report them (see Help Article How to report a user on Wattpad), and/or contact the International Ambassador Lead, Gavin. Gavin is also known as TheOrangutan on Wattpad.

Will my account get penalised or black marked if I have a disagreement with an Ambassador?

Ambassadors are users too. We don't expect people to agree with each other 100% of the time, but we do expect any disagreements to remain civil and inline with our Guidelines and Code of Conduct.

Disagreeing with an Ambassador won't have a negative impact on your continued Wattpad experience unless you have actually contravened our Guidelines or Code of Conduct.

Will the Ambassadors close my account if I swear a lot?

The Ambassadors don't close accounts, but just like any other Wattpad user, they can report accounts to the Wattpad Trust and Safety team if they think a user is doing things that are contrary to the general terms and conditions. The odd swearword is unlikely to mean your account will be closed by Wattpad, but if you're using language in a threatening manner, then it's likely you'll get your account reported by a fellow Wattpad user or Ambassador. The Trust and Safety team at Wattpad are the ones who'll decide if your account needs a warning, a suspension, or to be closed.

Is it true that you can only become an Ambassador if you have a friend who's already on the team?

You don't have to know or be friends with an existing member of the Ambassadors to get accepted for training. Although the existing team can make suggestions as to who they think would be great Ambassadors, we're often looking for specific skillsets or capabilities that compliment the existing team (skills thatchange every term). So, if you don't get in on your first few submissions, please do keep reapplying.

Once someone has a badge they seem to be able to do what they want, there aren't any rules. Shouldn't there be some training or guidance?

All Ambassadors have to sign up to a set of specific Guidelines, and a Code of Conduct. Those unwilling to sign up to that once they finish their training are not allowed to join the team. Ambassadors have to abide by the same set of rules as any other Wattpad user, and any not doing so get audited by the Trust and Safety team and International Ambassador Lead.

Over 1000 people apply to join the Ambassadors every four months. From that pool of people, we carefully select a group for training. Training takes about a week and a half and consists of various tasks, quizzes, etc. that all applicants have to complete.

Do you only allow people to join the Ambassadors if they have many followers or high read counts?

The amount of followers or reads a user has is irrelevant to joining the Ambassador team. Some members of the team are very well known on the platform, others have very few followers and very few reads, and we take everything in between. We're interested in the person, not their numbers.

Do Ambassadors work for Wattpad in Toronto? Are they paid?

Wattpad has an incredibly diverse staff from all over the world. The Ambassadors are the same, and we have Ambassadors in over 50 different countries.

As mentioned, Ambassadors are volunteers. We ask them to give us four hours of their time a week to help the community in an unpaid role. However, some Ambassadors have the opportunity to earn a little extra cash when we need help with tasks that require specific skills we may not have on the Wattpad team, or through contract work. We would note though that those paid roles are the exception rather than the norm, and the majority of the Ambassadors do not get paid at any time.

Do Ambassadors get background checked prior to joining the team?

We have a rigorous screening process in place to make sure we only accept those who have the best interests of the Wattpad Community at heart. Once a submission to join the team has been made, applicants are checked against our databases to ensure we're not hiring trolls or bad actors.

Do Ambassadors help with Technical Support, update services or help fix glitches or bugs?

Ambassadors are proactive about reporting bugs and glitches when they pop up. But, although some Ambassadors are probably technically adept enough to help out due to their normal day jobs, Wattpad has a technical team who do all the behind the scenes work. In essence, Ambassadors do not directly help fix things on Wattpad, and do not have access to any internal systems.

Do Ambassadors control which features are added or removed to Wattpad?

Ambassadors sometimes help road test new features or give feedback on product ideas, but they have no control of what is added to or removed from the product. Any new product releases or updates are down to the Wattpad team, not the Ambassadors.

Are Ambassadors able to access our account or details?

No, absolutely not. Ambassadors cannot log in to your account, and they cannot access or alter any of your private information.

Are Ambassadors monitoring our every move, spying on us and watching how we behave?

We don't have enough Ambassadors on the team to monitor our entire userbase of 90 million monthly active users. If you need help, have a question, or perhaps need a gentle nudge in the right direction then that's what the team are there for. They're not spies, or the police.

As an Ambassador, are you more likely to win a Watty Award, be Featured, win contests, or join the Creators program?

Being an Ambassador has absolutely no bearing on your potential to win a Watty, get Featured, or become a paid writer. Ambassadors do not get special treatment for things like that.

Can Ambassadors be muted/blocked?

Neither Ambassadors nor Staff can be muted/blocked by other users. If you consider an Ambassador to be using that to their own benefit then they can be reported.

Can Ambassadors ever get jobs with Wattpad?

Wattpad has job postings all the time, just like any other company, and if you find your experience and education relevant to an open position then you are welcome to apply. You don't have to be an Ambassador to apply for a job at Wattpad. If you're interested in finding out more then you can check out the Jobs page.

Do members of the team respond to Support tickets sent in via the Helpdesk?

The Helpdesk is worked by Wattpad staff only, so all replies our users get from any tickets submitted are from Wattpad staff, not from the Ambassador team.

Does Wattpad use bots to answer questions, or use bots to run profiles instead of the Ambassadors?

Responses on Ambassador run profiles are from real life Ambassadors. No bots are used on any Ambassador run profiles.

If you're an Ambassador are you obligated to help users with their writing, read their stories, follow them etc?

Ambassadors are first and foremost Wattpad users. Although they're trained to provide assistance when asked, they're under no obligation to read anything they don't want to read, follow people, or provide literary critique.

Are Wattpad Ambassadors allowed to use the Wattpad logo or other assets for their own benefit?

Ambassadors have a badge on Wattpad to enable them to go about their business as Ambassadors. That badge is only applicable for their role as Wattpad Ambassadors, and should not be used for personal reasons.

Can Ambassadors close accounts, and if they do, do they get to choose who gets removed?

Ambassadors are not allowed to close accounts or remove stories for any reason. Our Ambassadors are trained to remain neutral and impartial, and should any Ambassador have any sort of conflict of interest we expect them to declare that and to request another Ambassador to deal with the situation. Use of admin rights is restricted to paid staff and contractors only and are strictly monitored by our Trust and Safety team.

Can an ambassador bring back a deleted story?

Ambassadors cannot reinstate a story. Reinstating a deleted story has to be done via our Trust and Safety team by submitting a ticket. You can do that here.

A story will only be reinstated if the team at Wattpad agree a story has been deleted incorrectly.

You can read this article for more information.

Do Ambassadors control the Hotlists?

No, that's all done by complicated algorithms and only a few people at HQ really know exactly how they work.

Do Ambassadors decide which stories win the Wattys?

Winners are selected through a combination of data science and editorial judgment. Our Ambassadors are often involved in the process, but the final call on which stories win is down to the Wattpad staff. 

If I have a question about the Ambassador Program, who can I talk to?

Gavin. He's the International Ambassador Lead for Wattpad and in charge of all of our Ambassadors across the world. At the time of writing we have just over 500 Ambassadors who cover 50+ countries and languages. Gavin is known as TheOrangutan on Wattpad.

He's not particularly orange or hairy, but is always happy to answer any questions you might have about the Ambassadors, or what they do or you can leave a question at the end of the Ask Us Anything chapter (next one after this).