Again, I agree. If they are allowed to do something, so should everyone else. Lead by example. But the review by Elise (who chose gem choices) led to her reading about them having sex in a pool.
I know the saying is ‘any attention is good attention’ - that’s complete rubbish. Eventually, their ignorance to their own guidelines and their adamant mindset that they are a 13+ app is going to reach certain places and they will be help accountable for it.
(I’ve also seen much worse in user stories than the screenshot from your story).
I agree, Episode is at fault here no one else. The romance section is a joke (I have a romance story, I will not include sex scenes). Some of the stories that have been banned compared to those trending is hypocrisy at it’s finest. But whatever makes them money, right?
If they had stuck to their guidelines from the moment they decided them, not become lenient with certain authors and themselves, then no one would have a problem with app content.
Thank you for bringing your concerns regarding the story “In My Bed” to our attention. We have halted the full release of the story for internal review to ensure that it stands by our guidelines. We want you to know that we are taking your concerns seriously.
To be honest, when I read these types of stories on the app, I can’t help but believe that the same thirteen year old we’re trying to protect are the ones writing these stories. You can tell because none of them depict mature romantic relationships or realistic high school/college settings. It all feels like it’s coming from the point of view of someone completely inexperienced in the the subject matters they’re trying to write about.
Thank you!
I don’t want to be alienated from the community for this.
In another topic all I did was merely disagee with underrepresentaion of Jewish people in Episode and I was branded a racist! Despite the fact I have had Jewish people in my stories. It was hurtful because I actually donate to the Holocaust survivors fund.
I think people need to understand that not everyone has the same opinions. It’s doesnt make them wrong or “bad.”
I think a lot of people forget how immature 13 year old’s are. Yes, there are some who’s maturity surpass their age but at the end of the day, that doesn’t change their age. You can definitely tell when it’s a younger person writing a romance.
Totally off topic, but that pregnant by my brother shocked me. But it MAY mean she was infertile and her brother donated sperm to help her (here’s hoping)
I feel Episode will not seriously consider changing unless we do something drastic, like leaving. It seems only now are we getting a response, but it’s the same generic apology being issued to others. Maybe because of all the backlash and threats of leaving have they actually done something. However, the thing is that even with all the constant backlash nowadays, Episode knows the people complaining aren’t actually going to leave, so they brush us off. : /
I just don’t understand how they didn’t and don’t see a problem. They want us to be specific about why we have issues with the story… isn’t it obvious!?
The apology is being given everywhere because we want everyone to see it. I do not start work until 10 AM Pacific so was not even aware of this until not quite 2 hours ago. And the past 2 hours has been spent dealing with this.
That being said, this thread has some useful feedback in it. I would welcome more. The question poll the OP posted is a good example of something that is helpful for us.
In my opinion, Episode is at fault for complicity, not the original ringleader, they just had a wider influence.
Because they are a business, and a business looks at what’s trending at the moment to make products that cater to their demographic. Episode has the numbers, they look at the trending section for user stories, see what sells and notice the general formula to get a story quick attention and popularity.
I agree that Episode needs to make an example out of itself and make changes but I wouldn’t say they started publishing sexual content out of nowhere and they are the only one at fault. They KNOW the problem, but choose to not only ignore it, they are catering to it.
Guidelines are not being upheld - I commented on the pinned guidelines thread with said guidelines that have been broken.
You’ve advertised yourselves as an app suitable for readers as young as 13 - whilst some disagree, most of us feel that a number of your featured stories do not feature content suitable for readers that young. (Throughout this thread the stories that have been mentioned are: In my bed…, It started with a bra, The chain reaction series).
Content that has been featured within the story would lead to a user author being banned but because it’s an Episode own story, it’s featured. This is where the hypocrisy element has come about.
We are annoyed that featured stories are consistently the same bad boy cliche romance. Not everybody likes romance, some of us like it as a sub-genre as appose to a primary one. You have many authors from other genres you could feature or create your own instead.
We feel ignored. We feel as though we aren’t taken seriously with our concerns. As a community, our opinions should matter, especially when it affects our enjoyment of the app itself.
The app, writers portal and mobile creator are riddled with bugs and issues that we aren’t being told if they are being fixed. We are being left in the dark essentially to guess if they are being fixed or not. This takes the enjoyment out of being an author. We’d prefer to have a quality system to create than have to spend our time trying to work around errors, as well as complain about them never changing.
And again, I apologise if I made you feel ganged up on. That was never my intention at all, I think I may have got a little carried away. Although I disagree with your opinion on the story, I do agree with you about all the other points you’ve raised - fair guidelines, chain reaction e.t.c
