President Aron Levitz talks about increasing openness, community, artificial intelligence and storytelling.
Toronto Wattpad has appointed Chelsea Parry as head of product as the online storytelling and social media platform prepares for its next chapter under the auspices of digital comics producer Webtoon.
In an exclusive interview with BetaKit, Wattpad President Aron Levitz discussed why the company hired Perry and how Wattpad's strategy is evolving under her leadership.
Levitz said Perry brings a “wealth of knowledge as both a fan and an operator” from her time working with companies such as Achievers, RBC, CBC and MLSE, which will help her improve fan engagement and customer engagement on Wattpad.
“There are many places where [AI] may be a creative tool, but it is not a creative tool.”
Aaron Levitz, Wattpad
“I've spent my career at the intersection of creativity, technology and fandom, and Wattpad combines the three like no other,” Parry told BetaKit. “I’m excited to work with our teams to be part of Wattpad’s next chapter, reimagining search and discovery to connect users with incredible stories and grow our community.”
Parry joined Wattpad earlier this year and will be based in Toronto along with the majority of the company's more than 200 Canadian employees and its full leadership team (Wattpad also has a smaller presence in Halifax). She succeeds previous chief product officer Ellie Jiun Park, who came to Wattpad from Webtoon to focus on updating the user interface and back-end capabilities. Park has since returned to South Korea to focus on other Webtoon projects.
Parry will be tasked with helping Wattpad implement product features aimed at improving the accessibility of stories on the platform while giving readers and writers more ways to communicate. She will also ensure that human creativity remains at the center of Wattpad as a barrage of generative artificial intelligence (AI) hits the internet.
Wattpad was acquired by South Korean internet conglomerate Naver, which owns Webtoon, in 2021 for C$754 million.
Since then, Levitz said, Wattpad and Webtoon have shared intellectual property (IP) and users, integrated their technology and some services, and worked together to develop both platforms.
This work included merger Wattpad's film and television division and digital comics studio Webtoon are overseen by Levitz, who led the combined organization until he stepped down from that role to focus his efforts entirely on running Wattpad. Levitz was named co-president from Wattpad late last year along with KB Nam and became sole president in May when Nam returned to South Korea to lead Webtoon's IP business.
“I think we've done a really good job of finding a balance between shared services to work more efficiently and learn from each other, and to allow each platform to grow differently and in ways that make sense for the existing community,” Levitz said.
Wattpad has become a hub for YA, romance, and fan fiction. Together, Wattpad and Webtoon are home to 155 million monthly active users and 26 million creators from around the world who have created 64 million games worldwide.
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Like many other Canadian tech companies, Wattpad has endured several rounds of layoffs in recent years amid worsening market conditions, including staff reductions. early 2023 And early 2024. Levitz said the changes marked an effort to “right-size our team in response to the changing economic environment.”
Levitz said Wattpad now has the right team to execute its strategy, which he said entails an increased focus on growing fandom and community on its platform.
“When I look at what we needed to change, a lot of it goes back to what made us Wattpad, what made us unique in the world,” Levitz said. “Wattpad has never been a bookstore. It's not a solitary experience where you browse through rows of content or books, pick one off the shelf and sit down and read it on your own. It's really always been about creators, about authors who have an idea, who can publish their first chapter and create a fandom.”
Levitz said Wattpad is working to make its free product as compelling as its paid content and to make it easier for readers to find stories on its platform with updated search capabilities and new personalization features.
“Finding that first story as quickly as possible is a key investment we want to make,” Levitz said.
To that end, Levitz says Wattpad is rolling out improved search products (something he says the company has neglected for years), as well as polls (a new way for readers to interact with stories) and series (to let readers know that creators have created directly related stories).
Levitz noted that the company is also working to improve its advertising and subscription services, which are feature-based rather than paywall-based.
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“When you think about these four big pillars, [user-generated content]enhanced discovery, social connections and improving our subscription [and] advertising experience, it really sets the roadmap for us not only for 2026, but for the next several years,” Levitz said.
Levitz said subscriptions and advertising are the “major driver” of Wattpad's business – hence the increased investment. He also noted that adapting Wattpad stories into films and other content through Webtoon Productions (formerly Wattpad Webtoon Studios) is also an “extremely growing” piece of the overall Webtoon pie.
While Wattpad aims to take advantage of the benefits of artificial intelligence, Levitz stressed that human creativity has been and will continue to be at the core of Wattpad in the future.
Levitz said Wattpad will never be a website where people come to create stories based on AI suggestions, but he said the company sees opportunities to provide AI tools to support writers and use technology to help readers find stories more easily.
“There are many places where [AI] may be a creative tool, but it’s not a creative tool, and that’s very important to us,” Levitz said.
All images courtesy of Wattpad.
