Outlander showrunner makes Twitter account private allegedly due to fans

It’s a sad day for Sassenachs. Outlander showrunner Matt B. Roberts has made his Twitter account private. Why? Some fans may have something to do with it.

Matt B. Roberts’ Twitter account was one of the best in the Outlander fandom. He shared updates on the production process and photos he took while filming. He also engaged with fans.

Update: Since writing this, Matt Roberts has deleted his Twitter account completely and made his Instagram account private.

All that makes it extra sad that I’m sharing the news that the showrunner has made his Twitter account private. It’s impossible to see any of his tweets, old or new. Why would he do that? It’s allegedly due to some fans.

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Granted, these fans are in the minority, but there is no excuse. Some fans have tweeted to him and the rest of the show production about a particular writer — the one who has written the upcoming episode. It turns out this writer has written the episodes that many fans dislike the most (“Creme de Menthe,” “Uncharted,” “Do No Harm“) and now some fans are hateful towards her because they’re worried about Sunday’s episode.

This is not on. Why are people attacking someone personally? If this is true, it’s sad that the series’ showrunner has to privatize his Twitter account to prevent people tweeting him.

Opinions are one thing, but there’s absolutely no reason to throw hateful comments around. People tend to do it online because they can hide behind a computer. It’s easy to forget that there is someone reading those comments on the other side.

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“Freedom of speech” is something that a lot who throw negativity around state, but freedom of speech does definitely not mean freedom from consequences. The consequences now are that we don’t get to read the insightful comments from Roberts. And this could lead to other members of the production staff shutting down their Twitter feeds.

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Also, I want to take this time to point out that while there’s one lead writer, the scripts are a collaborative effort. Those parts you don’t like may not necessarily directly be from the lead writer involved.

While I’ve not seen anything to confirm Roberts has shut his Twitter account to private because of fans, it sadly wouldn’t surprise me if this was the truth. I’ve seen some of the hateful words people have written. Even if Roberts shut his account down for other reasons, this behavior needs to stop anyway.

Personally, I didn’t hate all three episodes the way others did. There were some elements I disliked, but other parts that I adored completely. Now I’m looking forward to Sunday’s episode.

Outlander Season 4, Episode 12 airs on Jan. 20 at 8/7c on STARZ.