Saying goodbye to Twitter for the foreseeable future is the extremely busy Steven Moffat who confounded fans looking to mention him in their praise for Dinosaurs on a Spaceship this Saturday when he quit the social media site.
Despite mentioning days previous that he was looking for a way to limit who could follow or tweet him, according to his wife and producing partner at Hartswood Films, Sue Vertue, took to Twitter to say Moffat simply doesn’t have time to tweet anymore:
For all asking @stevenmoffat is well and currently having a family lunch but he’s got a huge amount on and twitter was proving a distraction
— sue vertue (@suevertue) September 9, 2012
However, the eagle-eyed amongst you may have spotted that the account mentioned in her tweet isn’t Steven Moffat’s – its an older, fake account - leading to this very telling reply:
Obviously the new @stevenmoffat is an imposter and not The Moff.It’s just these sort of idiots that ruin Twitter for the majority of users
— sue vertue (@suevertue) September 9, 2012
Now, it could just be a general comment on the trolling, dishonest and downright rude faction of Twitter users who spread insults on the site or it could be just a little piece of the abuse that Moffat has clearly had enough of.
Whatever his reasons, only time will tell if Moffat decides to one day to reengage true Doctor Who fans who don’t bait the show’s fantastic creative team.
Sadly, I’ve seen comment suggesting that his reasons for deleting the account were due to some rather direct and threatening messages. Regardless of people’s opinions of a script, casting or the direction of the show, it’s no excuse for this kind of behaviour. Sadly, the wider community of fans lose out on this little window that occasionally gave us a hint of what goes on in that Moffat mind. A shame.
I did wonder about this, but wasn’t able to find anything myself to back it up.
Pretty disgusting behaviour, frankly. If you’re reading this and you’re responsible, go read a different website – we don’t want you here.
I kind of think though that if you’re engaging with the fans when being so high profile then you’re asking for trouble. Who history shows that – you only have to look at JNT. I’m not condoning the behaviour of those who do the cross the line but you have to take the rough with the smooth when online. For all the decent people out there, there are some absolute morons as well.
I think there’s a line between constructive criticism of an episode and the kind of forum ranting that goes on GB and similar places.
Sadly direct access to the creators of the show makes people feel they can express their opinion in direct terms. Personally, if I disliked an episode, the last thing I’d think of doing would be to contact its creator and tell them so.
I guess you’re right Gavin, there’s an element of ‘take the rough with the smooth, and that’s what the block button is for. One can only assume this crossed the line much further, or annoyed to the extent that he felt it was disruptive.
Christian – Phil Ford’s twitter account should illuminate you.
Oh, I see Twitter has unfollowed Phil Ford again… 8)