Bryan Cogman, story editor, writer of “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things” and the awesome “What Is Dead May Never Die” (still the most-liked episode of the second season according to fans at the A Song of Ice and Fire forum), and a fellow fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, has deactivated his twitter account. Why? Bryan explains in a statement he wrote that he’s asked us to share, and you can read it below:
Hi all,
In light of a few messages I’ve received, I feel the need to explain my Twitter defection. Will try to keep this brief, as there are a lot more important things happening in the world that need our attention.
The hashtag was immature. I’m sorry I put it that way. It was an emotional reaction after a long day. I don’t regret leaving Twitter, but I should have been more respectful, since that’s what I was asking of fans. Apologies for that.
It was not an easy thing for me to do, as I really enjoy Twitter and interacting with fans of the show, some of whom have become friends. And I absolutely recognize that the majority of you have been nothing but positive and supportive. So if my leaving Twitter has disappointed you, I’m sorry. Of course, it’s important to remember I’m not dead. I’ll still engage with the fan community, I’ll still check the message boards from time to time, do interviews, etc… I just won’t be on Twitter. Really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. You’re not gonna miss that much—; the majority of my tweets were promoting the show (which needs no help from me) or talking about the weirdos that hang out in my coffee shop. But I truly appreciate the notes of support I’ve received.
I also want to make clear that this isn’t a reaction to people who’ve asked me questions or expressed concerns in a kind and/or respectful way. I wish I could have made people understand that I’m not in a position to answer questions about why certain characters were absent this season or why we changed a particular storyline… but many of you asked those questions with good intentions, so please know this isn’t directed at you.
Which brings me to the reason I’ve decided to leave. Some people weren’t so nice. They’d either rant at me about what they didn’t like or, at their worst, insult me and my bosses. I realized today I was spending too much time weighing on how/if I should respond and being frustrated by the negativity. And I felt like I was being punished for opening myself up to viewers. I concluded it was just distracting me too much, taking up too much of my time and energy and running the risk of affecting my work. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time and a few choice tweets from some disgruntled fans just pushed me over the edge—; hence the hasty farewell tweet.
Everyone’s entitled to express themselves on Twitter and if I have a public Twitter feed, I’m opening myself up to both the good and the bad. So, no more public Twitter feed. I’m going to follow the practice of my fellow GoT writers and just concentrate on doing a good show. Please know, from the bottom of my heart, I hope you all enjoy these next two episodes of our adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire and all the episodes to follow. And if you don’t, that’s okay too, really it is… I’d just rather not hear about it anymore.
Thanks, and all the best,
B
It’s pure class of Bryan to explain and not leave people wondering, and we know fans appreciate it. Personally, I’m sorry that Bryan’s been driven to this because a portion of the viewers decided that someone on the Internet could be their punching bag, that their anonymity meant they could unload their animosity without having to worry about civility or politeness or being a reasonable human beings. And so the only writer on the show, who chatted with fans, who answered those questions that he could answer, has left Twitter—and that sucks.
Many thanks to Bryan for having waded into Twitter, and to those fans who’ve treated him with respect—and if you had an issue with the show and tweeted him respectfully about it, you know, that’s all right, and you’ve done nothing wrong; it’s not like people coordinated campaigns, right? But for those of you who weren’t respectful or who kept yelling at him when you knew he didn’t have the ability to explain or change whatever it was you were annoyed about? Shame on you.