Fan sites are important. They have all the information for our favorite shows and we know that the news we’re getting is coming from people who do love the property in question. But sometimes, those sites have to come to an end and it is a sad day for us all. Which is why saying goodbye to Outlander Online is not a happy occasion. The website, which was dedicated to the world of Outlander, posted a series of images on Instagram sharing that the popular fansite would be coming to an end because the site itself took too much time away from the moderators.
“After 11 years of covering Outlander we’ve come to the decision that we won’t be able to do it anymore,” the post reads. “It’s not a decision we’ve made lightly. We know how much fans rely on the site. To be honest we’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Being on social media as much as we are and updating the site and all the social media accounts linked to it is too much work and has taken an emotional toll on us.” The post goes on to say that it has “taken a lot of time away from our friends and family. We can’t keep doing this to ourselves.”
Much like the show itself, the publication started in 2014, the same year Outlander premiered. The Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan led series has amassed a large following throughout its run, with Season 8 of the series bringing Jamie and Claire’s love story to its conclusion. The site, which has over 25k followers on Instagram, kept fans up to date with news, interviews, and more from the series. But one of the reasons that the team behind Outlander Online have chosen to stop the site is due to the increasing use of AI and deep fakes in the world. “In this age of AI and deep fakes, we don’t think it’s a good idea to keep the site up. There’s way too much on there. The site will still be up for another month, please grab what you need on there during that time.”
Outlander Online Thanks Their Fans
In their closing post, the two moderators shared that they were grateful to the fans who have made their site special. “To all the fans that have been with us from the start or joined us along the way, thank you! You are what has kept us going for so long. We ‘ll miss you and miss chatting with you. This fandom has given us a lot and we’re so grateful to you. We’ll check in once in a while.” The site is coming to an end as the new spin-off series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, has begun airing on Starz.The site closed their statement with a quote from one of creators of Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne, writing: “It’s not easy saying goodbye and it breaks our heart to do it. In the long run we firmly believe it is for the best for us. In the words of A.A. Milne: ‘How lucky am I to have something that makes it so hard to say goodbye.’”
You can watch Outlander, the show that inspired the site, to catch up in time for Season 8.
Outlander
- Release Date
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August 9, 2014
- Showrunner
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Matthew B. Roberts
