Inside the Conan O'Brien Twitter Explosion

By Zach Dionne Posted Mar 3rd 2010 06:20PM

It took just seven tweets in as many days to garner Conan O'Brien half a million followers. Whoa. Conan, whose Twitter bio reads, "I had a show. Then I had a different show. Now I have a Twitter account," has skyrocketed to must-follow status since... well, since his very first tweet.

His eighth tweet popped up this afternoon -- yes, each tweet seems dang near newsworthy -- and was retweeted more than 100 times in two minutes.

Why is it that an iconic? It took an insightful user like Roger Ebert months to notch 90,000 followers, but Conan's Twitter army has multiplied at an unprecedented rate in a single week. Chalk it up to the "I'm with Coco" slogan still banging around in our collective consciousness -- or perhaps the simple fact that even in 140 characters or less, Conan's trademark humor and sensibility is loud and clear:

While celebrities have registered Twitter accounts en masse, Conan has never taken a traditional approach. Before the deliberately-paced tweets on his personal account started a sensation, he debuted a segment on his 'Tonight Show' called TwitterTracker, which compiled the best (see: most mundane, absurd) celebrity tweets and then commented on them with hilarious, capitalized rhymes.

When Conan's newest tweet hits the feed, office workers around America (and here at PopEater) shout cross-cubicle recaps to each other. Then we wait. We laugh. We retweet.

Conan's tremendous start on Twitter not only highlights the level of excitement his return to television would be met with, it also reminds us that regardless of the medium Big Red chooses, he's always going to make us laugh.

Tags: celebrity twitter, conan obrien, twitter

Comments

(29)

Wednesday 03 March

By abbyvlle

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Amusing, I guess.

By nicolle

Conan needs to grow up and quit blaming Leno. He was lousy that is why he lost his job. Admit it and get over it. It is so easy to blame somebody else for you failures. He is so inmature........I could always blame somebody for thing that go wrong but the truth is you are responsible for your own failures.......so take it like a man................He ended up with millions so I do not think he did so bad.........find a new job.

Thursday 04 March

I do not know who changed my note about Conan but I am not a jerk Conan is and he needs to take responsibility for his actions and grow up. He made millions and he was lousy.

By H

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My respect for PopEater went up with this story - because you're absolutely right. Conan's iconic humor is transcribed perfectly in miniature every day, which grants us Conan fans just a little bit of daily random joy. In honesty, I have laughed more over eight little tweets than I have in eighteen years of watching.... well - someone else.

By Andi

I don't get the big hairy deal about Twitter. Or Conan, for that matter. I'm glad Jay's back but Letterman isn't sinse he's had his A@@ kicked 2 days in a row! HA HA!

By gobig

Seriously, you tweeters need to get a life...or a job...or a hobby.

By Brent R Jones

If Conan were listed on the stock exchange, COB as symbol, I would invest heavily right now.

By James

Yeah but Brent you're an idiot, so that won't fly. It was cute though, what you did with the "stock symbol."

Let's list Conan on the NYSE with symbol COB and give him a strong BUY.

By Mike Myers

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I agree Conan is a nice guy and so is Jay who’s being dumped on and blamed for Conan losing the Tonight Show. NBC’s Executives are the ones responsible for making the Idiot decisions not Jay.

Now Letterman on the other hand can be funny but needs to treat his guests with more respect by honoring their wishes not to ask about certain subjects. He thinks he’s being funny rather then rude and out of line.

By Susan

Makes no difference to me who is on late night..I like my 8 hours of sleep and have to wake up at 6 am weekday mornings. I guess if you can function on 5-6 hours sleep or don't have a job, who is on late night is a factor for you...

Friday 05 March

By ippie

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Someone should really invent something that records TV so that you can watch it whenever you want.

You think there'd be a market for that?

Conan was lousy that is why his show failed. He needs to grow up and quit blaming everybody for his failures..........he was not even funny.........just a jerk.

By aevf101

Thanks Pop Eater, It's nice to know that Conan O Brien can do something well!

By nicollle

Sorry everyone, what I meant to say was Conan was funny even though his show failed. I need to grow up and quit blaming everybody for my failures..........he was very funny.........I am just a jerk.

Oops, sorry! What I meant to write was....I need to grow up and quit being so negative. He was funny even though he lost his job. I admit it and I'll get over it. It is so easy for me to blame somebody else for my failures. I am so inmature........I always blame somebody for things that go wrong but the truth is I am responsible for my own failures.......so I'll take it like a man(?)................He ended up with millions so I do not think he did so bad.........I'll try to find a new job after I get out of rehab.

Thursday 11 March

By Doris

Hey Nicolle...you better give up while youre ahead! Leno did not do anything to Conan. If you want to blame someone, blame NBC, they started the whole mess to begin with. And youre right, you do need to grow up and get the facts straight!:P

By Donna

Conan sucked plain and simple. If he was that great that show would never have been canceled. He was not funny period. His ratings were awful, he let letterman get to no. 1 in ratings. It is not Leno's fault I wish you people would read the facts before you open your big mouths. Dont feel sorry for him he walked away with what 30 million dollars.

By Dean

Its really quite simple,Conan is a total failure.

By CC

All you morons going on about Conan sucking seem to be forgetting the fact that Jay had super low ratings when he began, and NBC honored their contract with him and gave it a year or two, and THEN he went up in the ratings and became number one. Mostly because of a specific interview with a guest that got him attention, not because he was suddenly funny. He isn't, he's a jerk.

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