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 Amanda

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

I 100% agree with you. It's also too bad that the two most popular segments he does he didn't even create himself because David Letterman came up with Headlines and he stole Jaywalking from Howard Stern

It's too bad Jay Leno can't get over himself.

Thursday 04 March

By nicolle

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

way to go Donna, my feelings exactly...............Nicolle

By abbyvlle

Vote down Vote up Report this

And don't forget it! hee hee

By lisa

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

this guy needs to go away!!! he is sooo distasteful, not funny and OVER enuf is enuf mr obrien you are not and never were funny!

By ycav4424

He's better, no he's better. Ya but he sucks, no he sucks. He sucks worse, he sucks more then him. He's not funny either. Duh!

By jyhubb2

C,mon people,put your business hat on. Leno was num one in that slot for 17 years. What bone head decided to mess with that? For those old enough to rem Johnny Carson handed his show over to Jay for a reason...success. Conan prob whined,kissed butt or had something juicy on the person that created the screw up. In any event Conan was never meant to have the Tonight Show. He lacks the talent to carry a Carson hand over. Rem Leno number one for 17 straight years,lets give the man his credit.

Actually, Johnny Carson wanted Letterman, not Leno to replace him

Wednesday 10 March

By tweettweet

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

CONAN IS THE BEST!!!!!!!! You people who are here bashing Conan go to the Leno page! Douchbags! CONAN CONAN CONAN

Page 2 of 2