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How Much Help Is Conan Getting With His Twitter?

By Zach Dionne Posted Apr 7th 2010 08:00PM

The New York Times has an interesting look at Conan O'Brien's path from "Web Luddite" to Twitter phenomenon, speaking to a handful of anonymous staffers and prompting the question: Exactly how many staffers does it take to run a Twitter feed?

Ridicule is arriving for lines like "Assisted by his executive producer, Jeff Ross, and personal friends, Mr. O'Brien signed up for Twitter in late February." It seems Conan's March 2 post -- "This is how many people it took to write today's tweet," which came with a photo of more than a dozen staffers crowded around a laptop (pictured above) -- may have been half-serious.

The Times story inspired the topic #helpingconan on Twitter, garnering jabs like, "Conan's sound engineer turned on his car radio," and "Conan's lighting director changed the batteries in his flashlight," both from Roger Ebert. (By the way, when exactly does Ebert see these "movies" he's always "reviewing"? Dude tweets more than ?uestlove!)

Jokes aside, the Times story has some interesting insights into Conan's meteoric Internet rise in his post-NBC days:

Mr. O'Brien's staff members said they had a vague sense that they should set up a personal site for the comedian, but it happened only through adversity, after Mr. O'Brien rejected NBC's plan to move 'Tonight' to 12:05 a.m.

"It's the kind of change that only happens when it's forced," said a friend of Mr. O'Brien's. "Out of it can come real creativity."

Writing about the possibility of a new show this fall (Conan's $40 million NBC buyout prohibits him from appearing on television until September), the Times wrote that Coco's producers would continue mining the loyal online fan base and "cross-pollinate television and the Web."

"We could be the first to bridge the gap, if we're smart to engage it," a senior member of Conan's staff said.

It was also reported TeamCoco.com will begin hosting a tour blog by Aaron Bleyaert, a former 'Tonight Show' blogger, when Conan's live comedy run kicks off next week.

For more, check out PopEater's interview with one of the biggest winners of Web-savvy Conan, the artist behind the now-famous 'I'm With Coco' graphic.

Tags: conan obrien, new york times, twitter

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Wednesday 07 April

By fnbaked

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Go away conan~! you were let go because we are all sick of of you and yours controlling the media.
It's over, you got your undeserved millions just like all the other monney grubbing exiles.

Thursday 08 April

By tED kRAMER

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

why dont you go away, you stupid republican

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