One Tweet, 180,000 followers.

February 25, 2010 10:31 AM

Conan O'Brien joins Twitter. His first tweet gave him six times Jay Leno's entire Twitter following.
posted by misha (108 comments total)

Am I the only person who expected his twitter icon to be the cartoon Conan-head from the bumps?
posted by The Whelk at 10:32 AM on February 25, 2010

He who dies with the most tweets wins, right?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:37 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

To be fair, Jay Leno's tweets are all wacky headlines from the news, followed by wacky emoticons or sound effects. That shit gets old fast, especially when your dad has been trying his hand at it for the last 3 months.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:37 AM on February 25, 2010

If Conan did a web show where he had the same quality guests and no censors I would watch it.
posted by codacorolla at 10:38 AM on February 25, 2010 [8 favorites]

Jay Leno is the world's most unfunny overpaid fat-faced blowhard.
posted by dunkadunc at 10:38 AM on February 25, 2010 [20 favorites]

I'm not ashamed to say I followed him as soon as I saw he was on Twitter. I think Ebert sent a message out about it?

Either way, he's a fantastic guy and I hope he gets back in show business soon.
posted by flatluigi at 10:39 AM on February 25, 2010

"If Conan did a web show where he had the same quality guests and no censors I would watch it."

But would you PAY (in some form) to watch it? Because otherwise, why would he do that? I mean, if Conan came to my house and did a live version of his show for me and my wife I'd certainly watch it, but I can't see why he would do it.
posted by joelhunt at 10:42 AM on February 25, 2010 [4 favorites]

It's kind of amazing to go to his twitter page, reload a few rapid times in succession and watch the "followers" number consistently jump up by at least 5 each time.
posted by pziemba at 10:43 AM on February 25, 2010 [9 favorites]

Holy crap, it goes up by 10-15 each reload!
posted by Salvor Hardin at 10:46 AM on February 25, 2010

I REALLY hope Conan uses his Twitter stream to heckle the new Tonight Show in real time.
posted by dirtdirt at 10:46 AM on February 25, 2010 [19 favorites]

But does he have more fans than Nickelback?
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 10:47 AM on February 25, 2010

Oh god a live heckling would be amazing. But I'd imagine he wants to stay classy.
posted by cavalier at 10:48 AM on February 25, 2010

No wonder nobody is following Jay's feed, it's just ads for his show and doesn't even pretend to be done by him. If you already like Jay you already know his show exists and will watch it without yet more third-person style ads. If you don't like Jay then you already know his show exists and will not watch it no matter how many ads are out there. Therefore his twitter feed shouldn't even exist.
posted by amethysts at 10:50 AM on February 25, 2010

Jay Leno is the world's most unfunny overpaid fat-faced blowhard.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:38 PM

Leno is Limbaugh?
posted by kuujjuarapik at 10:51 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wait so you're saying that Conan is six times more self-absorbed and douchey than Jay?
posted by Mister_A at 10:52 AM on February 25, 2010

I would watch a web show with advertising, of course. I mean, Conan is already a rich dude. It just makes me wonder if he would need to sign with a major studio to get that done, or if he could make his own studio and produce it independently or through an existant and popular site, like Vimeo, or FunnyorDie.
posted by codacorolla at 10:52 AM on February 25, 2010

TWITTER TRACKER TWITTER TRACKER TWITTER TRACKER!
posted by moviehawk at 10:58 AM on February 25, 2010 [10 favorites]

I wonder what Kevin Eubanks's twitter feed would look like...

@JayLeno Heh, heh, hehh!
10:53 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator

@JayLeno Ah, naww, man. Heh, heh!
10:51 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator

@JayLeno That's cold! Heh, heh.
10:50 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator

Strums E string.
10:45 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator

@JayLeno Heh, heh, hehh!
10:41 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:58 AM on February 25, 2010 [113 favorites]

I get tired of the how many followers thing. I did an analysis on my follower count recently and found that 20%+ were fallow (no updates in over 100 days). Take someone like Ashton Kutcher, who is probably followed by a hell of a lot of spammers, Social Media scammers, and the people who joined up when Ophra told them to, followed him and her, and never signed in again, and I bet he's got at least a million ghost accounts.

I set out at one point to get an account to 15k in 15 days. It took me 30, but I got sick in there, so am still convinced I could do it if I wanted to. If someone wants to bet me $20,000 grand that I can't get more followers that Leno has now (30,424) by the end of April I'd take them up on it. I promise I would even use any software other than a web browser to do it (and only twitter's site), but you'd really have to pay me to do that much clicking.

Hell, on one of my accounts I've blocked nearly 7,000 people.

Anyway, just pointing out that follower counts are a stupid metric.

Also, not quite sure I get this post. Celebrities join twitter all the time. They get a lot of followers. This isn't exactly noteworthy.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:58 AM on February 25, 2010

But would you PAY (in some form) to watch it?

I would!
posted by The Deej at 10:58 AM on February 25, 2010

The Dalai Lama has a twitter account.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:59 AM on February 25, 2010

What is this evidence of? That Twitter is some kind of barometer for the audience that tunes into late-night? Clearly, it isn't.

The people who use Twitter are not Jay's audience. Conan has a younger, connected audience, while Jay does not. However, Jay's audience is clearly larger and better represents the demo that the NBC affiliates are interested in.

In conclusion, Jay sucks a fatty, but so does Twitter, so this post proves nothing.
posted by jstef at 11:00 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
posted by swift at 11:03 AM on February 25, 2010 [8 favorites]

Call me when there's more than one "tweet".




On second thought, don't.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 11:03 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

I wonder what Kevin Eubanks's twitter feed would look like...

Atom Eyes, that was hilarious.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 11:05 AM on February 25, 2010

But would you PAY (in some form) to watch it? Because otherwise, why would he do that? I mean, if Conan came to my house and did a live version of his show for me and my wife I'd certainly watch it, but I can't see why he would do it.

I'm not sure if this is common knowledge, but Conan has always been free to watch.
posted by hellphish at 11:06 AM on February 25, 2010

I have to admit to following Conan. Ebert, too. I swear my IQ has gone up since I started following Ebert.
posted by tommasz at 11:11 AM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

He's still got it!
posted by chugg at 11:20 AM on February 25, 2010

In conclusion, Jay sucks a fatty, but so does Twitter, so this post proves nothing.

Fine! We'll get off your lawn, you grumpy cuss.
posted by grubi at 11:22 AM on February 25, 2010

Jay Leno is the world's most unfunny overpaid fat-faced blowhard.

Or possibly Kim Jong-Il. But at least he didn't oust Conan.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:24 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

I swear my IQ has gone up since I started following Ebert.

Me too! Ebert may well be my favorite Celebutwit. He posts funny comments and pictures, plus quality links that I usually haven't seen elsewhere!

Conan's inaugural tweet was pretty funny, though. I'm looking forward to seeing how he uses the site. And I can't wait to find out what kind of show he makes next. Jay Leno is an enemy of laughter. Now and forever, I'm with Coco!
posted by EatTheWeak at 11:25 AM on February 25, 2010

@JayLeno Heh, heh, hehh!
10:53 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator

@JayLeno Ah, naww, man. Heh, heh!
10:51 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator

@JayLeno That's cold! Heh, heh.
10:50 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator

Strums E string.
10:45 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator

@JayLeno Heh, heh, hehh!
10:41 PM Mar 5th via Twittelator

Deposits enormous paycheck at ATM
12:01 AM Mar 6th via Twittelator
posted by Pollomacho at 11:25 AM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure if this is common knowledge, but Conan has always been free to watch.

Sure, but advertisers don't pay online anywhere near what they pay on the air, even for the same audience size (if you can manage that). Although Conan's stuff was probably on Hulu, wasn't it? But that's a pretty locked down environment, and they've been rumbling about making people pay for Hulu anyway...
posted by wildcrdj at 11:26 AM on February 25, 2010

Is number of Twitter followers the new "A Google search for $X returns 40,000 results, so we can conclude that it's important!" Because I hate that.
posted by echo target at 11:31 AM on February 25, 2010

I, too, would watch Conan if he showed up at joelhunt's house.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:31 AM on February 25, 2010

I, too, would watch Conan if he showed up at joelhunt's house.

It's cool, we've got a v-section, so there's room. Andy's going to have to sit in kind of a rickedy rocking-chair, though.
posted by joelhunt at 11:35 AM on February 25, 2010

If Conan did a web show where he had the same quality guests and no censors I would watch it.

This makes me think of Tom Green, and I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or not.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:36 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's not the tweet that got Conan his followers, it's the promotion that was done for him by very active celebs, mashable etc. (right after his account was verified). If they would have promoted Jay the same way, the sheep would also be following him in comparable numbers.

Still, Conan can't beat Bill Gates' new follower count per minute :P

And yes, i follow Alyssa Milano. Mea Culpa
posted by Leon Backwards at 11:37 AM on February 25, 2010

Also: to respond to the earlier comment about ghost-followers, and the general twitter griping...

This has been 200,000 or so followers, not just in a single day, but in the time-span of about an afternoon. I guess that some of those could be spammers, or whatever, but are half of them? I would say probably not. Who cares if they keep following, that's a lot of interest in what (is, ostensibly) a pretty profitable market. A market that doesn't seem to give a shit about Jay Leno.
posted by codacorolla at 11:39 AM on February 25, 2010

Re-edited Leno promo, courtesy of Team CoCo.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:45 AM on February 25, 2010 [3 favorites]

For the record, most of Jay's audience doesn't know what a "twitter" is and still thinks that his "using a search engine to get 'funny' results bits are pretty cutting edge.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:49 AM on February 25, 2010

Even though it got verified, I'm still not buying this is Conan personally.

Neither the profile nor the single tweet get his "voice" very well. ("Throw to commercial" is to "insider-tv-guy," which Conan is emphatically not.) My money is on some PR people over at Fox promoting his forthcoming show.
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:55 AM on February 25, 2010

I mean, Conan is already a rich dude.

Kind of, but he has probably got a lot of overhead. He just can't buy a semi-detached house out in the Valley and send his kids to state college... or I suppose he could, but part of the game he's in is to buy the fancy house, the fancy schools, the clothes, the cars, the staff (he's selling his New York residence for $35M, which indicates that his living expenses are about 1000X as much as the average American), just like the rest of the folks in his niche. Conan could probably get by on a much lower budget, but then again, would anyone hire him to host the Tonight Show if he lived in a Co-Op?

Hollywood stars may make a lot of money, but they're also trapped in an expensive lifestyle. The only way to get out is to leave the industry, and I don't think many want to do that.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:56 AM on February 25, 2010

I also don't think Conan himself would lead off with one tweet and then ignore his fans. Tweet #2 is probably waiting for legal approval in some Fox PR office somewhere.
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:57 AM on February 25, 2010

I can't help but agree with what ben said on infomania, if you weren't watching the conan show, but wanted it to be on the air, it's your fault it was gone. I like conan, but i despise the late night show format. So i never watched his show. Fine, it's my fault conan was cancelled. I'm sorry, but at the same time i don't care.
posted by djduckie at 12:00 PM on February 25, 2010

Is anyone else hoping for massive heckling during Leno's show on Monday?
posted by eyeballkid at 12:01 PM on February 25, 2010

I would watch a web show with advertising, of course. I mean, Conan is already a rich dude. It just makes me wonder if he would need to sign with a major studio to get that done, or if he could make his own studio and produce it independently or through an existant and popular site, like Vimeo, or FunnyorDie.

He just can't buy a semi-detached house out in the Valley and send his kids to state college.

The image of Conan of all people as some kind of jet-set Hollywood playboy is pretty funny. I don't know him personally, but I am 100% sure it has never been about money for him. It's about excellence, and getting to the top of your profession. He grew up watching Carson, and the Tonight Show is (was?) the pinnacle of his chosen profession. Having a little web show on Will Ferrel's bullshit vanity website isn't quite the same thing.
posted by drjimmy11 at 12:03 PM on February 25, 2010 [3 favorites]

That said, I'm sure he likes nice things, and providing them for his family. Which is why he will be on Fox in the fall.
posted by drjimmy11 at 12:04 PM on February 25, 2010

if Conan came to my house and did a live version of his show for me and my wife I'd certainly watch it

That's where we diverge.
posted by signal at 12:04 PM on February 25, 2010

ConansSquirrel: @ConanOBrien I thought the interview went really well!
about 18 hours ago via web in reply to ConanOBrien
posted by cashman at 12:07 PM on February 25, 2010 [7 favorites]

Am I the only person who expected his twitter icon to be the cartoon Conan-head from the bumps?

I have a feeling that the cartoon Conan is probably NBC's intellectual property. Remember how Letterman had to subtly rename some of his ongoing bits from Late Night because NBC still claimed Larry "Bud" Melman, The Top 10 List, and other IP as their own? I look forward to a similar retooling when Conan finally lands somewhere later this year.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:09 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

I love Conan but hate Twitter. I'm so conflicted.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:11 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

I guess that some of those could be spammers, or whatever, but are half of them?

Oh, never implied it was half. But different fads come and go on twitter to scam people. One of these was to follow someone like @thatkevinsmith, then after you drop off his top page of followers, unfollow and refollow. This way anyone that thinks, let's see who else is following him....now sees you at the top and there's a chance you may get a follow. Dumb, but persasive enough that twitter had to crack down on it. Also, spam accounts attract spam accounts. One of the things some of the auto-follow softwares do is grab ahold of accounts by basically crawling them. So if you have lots of followers you are a bigger target for more spammers. They follow and then try to follow all your followers. Etc. And since celebrities seldom block anyone they get a lot more spammers than most people.

Out of the 80 most recent followers 13 were obvious spammers. And this was a brand new account. Wait until they figure out it's out there.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:13 PM on February 25, 2010

he's selling his New York residence for $35M, which indicates that his living expenses are about 1000X as much as the average American

No it doesn't. It indicates he owns a house he thinks is worth $35M.

would anyone hire him to host the Tonight Show if he lived in a Co-Op?

Have you seen the crappy apartments that some of your elected officials live in here in Washington?

Hollywood stars may make a lot of money, but they're also trapped in an expensive lifestyle.

I don't believe that for a second. You can project an image of total success without a $35 million apartment.
posted by Pollomacho at 12:14 PM on February 25, 2010

I love Conan but hate Twitter. I'm so conflicted.

I'm betting Delmoi hates them both.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:15 PM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

Jay Leno is the world's most unfunny overpaid fat-faced blowhard.

It's true. Glenn Beck is pretty funny. And so is Jeremy Clarkson.
posted by The World Famous at 12:16 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

I would watch a web show with advertising, of course. I mean, Conan is already a rich dude. It just makes me wonder if he would need to sign with a major studio to get that done, or if he could make his own studio and produce it independently or through an existant and popular site, like Vimeo, or FunnyorDie.

I think a nightly Conan show on Vimeo would be killer, and give them a mighty bludgeon to use against Youtube. Of course, given Conan's obvious connections with Will Ferrell, I'd be very surprised if they weren't talking about doing something on FunnyOrDie as well.

The more I think about it, the more excited I get about the idea of Conan and other like-minded TV folks jumping to the internet and letting the networks wither and die. We're all going to be watching internet-enabled TV in the next ten years anyway (I am already, thanks to Hulu and Boxee), so why not just go for it?
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:18 PM on February 25, 2010

I wonder what Kevin Eubanks's twitter feed would look like...

Brilliant.
posted by brundlefly at 12:19 PM on February 25, 2010

I don't believe that for a second. You can project an image of total success without a $35 million apartment.

I don't disagree with you at all, but you should acknowledge the fact that Conan O'Brian is does own a property (a townhouse, as the article indicates, not a house) worth $35M (and as the article indicates, he is trying to sell it), besides whatever housing he owns in LA.

My point was that although Conan might seem rich, he has an expensive lifestyle (see $35M townhouse), and it takes a lot of revenue to maintain that lifestyle.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:24 PM on February 25, 2010

My point was that although Conan might seem rich, he has an expensive lifestyle (see $35M townhouse), and it takes a lot of revenue to maintain that lifestyle.

Able to afford expensive lifestyle = Rich.
posted by The World Famous at 12:32 PM on February 25, 2010

I wonder what Kevin Eubanks's twitter feed would look like...

Left out one: "@JayLeno Whaaaat??" (for when Jay says something that only a clueless un-hip white guy would say).
posted by muffuletta at 12:36 PM on February 25, 2010

If Conan wants to improve his image of having an expensive lifestyle, he really should trade in his 1992 Ford Taurus.
posted by zsazsa at 12:37 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

But would you PAY (in some form) to watch it?
like I pay for NBC? dude, it doesn't mean you have to pay, it means someone has to pay. huge difference.

Holy crap, it goes up by 10-15 each reload!
he gained about 1,000 followers per minute yesterday.

My point was that although Conan might seem rich, he has an expensive lifestyle (see $35M townhouse)
you might want to think about just how rich he might be given his twenty or so years of employment at nbc and considering what he just made this last year. juuuust sayin' ...
posted by krautland at 12:40 PM on February 25, 2010

Conan joins Twitter, beats Leno in hours

Aww crap. The number of followers you have is your score? Because if that's the case, I'm officially losing.

But a select few get some fantastic updates on what is going on with my cats and the depth of the snow that I have to shovel out of my driveway. Really, riveting stuff like that.
posted by quin at 12:41 PM on February 25, 2010

He just posted a second tweet.
posted by brundlefly at 12:59 PM on February 25, 2010

jstef: The people who use Twitter are not Jay's audience. Conan has a younger, connected audience, while Jay does not.

Only 16% of Twitter users are under the age of 25.

Median age of a Twitter user is 31.

Twitter is a major social media network for people in their 30s-40s. If by "younger, connected audience," you mean 35-year-olds, then okay, I guess.

And, to bring this around to the Craig Ferguson post (as all threads should lead to the Craig Ferguson post), Craig's guest on Tuesday night was Stephen Fry. There was no studio audience, no other guests, and no opening monologue. The talked a bit about Twitter, and how they both like it because it is not like other social networking sites.

Part I.

Part 2.

Part 3.

Part 4.

Part 5.

Part 6.

Any day that includes a broadcast hour of conversation between Ferguson and Fry is indeed a great day for America.
posted by tzikeh at 1:02 PM on February 25, 2010 [25 favorites]

a sexy tweet.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 1:03 PM on February 25, 2010

>: It's true. Glenn Beck is pretty funny. And so is Jeremy Clarkson.

Glenn Beck makes me cringe the same way Borat and Brüno do, but Jeremy Clarkson is my favorite fat-faced blowhard ever.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:07 PM on February 25, 2010

Just so all you Conan re-tweeters know ... I'm betting most everyone who's interested is already following him.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:18 PM on February 25, 2010

Twitter is a major social media network for people in their 30s-40s. If by "younger, connected audience," you mean 35-year-olds, then okay, I guess.

Yet interestingly, it's now twitter users who are more youthful, and Facebook users who are older. At this point sites such as Myspace, beebo, and Friendster have younger user profiles than both FB and Twitter.
posted by washburn at 1:22 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

/me sends Quin a tweet about cat stuff.

Now you have one more follower!
posted by misha at 1:24 PM on February 25, 2010

If Twitter users are so old, why do trending topics always include stuff like #WhyYoMama? Also see: Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers
posted by desjardins at 1:28 PM on February 25, 2010

I too am interested in the snow depth of quin's driveway, if only because that tells me whether I should take the sportscar or the SUV up to Wisconsin.
posted by desjardins at 1:29 PM on February 25, 2010

If Twitter users are so old, why do trending topics always include stuff like #WhyYoMama?

Because the trending topics are oftentimes games played by the younger members of Twitter. Trending =! involving most users. For example, I could send forty-five different tweets in the #WhyYoMama game (please shoot me if I ever do). That's not an indicator of the number of people involved in the trending topic.
posted by tzikeh at 1:31 PM on February 25, 2010

Even though it got verified, I'm still not buying this is Conan personally.

This wouldn't be a drastic shift from his shows: he didn't write all his own material for them either.
posted by Jaltcoh at 1:31 PM on February 25, 2010

I was hoping Conan would launch on to twitter. I never update but just follow casually and it is the perfect place for short jokes. Craig Ferguson just got on twitter (@CraigyFerg) and I've been having a laugh following him. Especially since he references what happens on twitter on his tv show and so forth.
posted by beautifulcheese at 1:46 PM on February 25, 2010

OMG no one's posted Conan's second tweet yet! It's almost an hour old. Metafilter needs to get more realtime.

This morning I watched Remington Steele while eating Sugar Smacks out of a salad bowl. I was naked.

posted by Nelson at 1:49 PM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

308,991 followers.

At this rate he'll beat Sockington by Sunday.
posted by The Whelk at 1:53 PM on February 25, 2010

Twitter is a major social media network for people in their 30s-40s. If by "younger, connected audience," you mean 35-year-olds, then okay, I guess.

Yet interestingly, it's now twitter users who are more youthful, and Facebook users who are older. At this point sites such as Myspace, beebo, and Friendster have younger user profiles than both FB and Twitter.

A major social media network for people in their 30s-40s? Ummmmmm, no. And I didn't need the graphs to prove it... I think most 35 year olds could give fuck-all about Twitter.

Perhaps, at one point, older geeky IT-types were using Twitter more than younger people, but Twitter appears to be a late-teen/early-college phenomenon, and the data backs me up. (thanks washburn!) The adults on Twitter were probably watching Jay, anyway.

As an aside, the most informed person that I have heard throughout this Jay/Conan feud has been Howard Stern. He always seems to be spot-on and his analysis is really nuanced, even if edgy. I find he was also pretty spot-on with his analysis of Twitter, which at first, he was super-excited about. Then his show tried it, realized it was a useless, stupid time sink, and shut it down.
posted by jstef at 2:46 PM on February 25, 2010

Not a particularly big fan of Conan, but I followed him on the basis of his tweet about eating cereal naked while watching Remington Steele, because that's awesome.
posted by DecemberBoy at 3:20 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Put this in the "Who Gives A Shit?" file.

Twitter is like high school cliques, where everyone desperately wants to be in with the cool kids.
posted by bwg at 3:45 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

What a twit.
posted by notmtwain at 3:51 PM on February 25, 2010

Twitter is like high school cliques, where everyone desperately wants to be in with the cool kids.

And you're the too-cool-for-friends kid, the one with Manic Panic purple hair and slight scratch marks on one wrist? Are they still printing Joy Division t-shirts?
posted by Nelson at 4:38 PM on February 25, 2010 [8 favorites]

Aww crap. The number of followers you have is your score? Because if that's the case, I'm officially losing.


So...what does it mean if you have a negative number of followers? I'm just asking on behalf of a friend...I'll follow you if you follow me my friend.
posted by MikeMc at 4:50 PM on February 25, 2010

Twitter is like high school cliques, where everyone desperately wants to be in with the cool kids.

The 1990s called and want their NIN poster back! Just kidding, I wasn't in those cliques, either.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:58 PM on February 25, 2010

Perhaps, at one point, older geeky IT-types were using Twitter

I don't know. If you want to see a massive hate-on for Twitter, just drop in on any Slashdot thread about it. The level of antipathy is actually kindof interesting.
posted by weston at 4:58 PM on February 25, 2010

People who are talking about how useless and generational Twitter is have never actually used Twitter. News at 11.
posted by june made him a gemini at 5:11 PM on February 25, 2010

Coincidence? I Think Not.
posted by jonmc at 5:13 PM on February 25, 2010

and Letterman and Craig Ferguson are better than either of these two.
posted by jonmc at 5:23 PM on February 25, 2010

But would you PAY (in some form) to watch it? Because otherwise, why would he do that?

I haven't watched TV in a while which I guess explains why I didn't know you had to pay to watch it now.
posted by DU at 5:47 PM on February 25, 2010

jstef: The people who use Twitter are not Jay's audience. Conan has a younger, connected audience, while Jay does not.

Only 16% of Twitter users are under the age of 25.

Median age of a Twitter user is 31.

Which is about 7 decades younger than Jay's audience.
posted by DU at 6:06 PM on February 25, 2010

hey have I told you how much I hate twitter yet
posted by flatluigi at 6:06 PM on February 25, 2010

>: People who are talking about how useless and generational Twitter is have never actually used Twitter. News at 11.

I'm currently using it like I would my Facebook status, but for a closer circle of friends. I also use it to keep up with shhdontellsteve and cosmosextips.
posted by dunkadunc at 6:10 PM on February 25, 2010

@cosmosextips:

Even men like it slow sometimes. Try using peanut butter for his most sensual handjob yet. Also a great way to get the dog involved!

Okay, that's going a bit far with the dog, lady.
posted by misha at 7:02 PM on February 25, 2010

This is the same Conan who predicted in a Year 3000 segment that YouTube, Twitter and Facebook would be combined into one super-time-wasting website, YouTwitFace. XD
posted by Yoshi Ayarane at 7:21 PM on February 25, 2010

Okay, okay, Conan remains my one and only blind date. I am a senior. He is a sophomore. One of my best friends implores me to be his (Conan's) dinner partner. I am at large because I have taken the semester away in--you guessed it! Canada!--I say "Okay, I'll go." He was charming enough, entertaining, nothing to write home about. We treated each other with appropriate cordiality. When I saw his name on the Simpsons "Monorail" credits, I thought yes. When he got the talk show host job, yes again, why not him? And no matter how much fun he makes of his hair, well, whatever. His parents did name him "Conan," after all.
posted by emhutchinson at 7:32 PM on February 25, 2010 [4 favorites]

Seems as though Craig Ferguson has been keeping an eye on Conan's tweets as well: I dreamed I had false teeth & Jay Leno was in my bedroom. Woke up throwing to a commercial.
posted by inconsequentialist at 8:50 PM on February 25, 2010

If Twitter users are so old, why do trending topics always include stuff like #WhyYoMama?

That was typo for "YoYoMama."
posted by kirkaracha at 9:07 PM on February 25, 2010

tl;dr
Am I alone in my dislike of Conan?
It isn't because I think Leno is so wonderful... I just dislike Conan.

I wrote the above and then, in my usual manner of second-guessing, I went and read the posts above where mine would go...

All I can say is "Heh, heh."

I am sorry for those who say that Leno "is the most unfunny... etc.". That is exactly how I feel about Conan.
I realize it is largely an age thing (Yeah, get off my lawn.), but while Leno may be repetative and unfunny, I dislike Conan because he thinks he is so funny. He is not.
posted by Drasher at 9:32 PM on February 25, 2010

I don't know which is more hilarious: Remington Steele or Sugar Smacks.

The man is way too funny to not be working.
posted by i_have_a_computer at 9:45 PM on February 25, 2010

Twitter is like high school cliques, where everyone desperately wants to be in with the cool kids.

Citation needed. Oh wait, I can help with that.

No, it isn't. Or at least it isn't for those of us for whom it isn't.

Sorry you don't like it, but if that's how you see it, then it's because that's what you're looking for it to be.
posted by tzikeh at 10:21 PM on February 25, 2010 [4 favorites]

Twitter is like high school cliques, where everyone desperately wants to be in with the cool kids.

Or, if you're self-employed, like me, it's like having all your best coworkers and colleagues in the same weird niche industry all over the world at arm's length away in case you need to ask them something or get some feedback or just share a little funny moment during a workday that's gone to hell. But, you know, keep on rockin' the negativity, let us know how that's working out for you.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 10:27 PM on February 25, 2010 [4 favorites]

And you're the too-cool-for-friends kid, the one with Manic Panic purple hair and slight scratch marks on one wrist? Are they still printing Joy Division t-shirts?

Nah, that wasn't me; I was too busy chasing girls to care much about one clique or another.

But, you know, keep on rockin' the negativity ...

Didn't mean to negative, it's just that when people spend every waking moment trying to get more followers instead of using it productively as you are then my comment makes sense. Obviously you aren't treating it as a popularity contest.

So don't be bitter. " )
posted by bwg at 1:59 AM on February 26, 2010

But does he have more fans than Nickelback?

I'm sure he must have at least one fan, so yes.
posted by armage at 2:59 AM on February 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Link-up of a deleted post: on March 5th, Conan decided to follow someone at random. Since then, things have changed for Sarah Killen. The newly followed LovelyButton was really no one of interest previously:

everyone wants to know how many follower I had pre- Conan. The number you are looking for is 3. lol

Now she greets her followers in the morning and says goodnight (which sounds a lot more cult-ish or personally connected than I believe it is), and posts quotes of selfless actions (or something of the sort). Oh, and she's off to meet Ludacris and Larry King. Keen stuff.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:36 PM on March 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Also, I don't know if Nickelback really are on Twitter. If they are, Nickelback fans aren't even following them (only following at this moment: Default, who are working on getting their new c.d. shipped to the States. Who still types c.d. for compact disc? It's CD, two letters, both caps. You'd save two characters for your precious tweeting.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:42 PM on March 9, 2010

I hadn't been aware of that Sarah Killen/ LovelyButton thing at all and holy crap is that all sorts of great.
posted by quin at 1:50 PM on March 9, 2010

Conan's one-tweet-a-day strategy is paying off well for him, but I was sorely disappointed by his latest offering...

"I no longer have health care. Could someone show this to a dermatologist and get back to me? (Link to picture)"

First of all, if ANY unemployed person can afford COBRA coverage, it's Conan, and considering the current crisis for some people right now (including MeFi's Own klangklangston), it comes across very poorly. And second, if he was going to his doctor every time he first noticed a new freckle (the dude is a REDHEAD; freckles should be a part of his life!), he's one of the system abusers that have contributed to the crisis... (end rant)
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:47 PM on March 9, 2010