Twitter is for winners

A lot of people get down on Twitter, because they “don’t care what people ate for lunch,” or “already have a Facebook,” or any other number of excuses. Everybody who knows what’s up, though, knows that Twitter is a great tool for making contacts, following trends in your industry, and finding out about breaking news before all the non-tweeters.

Advertise yourself on Twitter to get hits on your blog or website, and link it to your Facebook so they share updates to save you time

If there’s a popular news site or blog you love to read but don’t always have the time, chances are they have a Twitter that you can follow to receive all the best updates in micro form. I follow GamePro, Joystiq, Destructoid, Kotaku, GamePolitics, and X-Play for my gaming news.

Take that a step further and you can follow your favorite journalists and editors, like Blake Patterson of touchArcade, Brian Crecente and Stephen Totilo of Kotaku, Thierry Nguyen of 1Up, Rey Gutierrez of Destructoid, and Ryan O’Donnell of Area 5.

Developers are tweeting too, and making Twitters for specific games, like Lionhead Studios, Casey Malone from Harmonix, and EA Redwood Shores’s Dead Space 2.

Twitter is a great place to find out about deals and sales, too. Cheap Ass Gamer, GamerHotLine, and GamerDeals.net all tweet daily about the latest and best gaming steals.

Of course, Twitter is also good for pure humor or entertainment. Overheard Newsroom and Fake AP Stylebook will tickle any journalists. Author Arjun Basu, inventor of the “Twister”, a 140-character short story, tweets several new ones a day. They’re often funny, touching or sad, and best of all, they’re short.

Finally, members of Team Coco had better be following the Golden Giant’s Twitter. Despite creating his account less than a month ago, Conan has almost 700,000 followers. True fans (like myself) can also follow his beard, squirrel, monkey, Ford Taurus, sharpie, liquor filled beach, and his one and only “Twitter pal“.

Now follow me!

I’m With Coco

One of the things I look forward to most almost every single day is the Tonight Show, hosted by that lovable orange giant, Mr. Conan O’Brien. Conan’s kooky sense of humor and gangly physical humor for years have been the only thing in the world of late night television that appeals to me, at least before Jimmy Fallon took over Conan’s old job last year. Leno is too whiny, Letterman’s too dry, and all the others are simply uninteresting.

When I heard that both Conan and Jimmy were getting bumped to give Leno his old time slot back, my first reaction was dismay, at the fact that I would have to stay up even later to catch Fallon’s musical guest, who is often pretty good. What didn’t occur to me was that my two late night heroes are also getting screwed.

A vast public movement has emerged in Conan’s favor, with legions of fans uniting under the mantra “I’m with Coco.” This attractive rendering is being avidly spread around the internet by his myriad supporters, which include Facebook groups (60,000 strong) and sites like The Huffington Post, The Consumerist, and countless others.

The Consumerist’s article also features a list of NBC executives’ emails, with instructions for Conanites to “harness the power of the EECB,” or “the executive email carpet bomb”.

This movement has in large part been fueled by Conan himself. The New York Times reports that while “Mr. Leno seems supportive of” NBC’s plan to move him back to his old time slot (big surprise), “Mr. O’Brien rejects it outright.” In fact, Conan issued a statement Tuesday, addressed to the “People of Earth”, that includes the following statements:

Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004, I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future.

The statement continues:

My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard, and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of “The Tonight Show.” But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction.

Thus Conan seems to share the sentiments of his droves of fanatical followers.

Marissa Miller loves that face

Naturally, the various personalities of Late Night are having a field day with this unfortunate situation. Conan opened his monologue last night by reminding any children who happened to be up past their bedtimes that they “can do anything, as long as Jay Leno doesn’t want to do it too.”

Even Kenneth the page, a much adored character’s from NBC’s critically lauded show 30 Rock, showed up on the set to show his fake tour group “the former home of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien”, pointing out good-naturedly that “NBC spent more time building this studio than using it.”

Guest Ricky Gervais dropped several f-bombs, cajoling Conan, “What are they going to do, fire you?”

Leno, despite obviously coming out ahead in this whole situation (besides public opinion of him plummeting), attempted to gain some face by implying the average NBC executive has more in common with a football player who has suffered 17 concussions than an average TV suit. Letterman focused on ripping Leno, suggesting that NBC can fill Big-chin’s current slot with “Youtube cat videos” and pointing out scathingly that “when Johnny Carson quit, he quit.”

It’s clear which side the public has chosen in this debacle, and despite Conan’s wide appeal and huge fanbase, he has somehow come out swinging like a true underdog. A lanky, orange underdog. With great hair. Let’s hope he never goes away.