The Twitter-ization of "The Tonight Show"

So it looks like my theory that Conan O’Brien is going to max out Twitter — for as long as there is something to max out — is at least partially right. The “Twitter Tracker” sketch made its second appearance last night, but, while even better than the first one, that’s just a comedy bit; what I’m talking about is the Twitterization of “The Tonight Show.” The show has naturally launched a fledgling Twitter Tracker account @tw1ttertracker.com of celebrity tweets and a microsite, Twitter-tracker.com, that is basically a rebroadcast of the site for its Twitter account, with one important difference: it’s ad-supported. There’s also an official “Tonight Show” Twitter account, and a “Tonight Show” Insider Twitter account.

Of course, at this stage in the tweet game, becoming part of the Twitter-verse, if you’re trying to get your TV show off the ground, is a no-brainer. What will be worth seeing play out, however, is how the show uses all of the social media tools available to max out its reach. These days, should a show like “The Tonight Show” have dedicated microsites to all of its running sketches? For guidance on that, O’Brien certainly isn’t looking at Jay Leno, but at Jimmy Fallon, who took his spot at “Late Night” earlier this year. Fallon has more or less created the blueprint for how TV and Web content should be integrated, enough so that he won the Webby Awards Person of the Year award earlier in the week.

(For those watching the new late night battle, as I am, O’Brien narrowly edged out Letterman last night.)