Betty White Gives Saturday Night Live Its Largest Audience in 18 Months, Thanks to Facebook Users

In December 2009, Facebook user David Mathews, created a Facebook fan page entitled, Betty White to Host SNL (please?)! The Facebook fan page was created out of love and respect for White as a comedian, animal activist, and actress; and was done in an attempt to pay homage to the 88 year old actress by landing White the host spot on Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Though White has long since been a consistent figure on weekly television, she still pops up on the occasional Snickers commercial or episode of Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D List, and long-time fans will never tire of re-watching syndicated episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, and Match Game.

The Betty White to Host SNL (please?)! Facebook fan page grew quickly in numbers, ending with a total of 513,253 Facebook users who had clicked the Like button to become part of the White campaign. The social media public relations firestorm officially ended last night with White's May 8, 2010 SNL hosting gig alongside rap mogul Jay-Z. Now there's an amusing pairing.

White obviously was moved by the public outpouring of support via Facebook, but true to form had to throw out as many witty digs as possible in the opening monologue; which Facebook fans, no doubt loved.

No doubt, SNL is quite thankful to Facebook users for the social media blitz because it landed SNL the largest audience they've had in 18 months. Even now, the day after White's hosting spot on SNL it is one of the featured stories on Google News and has become a lively twitter topic as well.

If you missed White on SNL last night you can see the opening monologue here on NBC's video stream available on Pete Cashmore's May 9, 2010 Mashable post.

Clearly people have taken notice and many outlets have cashed-in on the Facebook support of White. The Game Show Network, not wanting to be outdone by NBC's SNL, hosted a seven hour Match Game marathon on May 8, 2010 from 9 am to 4 pm (the very same day as White's SNL performance).

David Mathews has accomplished what he set out to with the Betty White to Host SNL (please?)! Facebook fan page, and all 513,253 members can feel pretty good about changing the course of television programming in a small way.

All specific information for this article obtained from:

Brenna Ehrlich's article posted on Mashable.com around March of 2010.

Betty White to Host SNL (please?)! Facebook fan page.
K.C. Morgan's article posted onTelevision.gearlive.com on April 30, 2010.