Jimmy Fallon is using Twitter on a presidential scale.
The late-night host is welcoming President Barack Obama to his NBC show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, on Tuesday night. To prepare, he’s solicited Twitter for advice: Help him think up questions to ask Obama, using the hashtag #ObamaOnFallon.
According to Topsy, a social-media analytics website, nearly 2,000 tweets have been sent using the special hashtag since Fallon first tweeted about it on Friday.
This isn’t the first time Fallon has used social media to help prep his interviews. In March, he sat down for a Facebook interview with Madonna and asked some questions he’d solicited from his fans. He also regularly uses hashtags during his shows to cultivate funny responses from viewers. The interview will be taped on the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus Tuesday.
So far, Twitter’s questions have fallen into three categories: people asking serious questions, haters, and wannabe comedians. Let’s take a look at all three.
The haters
Some Twitter users who are obviously not Obama fans have asked questions that Fallon probably won’t pick. This is hardly going to be a tough interview, after all.
“So is this the CHANGE you had Hoped for? Yeah, me neither.” tweeted Amy Meier.
“Shouldn’t you be working on the economy instead of sitting here?” Jon G asked.
“Did your family vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, Vail and Hawaii before you became President?” asked jparent, apparently referring to recent controversies about the president’s “elaborate” vacations. Or perhaps she just wants to know if Obama has some kind of special frequent flyer deal.
The serious
It wasn’t all malicious vitriol aimed at Obama. Some people were asking friendlier, more serious questions.
“Just how hard was the decision to okay the raid that took out Bin Laden? How close did you come to rejecting it?” Kevin P. tweeted.
“Did you ever consider any other future for yourself besides politics?” Haley Inboden asked.
“Who would you like to play you in the movie of your life?” Matty tweeted.
The wannabe comedians
Obviously you can’t ignore the strange questions lobbed at Obama, so let’s take a look at them, scratch our heads, and wonder why these people wasted their time.
“dear obama, ben&jerry’s or froyo?” @UNCBetch asked. Michelle clearly wears the pants in the relationship, so it’s probably health alternative: frozen yogurt.
“Mr.President, how do you get pizza delivered to the Whitehouse?,” AJ Lopez tweeted.
“do you think unicorns COULD HAVE POSSIBLY existed at some point in the earth’s history? #seriousquestion,” a flustered @uncproblems_ asked.
Obama is the target of an ongoing skit, called Obama Expressions, on Fallon’s show, and it would be great if the president impersonates one for the show. Hopefully it’s a laughing one.
Photo via NBC
