Social media was once seen as the death knell of traditional media. But, as Betty White’s triumphant performance on Saturday Night Live earlier this month showed, it just might save the tired old telly, giving the mainstream public something to talk about.

Case in point: The online movement to get Betty White to host SNL has been hot since February. Gaining momentum, the Facebook fan page “Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!” had 500,000 fans supporting the cause before the show aired on May 8th. Now NBC reports the show got at 8.8 rating, the highest number of viewers since 2008.

Just a fan fad? Doesn’t look like it. Now a twin Facebook fan page has been set up for Carrol Burnett, another American comedienne popular in the 1970s. In just a week 95,000 people have rallied to get the seasoned actress on the show. Looking back to Betty White, people loved her SNL appearance so much that there is now a 135,000 strong Facebook fan page to get her to host the Academy Awards.

Can social media save struggling live TV shows? Why not? In April, The Economist did a piece on how social media networks are boosting the ratings of television’s most popular shows. They noted the fact that social media activity during Britain’s Got Talent fell slightly and then spiked immediately after, once people started talking about it on blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Of course, the Susan Boyle YouTube viral video hit didn’t hurt.

Shows like SNL and Britain’s Got Talent are a given. They are live shows involving real people (not characters) where the story line is completely variable – a perfect conversation stater. But what of your everyday sitcom? Some are just too bad to save. But the TV drama Lost has a massive 3-million-strong following on Facebook that is now gearing up for the final airing this weekend. Fans are buzzzzzzing.

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