Betty White’s spectacular job at hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend proved a couple of things:

1. 88-year-olds talking about their “muffins” is frighteningly funny.
2. Social Media is not only here to stay . . . it’s here to influence.

In Betty White’s earlier days, if you wanted change, someone would undoubtedly tell you to write a letter. You’d hear,  “Write your congressman,” or “Write the President of the Company,” or maybe even, “Write the editor of the newspaper, maybe they’ll run it in the paper and maybe a few people will see it on that specific given day and then it will disappear.”

Imagine if David Matthews (the man responsible for the “Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!” Facebook page that started this whole thing) had only a letter-writing campaign at his disposal to try and get that Golden Girl on the show.

Think it would have worked?

I’d bet you Facebook’s market value that it wouldn’t have.

Social Media is the new letter to your Congressman . . . without having to be addressed specifically to your Congressman.

Social Media is the new protest . . . without having to make signs or burn effigies or even show up.

You just have to click.

So if you want to get a beloved octogenarian on SNL, or fix a pothole, or maybe market a show . . . look no further than the screen in front of you.

And here’s the cool part . . . it’s a win-win for those wanting the change and those considering the change.

Public social media campaigns like the Betty Facebook campaign demonstrate what the market wants.   It’s a free focus group.  It’s listening to your audience. You think it took a genius network exec to actually agree to have Betty on the show?  It was the easiest decision Lorne Michaels has ever made!  With the type of friends and comments that Facebook page was drawing, and the amount of press the campaign was getting, it was a guaranteed ratings boost for the show.

Even if she hadn’t talked about her muffin.

For more on Betty’s muffin, watch the video below or click here.