News of Jon Stewart’s departure as host of Comedy Central's satirical newscast "The Daily Show" took over social media feeds Tuesday evening.
Stewart had broken the news earlier in the day during a taping of Tuesday night's show before a live audience, some of whom then broke the news to the rest of the world in a social media, whisper-down-the-lane way.
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From 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the announcement held our Twitter feeds captive, with more than 130,000 tweets about the topic, peaking at about 2,750 mentions per minute at 7:11 p.m. and simmering to about 1,200 tweets per minute by 8 p.m.
In making the announcement, Stewart, 52, aptly
joked about his long-standing stint, which began back in
1999 when dial-up Internet was
a thing and Twitter was still seven years in the future.
"Seventeen years is the longest I have ever in my life held a job."
On a more serious note, he shared how much he’s enjoyed the job, adding that he feels it’s time to pass on the torch and focus on the more important things in life, like family.
"I'm gonna have dinner, on a school night, with my family — who, I have heard from multiple sources, are lovely people."
He will leave the network later this year, sometime between late July and December, although an exact date is not yet set and a replacement has not yet been named.
However, social media fans passed on some recommendations.
Others
gave warnings on whom not to hire, and countless Daily Show devotees sent their best wishes to the celebrated
comedian and shared their sadness and fondest memories.