Keith Olbermann: unanswered questions may be coming via Twitter

Keith Olbermann’s sudden departure from NBC has left many questions unanswered. The ex-news anchor teased followers with a series of tweets Monday that suggested that the curious should keep abreast of Twitter.

What's Keith Olbermann up to now?

The anti-establishment former NBC news anchor surprised many by announcing at the end of his show, Friday, that it would be his last night. Commentators and speculators spent the weekend wondering why and, of course, sometimes celebrating his departure.

But what Olbermann has up his sleeve is anybody's guess. Speculation that he may be heading to Hollywood would seem to be unfounded, but we may find out sooner rather than later.

The ex-evening news man has been hinting through Twitter that something's brewing. Earlier Monday, he broke a weekend silence by tweeting, "At exactly 8 Eastern tonight I will issue my first tweet. Well, other than THIS one :)"

This was his first tweet since leaving his show Friday night. The otherwise prolific tweeter had been tweeting more than twenty times a day recently, but has had nothing to say since ending his show three days ago.

The promise of some sort of announcement caught his Twitter followers' attention. At 8pm on the dot he posted an enigmatic but rather disappointing "Citizens Of The Free World: Greetings! ........ (more to come) #FOK"

The "FOK" turned out to be a reference to "Friends of Keith," which he clarified 45 minutes later with the follow-up tweet, "My humble thanks to all Friends of Keith for the many kind words. The reports of the death of my career are greatly exaggerated #FOK"

So perhaps Olbermann was not blindsided and has a plan. Perhaps Hollywood after all?

Since then Olbermann has become a top trend on Twitter and a Google 'Hot Topic.' He subsequently asked followers to watch tonight's Craig Ferguson by tweeting, "A little birdie (or possibly a robot skeleton) advises all #FOK to watch [Craig Ferguson] tonight (that's always true, but especially tonight)." The robot skeleton reference was to Craig Ferguson's sidekick, a... robotic skeleton.

The Twitterverse was alive with speculation that Olbermann would be on the Late Late Show and reveal all. His followers were disappointed again, though, when Ferguson merely did a monologue on Olbermann: the man himself did not appear.

The dead air over the weekend and Olbermann's cryptic, aimless tweets may indicate he is under some sort of contractual agreement not to speak about the end of his show. If so, followers can expect to be led on more wild goose chases as they try to decipher meaning from Olbermann's tweets. If not, Twitter may well be his interim mouthpiece... before that new Hollywood job.