John Oliver is “America’s social justice warrior,” according to Jason Abbruzzese…
Plenty in the media are willing to take on tough subjects, but none are creating the type of wake left by the H.M.S Oliver. The ripple effects of Oliver’s segments can be seen every day on the Internet, where digital media sites have made something of a Monday routine out of posting his segments, which HBO releases for free on YouTube. The practice — part of the online playbook written primarily by Oliver’s alma mater, the Daily Show — became so widespread that The Awl began tracking it in their “John Oliver Sweepstakes.”
A study by Internet audience tracking company Parse.ly found that Oliver’s segments routinely change the amount of attention paid to the topics he addresses, even after the buzz around the segments themselves dies down.