We don't just love Betty White in the abstract -- we'll tune in to watch her, too.

The 88-year-old's dizzying cultural renaissance hit another peak this weekend as she hosted "Saturday Night Live," giving the NBC institution its best ratings since the pre-election telecast of 2008, according to Nielsen ratings released by the network Sunday.

Though White was joined by "SNL" cast alums Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Molly Shannon, she was easily the star of the night. Good thing: The show averaged an 8.8 household rating and a 21 share in metered markets, its highest number since Nov. 1, 2008, when Ben Affleck hosted the election run-up show. 

But its success didn't end with the closing credits; White's performance had an unusually bright online afterglow. Dress-rehearsal performances that didn't make the telecast were flying around the internet on Mother's Day, and "Betty White" was a trending topic on Twitter all day long.

Not surprising, given that the campaign to make White the host started on Facebook, which White referenced in her monologue as sounding like, well ... "a waste of time."