This morning at a meeting in Second Life I was able to talk to twitter big wig Biz Stone about what he thought makes twitter addictive.
I wondered: Is twitter's secret addictive power in immediacy?
Or is it interaction? Ideas? Individuals? 
His SL personality "Israel Tank" said "yes, immediacy is a big part of what makes Twitter compelling"
Then he shut up and didn't go on opining about why it's wonderful. He didn't engqage in tech-talk or psychobabble. In Second Life at least, like at his blog, Biz was not a chatty Cathy.
He did mention casually that twitter is growing, meaning hiring. We did not all leave to prepare resumes, I swear.
But back to the question of what makes twitter addictive.
My personal take is that it's all of the above, with a greater focus on the immediacy of the interaction. It's happening right now. And it's a conversation not a lecture.
If I've been unable to see tweets for awhile I scroll back to see what the conversations have been about - but I don't feel the connection to them I would if they were happening in "real time" for me.
Why isn't Pownce on par?
People? Popularity? Or again is it the immediacy issue?
Going through pownce mesages is a little like checkng email; even if it is public email. So perhaps the length of messages - the ability of Twitter to keep things short and sweet, that really is one of the most important issues in the mix.
Many thanks to Ziggy Figaroa, aka twitterer: mwagner from Information Week for hosting our little soiree with the Biz man.
Biz Stone blogs at http://bizstone.com
