[nickbw]

> Twitter doesn’t have game mechanics

...

> You should totally follow me on Twitter

Yuh-huh. I think Twitter is genuinely useful, but I'm pretty sure scoring Big Numbers is the driving motivation behind plenty of following behavior there.

[michokest]

Haha, you totally got me there :)

[nickbw]

Hehe. Sorry, that came across more accusatory than I intended. I totally agree with your overall point.

I think Twitter's follower numbers are an example of gamification done right. Useful information that's also a dopamine trigger.