How Much Are 140 Characters Really Worth?

Shares in Twitter were initially priced at $26 during yesterday's stock-market launch. They immediately jumped by 73% to $45 and today they're down in the low $40's — with market capitalization of about $25 billion. That's bigger than half the firms in Standard & Poor's 500 — even though the digital social network has never turned a profit. So where does the value come from for shareholders, for users and for a culture that lives in the present and has an ever-declining attention span? Advertising will be Twitter's means to make money. Could it make even more, with a board including minorities and women?