AUSTIN – Yet again, Twitter is the virtual epicenter around which nearly all conversation rotates at this year’s Interactive conference. Twitter founder and CEO Evan Williams gave today’s key note address (too much generic business speak for my taste, though there was this announcement at the beginning). And there have been panel discussions on everything from how Twitter was used during last year’s Iranian elections to the tricky question of copyrighting tweets. Tomorrow there’s a panel titled, “Twittering Through Chemo – Survivors Unite.” If you can tweet it, it’s been talked about here.

And not surprisingly, the focused discussions are the most interesting. Before Williams’ keynote, I stopped in on “Slow Twitter: Users Who Take Their Time Tweeting.” The panel was made up of five heavy Twitter users who take the time to think through and craft each of their tweets. Most of them are virtual comedians, and they won’t issue a joke online that they wouldn’t tell in front of a live audience.

If you’re looking for new users to follow (who isn’t!) I took some time after the panel to read through some of the panelists’ pages as well as some of the writers they recommend. Of those, you might take a look at momku (who writes only in haiku), Nick Douglas (who edited a book called Twitter Wit) and fireland (who’s got more than 30,000 followers).

Oh, and please utilize the favorite tool if you like these folks. That’s how they get noticed and gain more followers. And for people who live their lives on Twitter, it’s all about the followers.