Pownce was a free social networking and micro-blogging site started by Internet entrepreneurs Kevin Rose, Leah Culver, and Daniel Burka.

[4] Its launch, on June 27, 2007, was covered by Wired,[5] Business Week,[6] Webware,[7][8] and the San Francisco Chronicle,[9] with most of the coverage focusing on Rose, known for his involvement in Digg, Revision3 and TechTV.

Due to this media exposure, invitations for Pownce were in high demand and were being sold on sites such as eBay.

On December 1, 2008, Pownce announced that they had been acquired and were shutting down the site,[14] due to a lack of revenue, stagnant growth, and an inability to compete with Twitter.

[7] CNET's Rafe Needleman recommended Pownce over Twitter in a work setting because of its discussion-tracking capabilities.