Time magazine has released its annual Time 100 list which honors the most influential people in the world. Among the list, names like President Obama, vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin, Twitter founders and even Wall Street mega-swindler Madoff appear.

The Time 100 is not a list of the most powerful people in the world, it's not a list of the smartest people in the world, said Time managing editor Rick Stengel.

It's people who are using their ideas, their visions, their actions to transform the world and have an effect on a multitude of people.

Twitter founders Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey are written up by Ashton Kutcher, the first Twitter user who reached a million followers.

Below is an excerpt of what Kutcher had to say about the popular micro-blogging site:

Years from now, when historians reflect on the time we are currently living in, the names Biz Stone and Evan Williams will be referenced side by side with the likes of Samuel Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, Guglielmo Marconi, Philo Farnsworth, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

An online poll for Time readers threw up a surprise winner -- the 21-year-old college student who founded the online community www.4chan.org and who goes by the name of moot.

The secretive web guru, identified by Time to be called Christopher Poole, received 16,794,368 votes, surpassing the likes of Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, Bill Gates writes about his fellow Seattle billionaire, Jeff Bezos, calling him a great example of one of those insatiable pioneers of business and technology.

On the web:

Check out the full list of Times 100 Most Influential People by clicking here.

Bill Gates Steve jobs Sarah Palin Twitter