SEATTLE - Seattle is the center of the social media universe this weekend.
The Gnomedex conference explores Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, and how they are changing how we talk to one another.
The conference, now in its ninth year, focuses on the intersection of technology and culture, and most of the participants - including bloggers, corporate types, and private citizens - have been using social media long before it was cool.
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For them, Twitter is a powerful new tool in the hands of the average web surfer.
"The idea of social media as a term allows everyone to have a voice," said Chris Pirillo, founder of Gnomedex.
Pirillo is aware of the perception that Twitter and Facebook are geek-centric time-wasters. Yet Facebook has 250 million worldwide users. And Twitter has an estimated 5 to 10 million more.
Pirillo believes there's more than technology lovers taking part in this real-time communications revolution.
"Instead of having to pick up the phone or even sending an e-mail, you could tweet it out in 140 characters or less, which is about a sentence long, and reach more than just friends; you're making an impact that can live on forever," Pirillo said.
And that's why businesses have started to jump on the social media train. ?
Brad Nelson knows customers are talking about his company, Starbucks. So he's joined the conversation too.
"Your employees are on social media, the customers are on social media, other businesses are on social media," he said. "The amount of traffic that is going to the sites and the amount of conversation that is happening, if you're not there, that's a bigger problem."
Matt Hartley, who blogs about technology and also helps his wife blog about interior design, says social media helps introverts make connections. That has come in handy during the recession.
"People are using it for job hunts, and I think even the whole group therapy session, people are consoling one another, saying it's OK to be unemployed, there are others like you out there in that position," Hartley said.
Advances in technology are giving more people the chance to tell a story, break some news, and vent their opinions.
Gnomedex organizer Chris Pirillo says social media is changing another geek stereotype: This year, its ninth year, there are more women attending.
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