Ah, the power of Twitter. Did you see the news story on KITV4 last night about the couple who met on Twitter and subsequently got married using social media?

Dallas Nagata and Ed White met at a "tweet up," or a gathering of twitter users, last year. After a whirlwind romance, they got engaged. Now, don't get me wrong, the normal focus of social media is not to hook up. If you take technology out of the picture, you could say Dallas & Ed found each other by chance through mutual friends.

Other than that, their relationship has been all about social media. We watched their romance unfold on Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. The invitation to their wedding was done on Twtvite. The wedding was livestreamed so that people around the world--mostly family & friends who couldn't make it--could be a part of the event. We all had our cameras and phones out so we could upload photos of the event in real time.

It was at Kakaako Waterfront Park, which was one of the reasons there was such a wide range of attire, from dressy to uber casual. (Left to right: Mark Mizuno, Gypsy Raven, Jennifer Lieu, Brad Tada, Jeff Kang, Erin Kinoshita)

They decided to make it a potluck, which was a cool way to show what our virtual friends eat from their neighborhoods. Or, in other cases, to show their home cooking/baking skills. On top of that, many of us were meeting for the first time. At least one guy met the couple for the first time, here!

Later that night, in keeping with the social media activity, Dallas & Ed showed up to "Shirtless Wednesdays." For those of you who don't know, DJ Charlie Criscola (@Charlieboy808, in the large cell) hosts a weekly internet livestream in which he mixes music from about 10 p.m. to midnight. It started when he came home one night to mix music, and since he was hot, took off his shirt. People who came to the livestream then followed suit (mostly guys). It's been a weekly internet tradition ever since.

The couple then requested Elvis' "Falling in Love With You" for their first dance, which they did on camera for us. Fun!

Everything about this event was a great way to show the community that social media can build. Although it starts online, it transfers to real life. People who say they don't have time or don't want to learn about using it are, in my opinion, missing out on the richness that any kind of social interaction--online or not--can provide. Like any social situation, you need to exercise common sense, but once you learn how (like reading this blog!), you can really broaden your horizons.

Congrats Dallas & Ed! Wishing you many years of happiness. See you online.