At what conference did Twitter gain widespread popularity in 2007?

Twitter gained widespread popularity at the 2007 South by Southwest conference, particularly its Interactive component.

The event in Austin, Texas, became an important turning point for the young service. During the conference, Twitter’s daily message volume reportedly rose from about 20,000 tweets to 60,000. Twitter also placed large screens in conference hallways displaying messages from attendees, making the service visible as a real-time way to coordinate, comment, and keep track of friends.

The full event name was South by Southwest, commonly abbreviated SXSW. In this context, the most precise description is the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive conference, often written SXSWi. The Interactive section focused on technology, digital media, and emerging internet services, which made it especially relevant to Twitter’s audience.

SXSW Music is a separate part of the larger festival, not the specific conference credited with Twitter’s breakthrough. The Web 2.0 Summit and CES were also influential technology events, but neither is the canonical answer to this question.