Twitter has 1.2 million users, which has been reported as a nine-fold increase in the past year. I think most of us would expect that to grew perhaps another magnitude, give or take, in 2009.

To me, the sublime aspect of Twitter is its potential to reach across geek/social networking/enterprise IT/pop culture boundaries. Just as "google" has entered everyday speech, "twitter" may as well. Twitter is IM or SMS on steroids--tweet once and your friends can all meet you for that special Grey Goose evening. Twiiter has created a new literary form, what some have called twiction, what I call the twittecdote (for those non-twiction writers in the flock).

But as with blogs, Twitter is now part of the enterprise IT discussion as well. Sure, most corporations blog about as creatively and effectively as members of the National People's Congress or the NCAA. But don't blame the medium, blame those who use it ineffectively.

Expect execs and corporations to start twittering as well. It may take some time, because the geek invention Twitter has already drawn a decidedly non-geek "SEO Marketing" crowd. As one's personal Twittersphere grows, alarming numbers of scammish messages find their way onto cellphones and blackberries.

So yes, the Twitterwelt is apparently populated by a never-ending line of SEO and direct marketing experts, gurus, and consultants. To us writers in the crowd, the obtuse understanding of the language seems comical, as people "site" certain "insites" and "superseed" others. One poor guy just spent a week-end at the "veil" skiing resort, presumably eyes wide shut while surrounded by his fellow namedroppers. (And yes, I know I make grammatical mistakes and typos. I hope I know my site from my sight from my cite, though.)

But when and where do IT managers need to take Twitter seriously as a component of sorts within their SOA infrastructures? Bear with me for a second; the only drugs I'm on are Lipitor and aspirin. Twitter is clearly software-as-a-service (SaaS), if not normally defined as such. It must clearly be thought of as part of the cloud, even if it is not a decoupled, virtual service controlled by IT.

And that's the point--it is not controlled by IT. Think way back to the early days of the personal computer, when these wondrous new machines came into business through the side door. The so-named MIS departments of the day wouldn't allow them--they were toys, their local storage wasn't secure, they used strange applications, their data couldn't be integrated, and worst sin of all, they provided information immediately rather than once a day in a batch.

Yet despite serious, consistent pushback, the personal computer first became common, then ubiquitous, then integral. The same thing is happening today with all of the free stuff online--call it social networking, call it whatever you want. YouTube, IM, Facebook, Friendster, Spoke, LinkedIn, and innumerable other sites have invaded the corporate desktop.

This is an IT issue. This is a SOA issue. The ever-staid IT management mentality just hasn't realized this yet. Expect huge discussion/confrontation when C-level management appreciates how much time all this anarchyware is chewing up, then demands that IT puts rules and regulations around it, then IT tries to enforce it. Give me a front-row seat, please. I'll pay for it through my Paypal account, no problem!

To end this piece, it is now time for me to offer two new Twittecdotes. Since I made fun of a namedropper earlier in this article, I'll continue to be a namedropper myself. It makes me look bad, but if makes me feel good, you know?

* Saw Don Rickles in Berverly Hilton. I was waiting for family. He was going to Milton Berle's rememberance. He insulted me. I was honored.

* Had a beer with Arnold Palmer. Around the trunk of his car after he won a tournament. Arnie's the King, but cheap. I bought the beer.

Follow me at www.twitter.com/strukhoff