Twitter

In my incredibly personal opinion, I would rather have a discussion anywhere else imaginable than have a discussion on Twitter. However, for the sake of being objective, I will seek advantages of a Twitter discussion.

A Twitter discussion is very different than a Blackboard discussion or an in-class discussion. Both Blackboard and class discussions do not place a limit on how much you can say. However, this allows for an automatic inequality among students. The student who says more is deemed more impressive. However, on Twitter, everyone has the same 140 characters and what's important is the quality of what you say rather than the quantity. It creates an equality that is almost impossible in a classroom environment where participation from shy students is hard to acquire. It also allows for students to easily comment on the thoughts of other students, where in a class environment, we are more focused on impressing the teacher rather than paying attention to what our fellow classmates have to say.

However, the opportunities for expression are limited in a tweet, you need to be careful with what you say and how you say it. In a blackboard or class discussion, you can explain yourself further, or retract something that came out the wrong way. On twitter, its 140 characters or die.

Well, or have to send out 20 more tweets one sentence at a time trying to explain what you meant.