I actually love the idea of a Twitter discussion compared to both a blackboard and in-class discussion. I believe in the notion of KISS, keep it simple stupid. Twitter forces you to get to the point with it's limit of 140 characters per post. Between the hash tag and @ to reply to someone, you are left with less actually. I believe what tends to happen in blackboard discussions is that people tend to think their response is not long enough and start filling it with air to make it longer and 'acceptable'. This takes away from the genuine of an opinion or answer.
The difference between a Twitter discussion and an in-class discussion is that not everyone expresses themselves very easily. Some people stutter, some people are just shy. Twitter helps relieve those feelings by giving you some time to construct your thought. You cannot delete your words but you can delete characters you typed before you click post.
I hadn't thought about the issue of people being shy until you mentioned it. I thought I preferred in-class discussions because I wouldn't I have to wait long for an answer but now that I think about it, I am very shy myself and I think I might prefer an online discussion now. However, I still don't think I like Twitter very much because I'm still new to it and it seems so complicated for me.
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