Drawbacks+to+Use

Sensory Overload
Recent research in The Chronicle of Higher Education points to the issues that Twitter has created or reinforced concerning the lessening of the need for lengthy print resources versus real-time, short Internet updates. In many cases, students have shorter attention spans than in the past and, as a result, have more difficulty connecting with subjects and content matter when it requires attention. Due to the sensory overload that can come with Web 2.0 tools such as Twitter, students may be gradually moving to a place where traditional study methods do not work.

Phishing
Twitter users often have issues with direct messages or mass tweets involving malicious website. This can come from the fact that Twitter users can use TinyURL (see Usage With Other Tools) to obfuscate the actual web address. This can lead to people trustingly clicking on a URL that takes them to a compromised website where their machines will download a WebInstall.cab file and become infected.

Blurbs of Information
In the same Chronicle of Higher Education story mentioned above, a professor extolled how a friend in the journalism field was having to lay off employees at a traditional, print-based newspaper in favor of hiring a new journalist who would produce content solely through Twitter in 140 character blurbs. This same professor relates to how this sort of information gathering does not lead to deep reflecting, as these tweets are more notes than story. In the educational setting, this is lessening the ability of students to connect to content that is not first reduced in size.

Legal Issues/Sexting
Many schools have encountered problems with students using cell phones to text one another images of a pornographic nature, also known as "sexting." Doing a simple Google search for "twitter sexting" reveals a number of Twitter users who specifically request any tweets directed at them involve naked pictures. As a result, students now have the added problem of not only sending a picture privately via text message but having that same picture sent publicly via Twitter. Compounding this is the fact that students may not be sophisticated enough to make the distinction that a tweet sent via a mobile phone is public if sent via Twitter.