Twitter in the classroom?

A portion of this post is a response to a class discussion, addressing the idea of using social networking tools in a standard classroom setting. My classmate didn't think it was a good idea to incorporate these technologies in the standard learning process. Technology such as Twitter and other social networking technologies used in the classroom can "possibly" disrupt the standard learning process. An article I read suggested that disrupting the learning process can help facilitate a new approach to learning. The assumption is that unpredictable consequences, if encouraged in the proper setting, may give way to a new learning model. I guess this approach is similar to the business model which suggests that unformatted feedback from a target audience can lead to the discovery of an innovative process. MySpace, Google and many other technology companies incorporate this approach in their business model. How much time exists in a standard learning environment for these experimental practices to get implemented? Is the classroom the appropriate place to test these ideas? I assume an institution, group or individual have already put this question to the test in an action research project.