Why Did Obama Diss The iPad?

By Daniela Capistrano

Can social media be a threat to democracy? President Obama seems to think so. At Hampton University on Sunday (May 9), his commencement address included a stern warning about the dangers of the iPad, iPods and other interactive devices.

Gawker extracted the ominous portion:

"Meanwhile, you're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't rank all that high on the truth meter. With iPods and iPads; Xboxes and PlayStations -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment.

All of this is not only putting new pressures on you; it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy."

Does this mean the terrorists are going to win if we go multiplayer? Our President (who owns a Blackberry) may sound like a cranky abuelo, but he was actually encouraging grads to close the achievement gap between African-American & Latino students and their white classmates.

Rather than wasting a lot of time with apps and games, he urged them to be "mentors in [their] communities."

"We can't stop these changes," he said, "but we can adapt to them. And education is what can allow us to do so. It can fortify you, as it did earlier generations, to meet the tests of your own time."

Maybe Obama is on to something! Can information be a wasteful distraction? Think about it, but first, check out this hilarious mashup:

Then, read this, this, this, this, and this!

Have you heard of the digital divide? Tell us what you think about it in the comments or @MTV3! How can we empower our comunidad while using social media?

Tags Barack Obama, Hampton University, iPad, iPhone, President, social media