Barack Obama has warned that technologies like the iPad and Xbox put pressure on democracy and turn information into "a form of entertainment".
Barack Obama delivers his address at Hampton
University, Virginia
In a speech at Hampton University in Virginia, the US President told graduating students that education was the key to progress - but continuous news coverage has the ability to muddy the waters.
"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 always rank all that high on the truth meter," he said.
"With iPods and iPads and 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, rather than the means of emancipation."
Mr Obama - who in the past has criticised the media for focusing on trivial matters rather than serious issues - said "some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction" on the internet.
With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations - none of which I know how to work - information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment...Barack Obama
His address was not all doom and gloom, however - he told graduates their ability to adapt to these technological changes was critical.
"Education ... can fortify you, as it did earlier generations, to meet the tests of your own time," he said.
In an anecdote involving Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, the US President also warned against apathy in the 21st century media environment.
"What Jefferson recognised ... that in the long run, their improbable experiment - called America - wouldn't work if its citizens were uninformed, if its citizens were apathetic, if its citizens checked out, and left democracy to those who didn't have the best interests of all the people at heart.
"It could only work if each of us stayed informed and engaged, if we held our government accountable, if we of citizenship."