HAMPTON, Va. -- President Barack Obama, addressing graduates at historically black Hampton University on Sunday, said that . . . the era of iPads and Xboxes had turned information into a diversion that was imposing new strains on democracy . . . "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 that high on the truth meter," [Obama] told the students. "And 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."

To run with his argument, is action and change something that's only born out of ground level, eye-to-eye, interaction? What do we think? Obama goes on to say that communities need individual role models. I'm taking that to mean IRL (in real life) role models, and I can't disagree entirely. I love my gadgets for introducing me to flesh-and-blood people who have become integral parts of my professional and personal circles. But I'm also keenly aware that these very same devices give all of us the tools to say anything, anytime. Things I wouldn't save breath for in a face-to-face conversation, I'll happily throw up on Twitter because it's not just a conversational medium, it's one honkin' visual. I'm *invisible* if I don't participate, by extension non-influential. But that's not my gig at all. I want people offline.

So, are we distracting one another from doing our best? I guess I'm also curious to know how many of us are taking our messages offline? And as someone who occasionally consults, I don't mean grabbing coffee with a publisher to discuss how we can get that reclusive author on Twitter. What's the real "empowerment" book lovers are charging toward?