There should be an entrance exam required to use social media
Summary
A rider thinks social media should require an entrance exam, complete with spelling tests and reading comprehension. Kareem pushes back. What would the test even look like? The rider suggests basic literacy checks and critical thinking skills, especially after getting bombarded this week by twelve-year-olds who spelled "you're" as Y R while calling him a horrible dad. He insists his kids aren't actually on social media, just YouTube. Ignorant adults are more dangerous than savvy kids, he argues. But Kareem admits he needs the stupid people online. That's his audience. The rider concedes the point with a joke: if they banned idiots from the internet, only the two of them would be left.
Full Transcript
So what's your take? There should be an entrance exam required to use social media? 100% disagree. The number of—the number of 12-year-olds this week that told me "you're a horrible dad" spelled Y R is just mindboggling. They should take a spelling exam, not a freaking social media exam. My kids aren't on social media, contrary to popular belief. Well, they watch YouTube, but what kid now doesn't? Uh, they don't use social media. But I think social media in the hands of ignorant adults is way more dangerous than the hands of kids that are smart enough to know how to use it.
So you need a permit? You have to take a test, the SATs, but like to go on Instagram? What would the test consist of? Um, basic spelling. Um, it should be like just questions that are like read and comprehension—very important, critical thinking skills. There's no—it would make the internet such a better place.
No, I want the stupid people on the internet. Stupid equals good because that's who watches—that's who watches my content. Well, yeah, you get good engagement, but does that mean you have good mental health? On some days, if we ban stupid people from using the internet, there would be zero users left. It would just be me and you.
You're right. And maybe those two.