Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg celebrated the Fourth of July by riding around the lake on his electric hydrofoil board with the American flag in his hands. Back on dry land, Zuckerberg included John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in a video of his ride and posted it to Instagram.
Aside from a couple of slight hesitations, Zuckerberg, whose social media company owns Instagram, looks confident enough as he races across the water on his hydrofoil board, the flag waving in the wind.
However, the reaction to the video from the global Instagram community has been, shall we say, somewhat mixed.
Gaining more than half a million views within just a few hours of appearing on the site, more than 4,000 people rushed to voice their opinions on Zuck’s attempt to share some Fourth of July fun.
“Stop trying to fit in, Mark,” one said, while another remarked, “On your way to claiming TikTok.”
Someone else wrote, “So this is what rich people do,” and another remarked, “Where’s the sunscreen?” referring to the fact that Zuckerberg heavily smeared himself with the stuff during another walk on his electric board last year.
In a bit of a departure from the topic, but still wanting to make a point, one commenter wrote, “My Facebook leaked all my personal information.”
Despite the critical nature of many of the responses to Zach’s video, some people were generous enough to leave fairly kind comments, including “Best CEO ever” and “You’re crazy,” though of course the latter can be understood in different ways.
Some commenters have questioned the authenticity of the video, and while the footage does look a bit CGI, the fact that Zuckerberg is known as a fan of the electric board suggests that they are genuine.
According to his Instagram account, Zuckerberg first rode an electric hydrofoil board about two years ago, and since then, the Facebook CEO has periodically posted videos of himself practicing on it. But the latest video appears to be his most adventurous foray on the board.
Adding a hydrofoil and electric motor to a surfboard creates more lift and speed for the surfer. This design has become increasingly popular in recent years, with models costing as much as $6,000.
