Mark Zuckerberg decided to celebrate Independence Day in style by riding an electric surfboard while holding a US flag.

The Facebook founder, 37, was filmed taking a hydrofoil board across a scenic stretch of water with the stars and stripes fluttering in the breeze behind him.

He even chose a suitably American soundtrack for the footage, playing John Denver's 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' in the background.

The billionaire shared his 4th of July celebration on Instagram, and it wasn't long before the 71-second clip went viral, receiving 1.9 million views on that platform alone as well as thousands of comments.

In fact, it's become an instant meme, and naturally, people had some funny reactions.

Taking to Twitter to react, historian Greg Jenner wrote: "Do billionaires become incredibly weird because of the money, or do they become billionaires because they're incredibly weird? Because what the hell is this?"

A second added: "Someone told Mark Zuckerberg to act totally normal for July 4th."

A third joked: "I wish they could bring John Denver back to life just so he could sue Mark Zuckerberg for this."

A fourth wrote: "Here is Mark Zuckerberg proving he's not just richer than you, he's more patriotic."

Others used the footage to criticize the Facebook founder in a more targeted way.

A second chimed: "Mark Zuckerberg going all out on Independence Day. His PR image has taking a new twist lately."

Meanwhile, a seventh Twitter user joked that the footage will unite all Americans.

They wrote: "Americans finally found a source of unity, with left and right alike cringing after Mark Zuckerberg posted an Independence Day video of himself holding a US flag."

Metro reports that Zuckerberg is using a particularly expensive surfboard in the viral video - a Lift eFoil.

It can function as a regular surfboard or a hydrofoil on a flat stretch of water and can reach speeds of up to 30mph - all for the price of $12,000, which, admittedly, is nothing to a billionaire.

Featured image credit: Alamy / Xinhua

Disney star and actress Dove Cameron has responded to trolls online, after they criticised her for taking a racy bikini snap and posting it on Instagram. The 23-year-old posted a pic showing herself wearing a two-piece swimsuit, and many felt as though the image was too sexualised for someone with so many younger fans.

For example, one disgruntled Instagram user commented: "My cousin’s teenage daughter (she’s 13) is a fan of yours. Do you think this is appropriate for her? It’s one thing to pose in your bikini and be proud of your body (yeah you’re sexy)… But you’re posing and stroking your hair very provocatively on a bed. Considering your fanbase … Not appropriate. Go pose on the beach or something"

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Cameron later took to Instagram with a clapback, posting an image of William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s 1879 nude portrait The Birth of Venus' Cameron captioned the pic: "The human body isn’t offensive y’all. stop objectifying women so hard that you convince yourself that something natural and beautiful could ever be something offensive. also let women define their own bodies & their relationship to their bodies for themselves. stop defining women’s bodies for said women. A body is not inherently sexual. It is beautiful and innocent."

She added: "Just Jto be clear to the thousands of people who RAN with this post because it upset them so much, no, I am not saying 'everyone should just run naked in the streets like animals and the world should be in total chaos.' I am simply encouraging the embracing of the human body, the removal of the stigma that it is evil, the comfortability and LOVE of ones OWN body, and yes, if it is appropriate, if we are alone or at home, knowing that nakedness isn’t wrong." Since then, more than 400,000 people have liked her post.

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Dove Cameron is a significant supporter of the body positivity movement, owing to her own prior struggles with her self-image. In a recent interview with StyleCaster, she opened up about living with an eating disorder, stating: "I’ve never said this before, but I had such a bad case of anorexia. I was so badly down that hole. I was not eating for days sometimes. But it was because I thought I needed to be absolutely tiny to be loved. I genuinely thought I needed to be as skinny as I possibly could to be loved and appreciated and good enough."

She added: "I’ve worked really hard to maintain health and normality, and if someone wants to go on my Instagram and tell me that I am not as thin as I used to be, or I have a zit here, I don’t care about what that angry person has to say. What’s important is the freedom and the quality of my life. As long as my life is happy and healthy, so is my worldview."

These days, it seems that people on the internet get angry over the most trivial of things. This seems to happen most commonly on social media, where pretty much anyone and everyone is given a platform to share their opinions on matters that have absolutely nothing to do with them.

Scarlett London, a 24-year-old blogger and influencer, was already aware of this fact - but she didn't know how far people could take their anger until she posted this image to Instagram:

The image, which was part of a paid sponsorship with Listerine, was accompanied by this caption: "The best of days start with a smile and positive thoughts. And pancakes. And strawberries. And bottomless tea. My morning routine is now live on YouTube - and while I don't show you my real bed hair (trust me, it's not pretty), I do give you a little insight into how I start my day in a positive way."

Almost as soon as it went up, though, the blogger said she started receiving threats.

"In the last 48 hours, grown men & women, MPs, women’s equality representatives, journalists, actresses and broadcasters have discovered my Instagram feed and decided to pick it apart online, in front of thousands," she said.

"I implore those mindlessly sharing this content to research who I am as a person, before they further drag my name and image through the mud. Yes, I do adverts on here, but only with brands I genuinely use and would spend money on myself. My feed isn’t a place of reality."

So what exactly is so wrong about the image? London doesn't appear to be doing anything offensive in the snap, and she was totally up-front about it being a paid sponsorship, too.

Astoundingly, it all seemed to be because London had used tortilla wraps instead of pancakes in the shot. Oh, and that there isn't any tea in her mug.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, London said that she had received countless hateful comments, "Many to the effect of that I'm a danger to young women and should suffer, I should be stopped, I should suffocate on the balloons, I should kill myself because of how pathetic I am. But if I'm totally honest, those were the more tame of the bunch."

Most of the negative responses came after someone shared a screenshot of the post to Twitter, saying, "F*** off this is anybody's normal morning. Instagram is a ridiculous lie factory made to make us all feel inadequate."

And the responses only got worse from there.

Eventually, London posted a response to her critics, imploring them to stop their bullying and look into who she really is as a person and how she uses her platform for good. Unfortunately, this didn't stop the hate.

"You can refer to yourself as a poor, bullied 'young girl' all you like but if you're going to effectively sell products to your followers, your methods are going to come under criticism," wrote one person.

"I personally don’t think my content is harmful to young girls but I do agree Instagram can present a false expectation for people to live up to. And I am wholeheartedly sorry if I’ve ever made anyone feel inadequate through my content," she wrote.

"My life mission is quite the opposite. I am a strong 24-year-old woman who has experienced bullying in the past. I am and will be okay after this hideous experience. But another young girl or guy as the subject of a targeted hate campaign might not be okay. Please remember at the centre of of every viral storm is a human being."

London has made the decision to keep her post up on her page, and it is still receiving negative comments at the time of writing. However, it has also been flooded with positive messages from well-wishers who want to reassure the blogger - and anyone else reading - that not everyone on the internet is quite so heartless, and that nobody deserves such brutal death threats for their good intentions.

We are under almost constant societal pressure to look good in the times that we are living in.

Confronted with images of near-perfection on Instagram everytime we choose to scroll through the app, there is no respite if we choose to look up either; glossy billboards of impossibly beautiful models await us, as do the touched up covers of famous beauty magazines.

The same is clearly true for the celebrities of today. At least we do not have to suffer the incessant pressure of the media and online trolls every time we step outside our own front door: for the famous this is certainly the case.

We've seen lamentable episodes of body-shaming become commonplace on social media; though the rise of the body-positivity movement is doing its best to combat this.

Of course, it's tempting to dismiss the pressures that celebrities face to look constantly flawless as part and parcel of the career they have chosen, but nobody deserves to be body-shamed, criticised and judged for the way they look, famous or otherwise.

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Amy Schumer is the latest in a long line of female celebrities who have been body-shamed - inadvertently or otherwise - online, after a fan posted a now-deleted side-by-side image of the comedian with the caption, "“So I think Amy looks great already but man does she look way better I’m [sic] my OPINION in the second photo".

Rather than take her fan to task over the images, Schumer came up with the perfect reasoned response, writing;

“I disagree. I like how I really look. That’s my body. I love my body for being strong and healthy and sexy.

“I look like I’d give a good hug or have a drink with you. The other picture looks nice but it’s not me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts as well. See, we’re both right.”

For their own part, the fan responded to Schumer with an apology;

“I’m sorry Amy! It was unfair to do that to you.

“I didn’t think much about it when I first posted the pic. I’ve seen a lot of people photoshopping celebrities so I didn’t think mine would even be a blimp. I spent like 30 min making the photo and I should have never posted it! I’m glad people called out this post! That was a dick move on my end. Well all I can do is apologize, I’m sorry.”

In addition, the fan purportedly left this image on their account, suggesting that they had learned a lesson from the episode.

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Hats off to Schumer for the brilliant way she dealt with a potentially upsetting situation, and fair play to the fan in question, too, who seems to have realised the error of their ways. See everyone - it's still possible to have a calm debate!

British model Charli Howard is not one to take criticism lying down - especially where body confidence is concerned.

In fact, earlier this week, the 29-year-old hit back after being slated by some of her followers for a series of photos she posted of herself wearing a  revealing underwire polo.

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Sharing the snap with her 293,000 followers, Charli was forced to leave a series of retorts to commenters who criticized her choice of top.

When one of the naysayers told the body positivity activist that it was a "weird shirt", Charli responded, "don't buy it then bye."

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram / Charli Howard]]

Another critic asked her, "how many people pointed out that it's see-through?" to which Charlie quipped, "one - your dad."

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Another person complimented the lingerie model on her appearance but made sure to add that it's a "no to that shirt. The underwire looks so uncomfy." Charli responded saying that the sheer top is "actually so supportive and you feel 'secured in.'"

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram / Charli Howard]]

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram / Charli Howard]]

Not all the comments were negative - in fact, many of Charli's followers took to the comments to praise her for the daring outfit choice.

One person wrote: "I feel like this is “sexy scooby doo vibes”....and I mean that as THE HIGHEST compliment."

And Charli definitely took it as a compliment, responding: "I would love to be part of the mystery gang".

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram / Charli Howard]]

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram / Charli Howard]]

Another fan commented: "You're so beautiful... I love you so much and I need to say I'm worshiping your confidence, you make me feel more confident. Thank you so much for everything."

In response, Charli advised her "to just believe it and you will!"

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram / Charli Howard]]

Charli is the founder of a cruelty-free beauty brand called Squish. She has worked with a number of lingerie brands such as Agent Provocateur and Honey Birdette.

In a 2018 interview with the Guardian, Charli said she would no longer allow people to tell her "what’s wrong with my looks and what I need to change in order to be ‘beautiful’ (like losing one f***ing inch off my hips), in the hope it might force you to find me work."

Related - Fellow body-positive model Iskra Lawrence shows off her post-pregnancy body in a bikini:

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