Mark Zuckerberg has shared a tongue-in-cheek response to a New York Times short article accusing Facebook of advertising pro-facebook stories on its news feed. The report by Ryan Mac and Sheera Frenkel alleges that the Facebook chief executive signed off last month on a new initiative to show folks more positive stories about the platform – but Mr Zuckerberg, alternatively of refuting the allegation, chose to respond by focusing on the distinction in between surfing and hydrofoiling.
The New York Times report noted that Facebook started a “multipronged effort” to distance its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, from controversies and scandals. As aspect of the image-cleaning physical exercise, Mr Zuckerberg’s social media posts also saw a marked adjust. “Mr Zuckerberg’s posts have recently featured a video of himself riding an electric surfboard with an American flag…” one sentence in the 1800-word report study.
However, the Facebook chief took offense at the misidentification of his hobby and referred to as out New York Times in a post shared on Facebook this morning.
“Look, it’s one thing for the media to say false things about my work, but it’s crossing the line to say I’m riding an electric surfboard when that video clearly shows a hydrofoil that I’m pumping with my own legs,” he wrote.
Hydrofoiling is a new variety of water sport in which a wing-like structure beneath water is used to generate lift. On the Fourth of July, Mark Zuckerberg had shared a video which shows him hydrofoiling. There’s a wing beneath the water that I’m riding that pushes the board into the air,” he explained in the comment section of his post. “It’s a lot of entertaining. There’s an electric-powered version that you can get, but in this video I’m riding a common foil board and surfing a small wave.”
Mr Zuckerberg’s tongue-in-cheek rebuttal of the New York Times report – which has since been updated to correctly identify the water sport – amused many on Facebook.
“Rofl. It’s not even an e-foil!!!” one Facebook user wrote. “Exactly,” Mr Zuckerberg replied.
“Mark you have been super laid back and funny these last handful of months. Lol what changed in your life? What’s your secret?” another asked, to which he replied by saying, “I just decided to focus more on some of the great items we’re creating, and carrying out more entertaining items with my family and pals.”
However, report author Ryan Mac was surprised to see Mr Zuckerberg’s reaction to the article. “So…. he study the story and this is what he’s disputing,” Mr Mac wrote on Twitter.
So…. he read the story and this is what he’s disputing https://t.co/Jned0QgeIbpic.twitter.com/HDkMTVoRcR
— Ryan Mac ???? (@RMac18) September 22, 2021
“Zuckerberg has mentioned absolutely nothing publicly about the WSJ investigations and the only point he’s disputed in our story about him wanting him to separate himself from scandals was a post about his hydrofoil, which… ok,” he added.
Zuckerberg has said nothing publicly about the WSJ investigations and the only thing he’s disputed in our story about him wanting him to separate himself from scandals was a post about his hydrofoil, which… ok.
The story has been updated too. https://t.co/9beKRsZkPKpic.twitter.com/Ojt0OtS2UU
— Ryan Mac ???? (@RMac18) September 22, 2021
The Wall Street Journal last week published reports which show that Facebook failed to properly address problems and prioritized profits amid a slew of misinformation on the platform. According to Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, citing a review of internal company documents that included research reports, online employee discussions and drafts of presentations to senior management, said that although Facebook researchers have identified “the platform’s ill effects,” the company failed to fix them.