WASHINGTON (AFP) - Being president of the United States is not all drone strikes and crisis meetings. Occasionally you get to have a bit of fun.

A video released on Thursday shows Barack Obama doing just that, posing in front of the mirror with aviator sunglasses, playing around with a selfie stick and struggling to enunciate "February."

In a skit recorded by BuzzFeed called "things everyone does but doesn't talk about," Obama can also be seen blaming himself for making cookies too big to dunk in a glass of milk - "thanks Obama" - and drawing a picture of his wife Michelle.

The President is also captured pretending to score a winning basket, before being interrupted and receiving a quizzical look from comedian Andrew Ilnyckyj posing as a staffer. Obama responds "can't I live, man?" before declaring "YOLO man!"- you only live once.

The light-hearted two-minute footage attracted the usual flurry of approval and apoplexy on social media.

"It's good to see even the President has a dirty mirror, and a great sense of humor," Facebook user Teri Jacobs wrote.

"Worst president EVER" wrote Jeff Morris in an expletive-laden post.

Obama's White House has frequently sought to connect directly with voters and harness social media to improve the President's image.

Thursday's video was also designed to get Americans to enroll for a health-care insurance programme, part of reforms that have been the cornerstone of his presidency.

A short time after being posted the video had received 1.6 million views.