Bill Gates quits Facebook over 'too many friends'

July 26, 2009 Bill Gates said it was too much trouble to keep up with the Facebook friend requests

Enlarge

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates smiles as he is honoured by India for his charity work in New Delhi. Gates told the audience he was forced to give up on the social networking phenomenon Facebook after too many people wanted to be his friend.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said he was forced to give up on the social networking phenomenon Facebook after too many people wanted to be his friend.

Gates, the billionaire computer geek-turned-philanthropist who was honoured Saturday by India for his charity work, told an audience in New Delhi he had tried out but ended up with "10,000 people wanting to be my friends".

Gates, who remains chairman, said he had trouble figuring out whether he "knew this person, did I not know this person".

"It was just way too much trouble so I gave it up," Gates told the business forum.

Gates was in the Indian capital to receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, awarded by the government for his work for the charitable organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The foundation, built by his massive fortune, has committed nearly one billion dollars to health and development projects in India, targeting especially AIDS and polio.

Gates also confided to the audience that he was "not that big at text messaging" and that "I'm not a 24-hour-a-day tech person".

"I read a lot and some of that reading is not on a computer," he said.

Gates, who sought to drive a vision of a computer on every desk and in every home, said the information technology revolution had been "hugely beneficial" but added: "All these tools of tech waste our time if we're not careful."

(c) 2009 AFP


print this article email this article download pdf blog this article bookmark this article     Stumble it Digg this share on Facebook retweet share on Reddit add to delicious
Rate this story - 2.4 /5 (9 votes)

Rank Filter

Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

  • getgoa - Jul 26, 2009
    • Rank: 1.5 / 5 (2)
    I don't know why he signed up for facebook it does not have a secure sign-up process?
  • paulthebassguy - Jul 26, 2009
    • Rank: 4 / 5 (2)
    No wonder Billy didn't accept my friend request. I feel less rejected now.
  • Jayman - Jul 27, 2009
    • Rank: 4 / 5 (1)
    Ahhh... man! I was proud to show my friends that I was friends with Bill Gates. Now I have lost my best friend !!! He and I were like this >
  • Bob_B - Jul 27, 2009
    • Rank: 1.5 / 5 (2)
    Being an old Digital Research guy, I'd puke on the thief who took some of our code to create windoze.

    Who really like Bill? oh the banks, finance companies and, oh he pays no tax. You see, all that money was earned on money he already paid tax on?!? Go figure.
  • QubitTamer - Jul 27, 2009
    • Rank: not rated yet
    Dumbass probably thinks Facebook friends are supposed to be like RL friends where you have to meet them and hang out with them or something stupid like that..

    Plus they just wanted his money!
  • Milou - Aug 02, 2009
    • Rank: not rated yet
    After several years I quit Facebook and MySpace because I had no friends. I guess I am in a different league.

July 26, 2009 all stories

Comments: 6

2.4 /5 (9 votes)
  • Stumble this up

  • Digg this

  • share this

  • hide
  • Related Stories

  • Gates: $258 million for malaria research
    created Oct 31, 2005 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Microsoft 'committed' to China IT sector
    created Apr 18, 2006 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Microsoft to invest $1.7B in India
    created Dec 08, 2005 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Gates Touts Vista's Sales Success
    created May 16, 2007 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • India most interesting, but U.S. No. 1 -- Gates
    created Dec 10, 2005 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0



  • hide
  • Relevant PhysicsForums posts

  • Laser plasma emission
    created 16 hours ago
  • Achromat lens - magnifying LCD
    created Nov 25, 2009
  • Control System
    created Nov 24, 2009
  • Base Isolation Systems in Skyscrapers?
    created Nov 23, 2009
  • More from Physics Forums - General Engineering

Other News

Semantic research sets world standards

Semantic research sets world standards

Technology / Computer Sciences

created 3 hours ago | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- European researchers have created new tools for semantic technology development which are helping to set the next generation of official standards. The tools also unblock some key bottlenecks ...


Cellphone powers back pain chip in Taiwan

Technology / Engineering

created 4 hours ago | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Taiwanese researchers have developed a chip to treat backpain that is powered by mobile phone, a member of the team said Friday.


Lenovo buying back mobile phone business

Technology / Business

created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Personal computer maker Lenovo Group said Friday it is joining the race to develop products that link phones and PCs by buying back a mobile phone business that it sold last year.


Food banks go high-tech to feed the hungry (AP)

Food banks go high-tech to feed the hungry

Technology / Hi Tech

created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Food banks across the country are undergoing a high-tech revolution, adopting sophisticated databases, bar coding, GPS tracking, automated warehouses and other technologies used in the food industry ...


McKinnon, accused of hacking into US military and NASA computers, faces extradition to the United States

UFO-obsessed Briton loses bid to block US extradition

Technology / Other

created 17 hours ago | popularity 3.8 / 5 (5) | comments 3

A Briton accused of hacking into US military and NASA computers faces extradition to the United States after the British government Thursday rejected last-ditch requests to block the move.