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February 12, 2008 9:24 AM PST

Bill Gates gives up on Facebook

by Ina Fried
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So that's why Bill Gates hasn't accepted my friend request.

I was beginning to wonder why he hadn't added me to his list of Facebook friends. Well, apparently I wasn't the only person that was trying to add him to their list of pals.

According to the British tabloid The Sun, Gates was getting some 8,000 requests per day. While he once spent half an hour per day on the site, he has stopped using it altogether, the paper reported.

So I guess I shouldn't feel so bad.

According to a Wall Street Journal blog, the Microsoft chairman had so many people trying to add him as friends that the site just wasn't useful for him.

As for Facebook, it may not have the Microsoft chairman as an active user anymore, but at least it still have the software maker's millions in its bank account.

During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.
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About Beyond Binary

During her years at CNET, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft.

Beyond Binary is a look at how technology is changing our lives and the people behind all that life-changing stuff, with an extra emphasis on that which emanates from Redmond, Wash.

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