bill gates joins linkedln

Bill Gates joins the likes of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as a highly public figure utilizing the career-oriented social networking site LinkedIn to allow others to connect with him and ask questions.

Following Microsoft's investment in Facebook, Gates also set up a profile on the more casual site, but has admitted that he doesn't use the profile any more because he grew tired of fending off literally thousands of friend requests from complete strangers. LinkedIn, on the other hand, offers filtering options, limiting how people outside your immediate network are able to connect to you.

Gates says he plans to use the profile to help draw attention to LinkedIn's new cleaner and more customizable design and answer questions, such as how to best encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology.