Gates has dropped the social networking phenomenon after too many people wanted to be his friend.

Gates, the billionaire computer geek-turned-philanthropist who remains Microsoft chairman, told an audience in New Delhi that he had tried out Facebook but wound up with "10,000 people wanting to be my friends".

Gates 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 said.

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