# Do you think that Bill Gates or any other celebrities ask questions on forums anonymously?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-bill-gates-or-any-other-celebrities-ask-questions-on-forums-anonymously/743174>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 14, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-bill-gates-or-any-other-celebrities-ask-questions-on-forums-anonymously/743174 "2016-01-14T22:56:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-bill-gates-or-any-other-celebrities-ask-questions-on-forums-anonymously/743174/21 "2016-01-15T11:07:32Z")

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What I can imagine is certain celebs visiting special interest message boards.

For example, I would be less than surprised to discover that Rod Stewart visits model railway enthusiasts’ message boards.

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**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-bill-gates-or-any-other-celebrities-ask-questions-on-forums-anonymously/743174/22 "2016-01-15T14:13:09Z")

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> [@GlowingDarkness](#):
>
> Does anyone think Bill Gates could be a doper…?

Not really…  
What’s with the fixation on Bill Gates? If you’re looking to chat with him, he may respond to an email. Probably wouldn’t bother asking for money though. 😛

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-bill-gates-or-any-other-celebrities-ask-questions-on-forums-anonymously/743174/23 "2016-01-15T14:50:13Z")

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> [@Fair\_Rarity](#):
>
> Peter Straub used to post on alt.books.Stephen-King back in the day. Under his real name and supposedly he was verified by 1995 standards. He’d talk about his books and The Talisman, but I seem to remember him posting on topic too.

Harry Turtledove was a regular poster on the old AOL Harry Turtledove forum. S.M. Stirling and Michael Flynn also posted there.

For that matter, Stirling has posted on this board on a few occasions.

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-bill-gates-or-any-other-celebrities-ask-questions-on-forums-anonymously/743174/24 "2016-01-15T14:51:26Z")

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> [@RobDog](#):
>
> What I can imagine is certain celebs visiting special interest message boards.
> 
> For example, I would be less than surprised to discover that Rod Stewart visits model railway enthusiasts’ message boards.

Considering what a model train wonk he is, I’d be more surprised if he DIDN’T visit model railway enthusiasts’ message boards. Same for Roger Daltry and Neil Young.

I kind of doubt that celebrities or high profile business people do “work” related stuff on the internet under assumed names; they have people to do that.

However, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re on enthusiast boards for things that they’re interested in personally. For example, finding Alton Brown on a motorcycling board wouldn’t surprise me. Nor would finding Nick Offerman on a woodworking board, or Jay Leno on a classic car board.

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