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At the risk of stating the obvious, I don't think its really him, but a nice bit of PR either way - subtle.

No, stating the obvious would be: Of course he wants to see what his competition looks like first hand, and you can't test a social network without networking with people who know who you actually are.

Is he supposed to slink around like a frightened thief? No, he'd join, steal the good ideas, and say "so long and thanks for all the fish"... like a Boss.

Even if he joined, he would likely use a different name.

Why?

What would be the benefit? It would be just something else to deal with and cause attention in the press.

Well, for one, how do we know that he doesn't have an anonymous account? And for two, if he only had an anonymous account, it could reflect badly on him as well - recall the Scott Adams sock puppet fiasco from awhile back.

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