Reasons why someone might have multiple social media accounts on one platform (2024)

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Daniel T. Reasons why someone might have multiple social media accounts on one platform (1)

Daniel T.

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Published Jun 28, 2017

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I noted that Facebook yesterday announced it now had 2 billion users.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40424769

I wondered to myself do they mean distinct users or 2 billion user accounts (with the potential that any one user could have multiple accounts). However, why would anyone want multiple Facebook accounts or for that matter multiple accounts on one social media platform (and yes that includes LinkedIn)?

I came up with the following list of reasons:

  • Someone undertaking nefarious or criminal activities having at least two accounts one normal, one or more for their other activities
  • Spies/Police/Private Investigators try to track and stay close to potential cyber criminals or others they are investigating, having normal accounts and one or more accounts for their undercover activities
  • Someone who lost their password and previous account details (i.e. they have stopped using the email address they used to logon by) and just set-up a new account
  • Someone who wants to keep a wider gap between their different circles (e.g. Work, Family, Friends, Dating) having a different account for each (I believe you can separate out various connections on most social media platforms into some form of group/circle if you want but some people may prefer more of an air gap.)
  • Someone who creates several fake profiles to comment on or connect with their own profile and make themselves look more popular than they are

Can anyone add to this?

Has anyone done analysis in this area? How could we tell if someone has set-up a fake account or multiple accounts (what would indicate to us that it is a fake/multiple account)? Do social media platforms have ways to distinguish between, number of accounts and number of distinct users or at least narrow the field?

Not trying to take anything away from Facebook’s achievement here as it is very impressive whether it is distinct users or user accounts, though I believe the above does have implications regarding the full reach of social media.

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Bob undefined

Museum Educator at Dewitt Museum & Sumpter Valley Railway Depot

6mo

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When "friending" on Soc Media, check for numerous aliases/too many accts. What is too many accts? Well, first check for name provided. Even with 2 billion subscribers World Wide, there are usually only a reasonable number of persons of a given name. When you see an exceptional number for one namesake, many with no profile pic or avatar. I have found it is best to check out profiles because some are essentially a shell, some have sketchy info, profile pics are random thefts of pics around the internet. Often there is little or no content, or content is repetitious over numerous postings. There are tons of these situations on FB and perhaps on other media. When I see 40 accounts for a simple but not too common name, I investigate further or simply block the whole lot because you cannot be sure of the connections between any of them. That is a sorry state of affairs, and I think that FB should either do as IG does and blocking a known person also blocks all their others and more they create, or would allow, by your choice,, to do a blanket block of any and all of the same name. Their current methods only encourage abuse in my experience, but it does keep the account numbers high. JMO

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Steve Marshall

Welder at Santos Ltd

8mo

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Or cheating biiootch like mine

Nina Swer

--

1y

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Narcissists

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Barb P.

Peels Wedding Officiant - Wedding Officiant/Minister for the Peel Region and surrounding areas

1y

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prior to FB allowing separate pages for different groups as stated above, I originally created my first account to be strictly for family & friends. When I started my business, I didn't want to have my potential business clients see my personal information, posts from family & friends, plus the potential security/privacy issues of my personal contacts, so I created a separate account for my business. Now FB has the Pages option & the ability to have multiple pages to keep things like this separate & secure, however, they don't have the ability for me to combine the two unique accounts together (yet) hopefully, one day I'll be able to do so soon

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Sergey Anisimov

Software Architect at Schlumberger

6y

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Someone with a split-personality syndrome?

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Reasons why someone might have multiple social media accounts on one platform (2024)

FAQs

Reasons why someone might have multiple social media accounts on one platform? ›

Users may have multiple accounts on one social media platform for various reasons, such as personal and professional use or managing different identities. Users may have multiple accounts on one social media platform to separate personal and professional identities or to connect with different social circles.

What are the benefits of using multiple social media platforms? ›

The pros of managing multiple social media accounts

Creating many accounts means you can share a variety of content and talk to different audiences. Customer segmentation allows specific accounts to focus on certain topics as opposed to trying to engage everybody at once.

Why do people have multiple profiles? ›

These profiles can represent different things about you like your interests or communities you belong to. Each profile will have its own friends list and Feed and each can follow different groups and Pages.

Why do people use so many social media platforms? ›

Connecting with Others: At its core, social media is a tool for fostering connections. Users turn to these platforms to maintain contact with family and friends, bridging geographical gaps and nurturing relationships.

Why would someone have so many Facebook? ›

One of the most common reasons that someone wants to have multiple Facebook accounts is the scenario we addressed in the introduction: They want to cleanly segment off their life in nice, neat (and separate) Facebook profiles.

Why do people create multiple social media accounts? ›

Users may have multiple accounts on social media to create a false impression of popularity and influence others in online communities. Users may have multiple accounts on one social media platform to separate personal and professional identities or to connect with different social circles.

Why is it a good idea to have two separate social media accounts? ›

If your goal is to improve customer service, you may want to have separate accounts for each part of your business. This way, you can manage customer feedback more effectively and avoid damaging your entire brand if one part of your business faces a crisis, a negative review or a complaint.

Why should you have multiple user accounts? ›

Each user can install their own apps and control their own Shared folders. Only admin accounts can see all the accounts and modify them and their contents and access to certain resources. Each account has its own user name and password.

Why would someone make multiple Instagram accounts? ›

One of the primary benefits of having more than one Instagram account is enhanced security. In today's digital age, the risk of accounts being hacked is prevalent. Having a backup account provides a safety net.

How can you tell if someone has multiple social media accounts? ›

Read their bio.

You'll see this often with influencers, business owners, and even with friends who have accounts for different topics, aesthetics, and interests. You can also check the person's stories to see if they are resharing content from one of their other accounts.

Why are people using social media more and more? ›

People use social media for a variety of reasons, as it offers a platform for communication, connection, education and sharing content in the digital world. This is why it's reported in 2022, that over 4.59 billion people use social media worldwide (almost 60% of the world's population).

What is the purpose of social media platforms? ›

Social media platforms allow people to access information in real time, to connect with others, and to find niche communities. At its best, it makes the world more interconnected.

Why would a guy have two Facebooks? ›

some people create two Facebook pages. One for their more professional life where they are more careful about what they post and one for family and friends. More and more companies, during the job interview process have some one scan social media to learn more about candidates. Having a more professional page helps.

How can you tell if someone looks at your Facebook a lot? ›

Facebook doesn't let people track who views their profile. Third-party apps also can't provide this functionality. If you come across an app that claims to offer this ability, please report the app.

Is it okay to have multiple Facebook accounts? ›

It's against the Facebook Community Standards to maintain more than one personal account. If you want to represent your business, organization, brand or product on Facebook, you can use your personal account to create and manage a Page.

What is the purpose of different social media platforms? ›

Most people use social media to express themselves, share their interests, connect with friends, and grow their careers. However, different social media platforms serve specific purposes. For example, expressing creativity is most common on TikTok or Instagram; promoting one's career is common on LinkedIn.

Why is it important to advertise on multiple platforms? ›

Leveraging Different Platforms and Channels:

Diversifying your marketing efforts across multiple channels allows you to reach a broader audience and engage with them at various touchpoints.

How many social media platforms should you use? ›

Advantages of using three or more social media platforms:

The more platforms your brand has a presence on, the better your chances of appealing to the right audience at the right time. Different social media platforms will give you access to a much wider range of audience demographics.

What is one drawback of using multiple social media accounts? ›

It takes more time and staff to manage multiple social accounts, so it can end up creating significant amounts of work that may not be necessary. Multiple accounts can lead to customer confusion, especially if the accounts aren't clearly branded or active.

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