Facebook officially embraces fake profiles
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeMeta is going to let Facebook users create multiple personal profiles and switch between them without logging out and logging back in, according to a blog post published Thursday. Basically, Meta is embracing...
Meta is going to let Facebook users create multiple personal profiles and switch between them without logging out and logging back in, according to a blog post published Thursday. Basically, Meta is embracing finstas but for Facebook.
“Whether you’re new to Facebook or a longtime user, you may want to keep your personal and professional relationships separate, or you may want to keep one profile tied to a community you’re a part of and another profile just for friends,” Meta wrote. “Creating multiple personal profiles lets you easily organize who you share with and what content you see for the various parts of your life. Think one profile for the foodie scene you love and another one to keep up with your friends and family.”
You’ll be able to have up to four additional Facebook profiles. You can switch between them from the menu that’s accessible when you tap your profile pic on the bottom right of the toolbar. However, additional profiles have some limitations to start; the Messenger app won’t support them, and features like Facebook Dating, Facebook Marketplace, and Professional Mode aren’t accessible from your extra profiles for now.
Meta said that it has been experimenting with the feature over the last year and that “we heard from people that clearer organization of friends, groups, and interests helps them feel freer to engage with the audience they believe is most relevant.” The company even acknowledged how much people like finstas: “we’ve seen the success of separate interest-based accounts on Instagram, so we’re excited to bring this option to Facebook.”
The feature will roll out globally beginning Thursday, and the rollout will take place over “the next few months.” If you jump back into the app to make a Facebook finsta, you might notice a new logo.