Facebook allows users to have up to five profiles

Meta, the owner of Facebook, recently announced that it is testing new ways to allow Facebook users to have up to five accounts at once. This is seen as a notable change from Facebook’s strict policy of using real names and faces when creating accounts.

The product change will “help people tailor their experience based on interests and relationships,” such as posting different types of content aimed at family versus friends, Meta said in a statement.

The company will continue to require each user to have only one Facebook account with a primary profile that continues to use the person’s real name. People will have access to any additional profiles they create once they sign in to that account.

The change gives users official leeway to semi-anonymize their identities on the world’s biggest social network, in line with options offered by rivals like TikTok and Twitter, as well as Meta’s own photo and video app Instagram.

In its statement, Meta said its policies against impersonation and other types of misrepresentation will continue to apply to all profiles.

A Meta spokesman said the company was testing the new approach in certain countries, but declined to specify which ones.