It’s estimated that around 270 million Facebook accounts are bots or fake profiles. That’s a staggering amount of fraudulent accounts. And When you try to create another account just to have a backup, you get instantly banned. So, how do they do it, and is it difficult?
How many accounts does Facebook allow?
The terms and conditions of Meta are clear – one person can only have one account. The account must also use a real person’s name, and Facebook might even ask you for a document to prove that you are using your real name.
Still, people might want to separate their personal and professional lives or manage multiple different fan or business pages. Facebook knows this and thus has come up with a solution – multiple profiles. One account can create up to four separate profiles.
The name of the profile may not match your original name. Although no one will see your original name when you use your profile, it’s still linked to one and the same account.
While it’s a good compromise for a casual user, businesses and influencers find it problematic because managing social media accounts (not just Facebook) is often outsourced. One person – one account rule makes this much more difficult.
Difficulties and benefits of multi-accounting
Creating more than one Facebook account proves challenging because of the countermeasures the platform takes. If the same account is used from two different places simultaneously or if there are too many devices involved, the account may be restricted.
In the best-case scenario, you’ll need to explain yourself and maybe provide some documents. Worst case – your accounts will get banned.
The technical functioning of such enforcement is quite simple. Facebook collects all sorts of data from users – cookies, IP address geolocation, device type, software and hardware used, language, visit frequency, etc. They compile all such data to understand what kind of user you are and how you act on the platform.
If they notice you are acting out of the ordinary, your account will get flagged, and you might need to prove yourself to them. That’s an understandable practice from Meta’s point of view – it helps protect user’s accounts and fight against bots with fake profiles. But, there are multiple use cases where multi-accounting is beneficial and barely harmful for anyone.
Backup accounts. Creating a backup account to manage your store or reach a needed audience might be crucial. If you are using Facebook as a means to earn money, your livelihood depends on having access to it.
Social media campaign outsourcing. It’s little known that most influencers, politicians, and others with big followings do not manage their own social media accounts. Usually, there is a PR agency or a freelance professional doing it. They would not be able to do it without multi-accounting.
Account automation and analytics. Facebook’s dashboard is very inefficient when you need to time your posts right or make reactions for many accounts. Tracking metrics also becomes possible when you can implement automation.
How to set up multiple accounts
Step one: install an Anti-detect browser
Anti-detect browsers are specialized tools that can hide your device’s fingerprint by sending modified data to the target server. A browser fingerprint is a unique set of your device’s specifications that are sent to the web when you connect. They include everything from your IP address to software and hardware parameters.
An anti-detect browser allows the user to choose what specifications are sent so you can appear to Facebook in a particular way. This is crucial for multi-accounting, as most websites authenticate the user by fingerprint parameters. Here’s an example of how it can be used with Facebook.
Suppose you have an overseas client that wants you to manage his Facebook account. Since you are using a different device in another location, Facebook will quickly flag the account and restrict your access. Anti-detect browsers will allow you to set up your browser profile in a way similar to your clients to avoid these blocks.
Dolphin Anty, Kameleo, and Incogniton are the leading anti-detect browsers today. They will allow you to create multiple browser profiles and thus create or manage multiple Facebook accounts. However, fingerprint settings are not enough, and you’ll also need to use a good proxy server.
Step two: acquire proxies
All anti-detect browsers use proxies to change your IP address. Proxies are essential for multi-accounting because they act as intermediaries, changing your location to one similar to your clients. Even if you are creating and managing accounts for yourself, you’ll still need to use proxies, as IPs are the main factor with which accounts are identified.
Many make the mistake of choosing commercial datacenter proxies, but to lower the risk of detection, you must use an IP address common to most platform users. That’s why mobile residential proxies are the best choice.
Most users connect with their mobile devices from home. Mobile residential proxies imitate such connections by using smartphones or tablets run in common households. Integrating proxies depends on your anti-detect browser. Dolphin Anty, for example, has a straightforward process where you simply need to enter proxy credentials.
Strep three: create browser profiles
It’s crucial to have a separate IP address for each browser profile. Then, you must create the profile by setting up user-agent and other parameters. The process might take time to master if you are creating accounts for yourself.
However, some anti-detect browsers make it very easy to manage accounts for clients. Dolphin Anty, for example, makes everything very easy by allowing you to import cookies from a client or another source so you can appear exactly as the client.
Conclusion
The guide provided here is just the most basic approach you can take. Custom tools might provide advanced functions with more assurance of avoiding bans. However, they all will involve some sort of anti-detect browser implementation and proxies. Starting with this guide will give you a head start on getting more control of your Facebook accounts.
