Some people choose to adopt an interesting strategy on Facebook: they constantly juggle between two profiles.
This allows them to use Facebook both for professional networking and personal socializing, by dividing their networks and activities into two accounts. One profile is used only for their personal life and the other, their professional life. A photo taken at work or at a conference might serve as their professional profile photo while a family photo might be included on their personal profile.
Similarly, if you're multilingual and use LinkedIn, you might be wondering if you should have multiple profiles, one in each language, much like one would keep a separate CV for each language spoken.
We'd like to emphasize the fact that we at Networking 2.0 do not endorse this strategy as being your best approach. However, many other consultants disagree and favour separate profiles as necessarily being the better option. Even if we disagree, it's possible that you'd prefer to create two separate profiles for your social media accounts; here you will find answers to some of your questions on how to go about this practice. We've opted to go with the Question & Answer format to best address some of these issues.
1. Facebook
Q: Should I create multiple Facebook profiles?
A: The official position of the Networking 2.0 project is that this approach demands too much time and too many considerations. You'll need two email accounts, to be extremely comfortable connecting and disconnecting from the site, have enough time to dedicate to not only one but two active social media accounts and to check them regularly (or at the very least regularly check the email accounts associated with your profiles), and so on. You'll also have to decide what type of content you wish to post on each account and learn how to manage professional contacts who may discover your personal profile and feel offended that they've been excluded from your "real" Facebook account. Based on the experiences of those we know, inevitably there were oversights and personal content was at some point mistakenly published to their professional contacts.
Q: Am I allowed to create multiple Facebook profiles?
A: The truth is, it's unclear. The official Facebook user agreement at one time specified that this was forbidden and was reason enough to have your account deleted or access blocked. However, it's hard to tell how they might check this information, particularly because you'd need to use multiple email addresses in order to create multiple profiles. If you've never engaged in any other suspicious behaviour on the site, you can probably safely create two profiles without issue. The latest user agreement doesn't state clearly whether it's allowed or not allowed, however Facebook's Help Centre still states that keeping two or more profiles is forbidden on the site.
Q: How do I create two accounts?
A: The primary purpose of having two Facebook accounts is to segregate your network. Most often, this involves keeping a personal account and a professional account (for networking purposes). Alternately, an artist or musician could have one personal account and another with their artist name, for promotion, keeping up with fans, etc. It's important to reflect carefully on who to include in each network. You will also require two email accounts. If you already have two, the procedure for creating each profile is the same, but you must be extremely cautious about who you invite to connect with you on each profile, what type of content you share (photos, links, pages you like, etc.) with each network, what personal information you share through each account and the privacy settings associated with each profile.
Q: Can I be connected to both profiles at the same time?
A: Yes, if you're using two different browsers at the same time (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, etc.). In each browser, connect to one of the two profiles. Be careful not to publish to the wrong account; you'll have to be twice as vigilant if you're logged into both at the same time. If you're using a smartphone, you can either use two browsers, an application and a browser, or two applications.
Q: If I change my mind, can I combine both profiles later?
A: No. We recommend downloading all information from the account (profile) you wish to close in order to keep a copy. Then, transfer administration of your pages or groups to the account you wish to keep. Third, delete all information from the account you'll be closing. Then, finally, close the account you no longer wish to keep. These suggestions come directly from Facebook's Help Centre.
Q: How can I manage my privacy without creating two profiles?
A: There are several options here. One is to use your Facebook account as if it was entirely professional, and to move your personal interactions to other social media sites, such as Path or Diaspora, or alternately using only Facebook's private message function rather than on your wall. However, our preferred solution is to place contacts into lists and manage your privacy settings accordingly (generally by including or excluding certain groups of people from your posts).
2. LinkedIn
Q: Why would I create two LinkedIn profiles?
A: For LinkedIn, the goal is not to separate your personal and professional networks, as the site is already being used for exclusively professional purposes. Here, the greater issue is for people who speak and work in several languages, for example English and French. Usually these people would create one CV in French and another in English. Should you do the same for yourLinkedIn profile? This is what the site recommends.
Q: Am I allowed to create two profiles on LinkedIn?
A: Yes and no. In its user agreement, LinkedIn specifically states that it is forbidden to create multiple LinkedIn profiles. However, they suggest the creation of multiple profiles to people who speak more than one language, in order to have a profile in each language. In this specific case, the accounts are linked and administered jointly. Thus, they are connected profiles and not considered to be "multiple".
Q: Should I create two LinkedIn profiles?
A: Even if you speak several languages and want to demonstrate and sell your skills in both, it's not necessary to create two separate profiles. When in a context of primarily bilingual work, such as Montreal where unilingual people struggle to find jobs, one can show their bilingualism by creating a single LinkedIn profile in both languages. One language is chosen for headings and the general profile overview, and job descriptions are written in this language. But a second paragraph can easily be added in your second language to show that you are, in fact, bilingual. Profiles may end up being longer, but will leave no doubt for an employer that you're able to express yourself with ease in both languages.
Q: How do I create linked profiles on LinkedIn?
A: Log in to your LinkedIn account. Move your mouse over the Profile tab and select "Edit Profile". On the right side of the screen, near the top, you should see the option "Create your profile in another language"; click this and follow the instructions.
Additional resources:
Do I need two Facebook accounts (FastCompany.com)
Is Facebook allowing multiple accounts now? (Techforluddites.com)
Rethinking Facebook: from 0 to 2 accounts (k4t3.org)
A: Yes, if you're using two different browsers at the same time (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, etc.). In each browser, connect to one of the two profiles. Be careful not to publish to the wrong account; you'll have to be twice as vigilant if you're logged into both at the same time. If you're using a smartphone, you can either use two browsers, an application and a browser, or two applications.
Q: If I change my mind, can I combine both profiles later?
A: No. We recommend downloading all information from the account (profile) you wish to close in order to keep a copy. Then, transfer administration of your pages or groups to the account you wish to keep. Third, delete all information from the account you'll be closing. Then, finally, close the account you no longer wish to keep. These suggestions come directly from Facebook's Help Centre.
Q: How can I manage my privacy without creating two profiles?
A: There are several options here. One is to use your Facebook account as if it was entirely professional, and to move your personal interactions to other social media sites, such as Path or Diaspora, or alternately using only Facebook's private message function rather than on your wall. However, our preferred solution is to place contacts into lists and manage your privacy settings accordingly (generally by including or excluding certain groups of people from your posts).
2. LinkedIn
Q: Why would I create two LinkedIn profiles?
A: For LinkedIn, the goal is not to separate your personal and professional networks, as the site is already being used for exclusively professional purposes. Here, the greater issue is for people who speak and work in several languages, for example English and French. Usually these people would create one CV in French and another in English. Should you do the same for yourLinkedIn profile? This is what the site recommends.
Q: Am I allowed to create two profiles on LinkedIn?
A: Yes and no. In its user agreement, LinkedIn specifically states that it is forbidden to create multiple LinkedIn profiles. However, they suggest the creation of multiple profiles to people who speak more than one language, in order to have a profile in each language. In this specific case, the accounts are linked and administered jointly. Thus, they are connected profiles and not considered to be "multiple".
Q: Should I create two LinkedIn profiles?
A: Even if you speak several languages and want to demonstrate and sell your skills in both, it's not necessary to create two separate profiles. When in a context of primarily bilingual work, such as Montreal where unilingual people struggle to find jobs, one can show their bilingualism by creating a single LinkedIn profile in both languages. One language is chosen for headings and the general profile overview, and job descriptions are written in this language. But a second paragraph can easily be added in your second language to show that you are, in fact, bilingual. Profiles may end up being longer, but will leave no doubt for an employer that you're able to express yourself with ease in both languages.
Q: How do I create linked profiles on LinkedIn?
A: Log in to your LinkedIn account. Move your mouse over the Profile tab and select "Edit Profile". On the right side of the screen, near the top, you should see the option "Create your profile in another language"; click this and follow the instructions.
Additional resources:
Do I need two Facebook accounts (FastCompany.com)
Is Facebook allowing multiple accounts now? (Techforluddites.com)
Rethinking Facebook: from 0 to 2 accounts (k4t3.org)
