You might be surprised how often my clients are dealing with duplicate accounts on Facebook and/or LinkedIn. And often they are unaware they exist.

Want to find out if you have a duplicate account? Go to the platform you want to check and type your name into the search box. If nothing comes up, try any nicknames you use. Also, try any name you have used in the past, such as a maiden name. For Facebook, also enter all the emails you have used over the past few years.

 

Why Duplicate Accounts?

Sometimes another person will create an account on Facebook using your name and profile photo. If someone has done this to you, ask a friend to report the account to Facebook. Recently I had the experience of someone creating an account with my name and photo. My daughter reported it to Facebook and in less than a couple hours, Facebook removed the account.

However, most of the time, we are the ones who create these duplicate accounts. Sometimes, especially on LinkedIn, we forget that we had already created an account. Other times, we think we need separate accounts for our different identifies.

It’s not that so many of us are living exciting secret lives, but more that some of us don’t want to bother with a Facebook business page. We know more people see posts on personal pages than on business pages. So, we create a second personal account focused solely on our business persona. We keep our original account focused strictly on our personal lives.

On LinkedIn, people sometimes create separate accounts for each of their business offerings. They think of LinkedIn profiles as equivalent to Facebook business pages, where it makes sense to have a page for each offering.

 

What’s the Problem with Duplicate Accounts?

The main problem with duplicate accounts is that people get confused about which one is the real you.

On Facebook, it can be awkward if a business friend who is Facebook friend with your business persona stumbles onto your “real” account. They might wonder why you have this separate account and why they aren’t your friend on it. Or they might think someone has hacked into your account.

Also, Facebook makes it very clear in its terms of service that personal accounts are not to be used primarily for business purposes.

On LinkedIn, you could have a situation where a former co-worker who was connected with your original account sees another “version” of you appear on LinkedIn. They might find it odd that there is little or no reference to much of your prior professional life in this other version.

 

Now What?

  • In order to close a social media account, you need to have access to the email address you used to create that account. It’s OK if you don’t remember the password, as that’s resettable.
  • For Facebook, go to the list of friends on the account you want to close. Compare that list with the list of friends on the account you’re keeping.
  • Notify those connected with you only on the duplicate account that you are closing the account and giving them the URL to your continuing account. Or simply send them a friend request from that account.
  • Close the duplicate account by going to Settings, found among the drop-down options when you click on the arrow in the menu bar. Scroll down to Manage Your Account and Click on that. Go to Deactivate Your Account and follow the prompts.
  • For a duplicate Facebook business page, you can merge the two pages by going to the settings for the page you want to keep. Look for the setting called Merge Pages and follow the prompts.
  • LinkedIn allows you merge two accounts. That means you cans skip the connection review as LinkedIn will make sure everyone is connected to the continuing account. Go to the help center for detailed instructions on merging the duplicate account into the one you plan to keep.

 

How About You?

Have you ever discovered that you had duplicate Facebook or LinkedIn accounts? How did you deal with it?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 45 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

She works with business owners, business development professionals, business consultants, job seekers, and more – ranging from entrepreneurs to people in large corporations. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.