Facebook Messenger gets multiple account support

Facebook is really getting into the spirit of multiple personas lately. Earlier this month, the social sultan rolled out multiple account support for its photo-centric social media platform Instagram, and we caught a glimpse of some potential changes in the pipeworks for Messenger, including the ability to swap accounts in-app. Now that change has been made formal, so it will be easy to stay in touch with your amigos no matter who you feel like being today.

In an announcement post on Facebook, the company revealed the details of this new feature, which primarily targets users who share a single device. With this userbase in mind, developers have focused on maintaining privacy. When you add an additional account, Messenger will of course require a password to access their chats. However, new account users will be given the option to always require a password when swapping to that profile. If this option is enabled, then incoming messages on that account won’t be previewed in the notifications bar while the account is inactive. Anyone else using the device will be able to see that the user has received new messages, but they won’t be able to see the content of the message or who the sender is.

Alternatively, you can elect to swap between user accounts without a password. This is a nice capability for anyone currently holding down two identities, like international spies or superheroes. Whether or not the bulk of Messenger’s userbase will get much use out of this feature, it’s still a nice addition to a solid (if resource ravenous) messaging app.

What are your thoughts regarding Messenger’s new multiple account support? Something you’ll be using on the regular, or an update that doesn’t really apply to you? Let us know in the comments below!