Meta Platforms Inc said Thursday that Facebook is introducing ways for users to have up to five profiles, which is a major shift from the "real name" requirement the platform has maintained since its start.

Profiles will be subject to Facebook’s policies, and any violation on one of the profiles will affect the whole account, spokesperson Leonard Lam said.

“To help people tailor their experience based on interests and relationships, we’re testing a way for people to have more than one profile tied to a single Facebook account. Anyone who uses Facebook must continue to follow our rules,” Lam pointed out.

In other words, such change would allow posting different types of content aimed at tailoring the users' experience depending on their relationships and interests, such as posting different content intended for family versus friends.

Facebook will continue to require each user to have only one account, with the main profile that continues to use the user's real name. However, people will be able to access any other profiles they create after they log in to that account.

By this change, users will have freedome to semi-anonymize their identity on the platform, in keeping with options that competitors like Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram offer.

In its statement, Meta confirmed that its rules against impersonation and any other types of misleading representations of identity would continue to apply to all profiles.

Facebook’s shift away from one profile comes as the social media network is struggling to keep users, especially young ones, as existential threats like TikTok continue to develop. The company lost daily users for the first time in its history in the fourth quarter of 2021.