Meta may soon allow Facebook users up to five different profiles per account.

Traditionally conservative on how many accounts it allows each user to run, it is testing the ability to enable extra profiles to encourage posting and interacting.

Up to four additional profiles can be attached to an account during the trial phase, with each profile not needing a real name or identity. Each will have its own feed but only one profile at a time will be able to comment on or like another person's posts. You cannot use one profile to comment, then another to reply, for example.

Creating multiple profiles could enable a user to split their friends into different groups under different profiles - such as work or personal. Alternatively, an alias could be used for social posts you might not want your family to see.

It's not the first time Facebook has offered multiple profiles or accounts to be created - public figures have been able to for a while. Different identities have been allowed for dating or college use, too.

However, expanding it to the general public will be a big move for the social network and, if the trials prove successful, we should see it introduced over the coming months.