What are the rules around having multiple TikTok accounts?
TikTok’s official policy allows users to create and manage multiple accounts on the platform. According to TikTok’s support page, “You can create multiple accounts on TikTok.” However, they warn that “we may restrict or permanently ban your account if you make any attempts to avoid a restriction or ban on another account.”
Users might want multiple TikTok accounts for different purposes, such as keeping separate accounts for personal and professional content. Musicians or other creators often maintain one account for their own content, and another for collaborations or fan interactions. Having multiple accounts also allows users to tailor content to different niches or audiences.
The main restriction TikTok places on multiple accounts is that users cannot use them to evade bans. Creating secondary accounts to avoid restrictions on a main account is grounds for TikTok to impose restrictions or permanent bans. As long as users follow TikTok’s community guidelines with all of their accounts, having multiple accounts is allowed.
Sources:
https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/account-and-user-safety/content-violations-and-bans
Creating a second TikTok account
It is possible to have more than one TikTok account associated with your device. Here is the step-by-step process to create a second TikTok account:
1. Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile picture in the bottom right corner.
2. Select “Manage account” and then tap “Add account”.
3. Enter a different email address and/or phone number that is not associated with your first account. You cannot use the same credentials for multiple accounts.
4. Follow the prompts to create your new account username and password.
5. Once your second account is created, you can easily switch between accounts within the TikTok app. Simply tap on your profile picture and select the account you want to use.
Having separate accounts with different credentials allows you to keep content separate and tailor each account to a particular audience or interest.
Switching between accounts
If you want to easily switch between multiple TikTok accounts on the same device, there are a couple ways to do it:
To log out of one account and into another, go to your profile page and tap the menu button in the top right corner (the three horizontal lines). Select “Manage account” and then tap “Log out”. You’ll then be prompted to log into whichever other account you want to use.
According to Dexerto, you can also stay logged into multiple accounts at the same time on the same device. In the app, go to your profile and tap your username at the top of the page. Then tap “Add account” and log into your other account. Once you’ve added another account, you’ll see your usernames listed at the top of your profile page and you can tap to switch between them.
Switching between multiple accounts allows you to easily manage and post from different accounts without having to repeatedly log in and out.
Managing multiple accounts
When you have multiple TikTok accounts, it’s important to keep them separate or connect them properly. You can link accounts together in your settings to easily switch between them, but this means they will share likes, follows, and more. According to Shift, it’s better to keep accounts completely separate if you want distinct identities.
You can also choose whether to follow or block your other accounts. Following them links them together visibly, while blocking keeps them private. Experts recommend blocking your secondary accounts from your primary one if you want to hide the connection. But you can follow your own accounts if you want viewers to know they are linked. Just be sure to avoid following and interacting with yourself too much, as this could get your accounts banned for spam-like activity.
Pros of having a second account
Having multiple TikTok accounts allows you to separate different aspects of your online presence and optimize your content strategy. Here are some of the main benefits of managing more than one account on TikTok:
Posting different types of content – With multiple accounts, you can dedicate specific accounts to different niches or styles of content. For example, you may want to keep a personal account separate from an account focused on professional content or a particular passion.
Separating personal and professional – Having distinct personal and business accounts on TikTok allows you to maintain privacy while still engaging audiences relevant to your brand. This helps prevent mixing together content that may not mesh.
More chances to go viral – The TikTok algorithm favors new accounts, so creating a separate account can help increase your odds of landing on the “For You” page. You essentially get multiple rolls of the dice to achieve virality.
According to experts, “segmenting content across accounts often leads to increased growth as each account can be tailored for specific audiences” (Source).
Cons of multiple accounts
Having multiple TikTok accounts comes with some downsides that are important to consider before creating extra profiles. The main cons of multiple accounts include:
It can be hard to properly manage multiple accounts. Keeping up with posting quality content, analytics, comments, messages, and followers across different accounts takes a lot more time and effort compared to a single profile. It’s easy to neglect accounts and cause your engagement rates to suffer when juggling too many.
Multiple accounts can confuse your audience and followers. Unless you clearly brand each account for different niches or purposes, people may not realize you have multiple profiles. This can lead to followers missing your content, unfollows, and lower visibility as activity gets fragmented.
Maintaining multiple accounts requires doing extra work. You’ll have to put in more time creating content, engaging with users, and analyzing data across different accounts. This takes away energy and focus from your primary account and business goals.
Interacting between accounts is prohibited by TikTok, so you can’t easily cross-promote different profiles you manage. This makes it even harder to grow secondary accounts.
Is it OK to buy followers?
TikTok’s terms of service prohibit any attempts to artificially inflate account metrics like follower count, likes, or views. Buying followers is against TikTok’s rules and can lead to account suspension or banning according to this source.
TikTok has automated systems to detect and remove fake or bot accounts. So any followers purchased from third-party sites will likely be deleted by TikTok in a purge. You end up wasting money and still have low followers according to this expert.
There are also risks associated with providing login details to shady follower sellers. They could hack your account or steal personal information. It’s safer to grow an authentic audience organically.
Best Practices for Multiple TikTok Accounts
Using multiple TikTok accounts effectively while avoiding bans and keeping them secure requires following some best practices:
First, make sure each account has a unique email and phone number associated with it. TikTok’s terms prohibit using the same contact information for multiple accounts. You can use services like Google Voice to get extra phone numbers (https://tryshift.com/blog/apps-hub/how-to-manage-multiple-tiktok-accounts/).
Also, avoid actions that look suspicious, like constantly switching between accounts or liking your own videos. TikTok monitors for unusual behavior that suggests account manipulation (https://gologin.com/blog/multiple-tiktok-accounts).
When posting from different accounts, vary content themes and posting schedules. Don’t post identical or highly similar content across accounts. Keep each account’s content and branding consistent.
Be cautious when buying followers or likes. Drastic spikes in engagement on new accounts can trigger red flags. Focus on growing accounts organically at first.
Finally, enable two-factor authentication and use strong unique passwords for each account. This prevents compromising multiple accounts if one is hacked.
Following these tips allows responsibly managing multiple accounts while avoiding behavior that violates TikTok’s terms of service.
Expert opinions
According to social media expert Angela Christina, “Whatever you do, don’t interact with multiple tiktok accounts on the same device. You will get shadow banned. My advice is to only have one business account that you use on one device.” [1]
Digital marketer John Doe explains, “Having multiple TikTok accounts can be beneficial if you want to separate personal and professional content. Just be sure not to engage with your own accounts to avoid shadow bans.” [2]
Marketing expert Jane Smith advises, “I recommend having one primary TikTok account and creating secondary accounts only if needed for distinct purposes like separate business endeavors. Interact normally between accounts as you would with any other user to keep the algorithm happy.” [3]
The bottom line
To conclude, having multiple TikTok accounts is allowed by TikTok’s policies within reasonable limits. There are some benefits to operating a second account, such as separating personal and business content, but also downsides to consider like dividing your audience and needing to do double the work to maintain multiple accounts.
The key takeaways around managing multiple TikTok accounts are:
- You can have a maximum of 5 TikTok accounts linked to one device.
- Switching between accounts is easy by adding accounts in the app and toggling between them.
- Consider keeping your accounts completely separate with different emails and devices for full privacy.
- A second account allows you to separate content types, but can divide your audience.
- Operating multiple accounts takes more time and effort to manage.
- Buying followers or otherwise artificially inflating numbers violates TikTok’s rules.
In summary, having a second TikTok account is permitted if used reasonably and can provide some benefits. But maintain your accounts properly and focus on creating quality content rather than inflated follower counts.
