The Many Facets of Me: Multiple Account Management on Reddit

Abstract

In this study, we examined why people have multiple accounts on Reddit and how they are used. Based on interviews with U.S. Reddit users (n=21), we found that having multiple accounts was not always for anonymity purposes. While certain accounts were disposable to engage in stigmatized or deviant activities, other reasons for having multiple accounts included utilitarian purposes, such as storing content, organizing information, or gaming the system for attention. Users also maintained multiple accounts as a form of online impression management to keep distance between different online communities, avoid harassment, and experiment with different identities. Moreover, they helped with boundary regulation, such as disassociating online from offline identity and identity synchronization-- linking identities across different social media platforms.