For those who are managing business accounts or personal pages across Facebook properties, it can sometimes be tedious to post individually on these platforms. Yes, there are third-party apps out there that can help you with this but some prefer to do it natively. The social media giant is now testing something called Accounts Center that would not only help you with this cross-posting problem but also help you buy easily from both Facebook Shops and Instagram Shops.
Facebook announced in a blog post that they are testing out Accounts Center across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger to give you a “connected experience”. You can toggle on or off the Single Sign On in case you want just one sign in for all the three. It should also let you recover your accounts easily in case you need to do so. The important addition is also the ability to cross-post on Facebook and Instagram within Facebook itself. This includes both stories and posts.
Facebook clarifies that a unified log in across the three apps doesn’t mean you’ll have the same identity. You will still be able to retain your own usernames on the different apps. But if you want to, you can also sync your name or photo profile on Facebook and Instagram and when you update on one, it will update on the other as well. Facebook also clarifies that they will continue using information across apps in the Accounts Center, including ads, suggested friends and accounts, policy violations. etc.
One other upcoming feature for Accounts Center is the addition of Facebook Pay later this year. You will be able to enter your payment information once on Facebook and then use it to do your online shopping across Facebook Shop and Instagram Shop. This will only be available in the U.S for now but probably when they expand Facebook Pay to other countries as well this could very well change.
Facebook didn’t say who or how large a group will be part of the Accounts Center test. There’s also no timetable yet on when it will roll out to more users. If you’re one of the test subjects, let us know if this is something you’d like to try out.