Harvard Referencing – Citing Social Media

Not that long ago, the idea of citing social media in an academic essay would have seemed very unlikely. But platforms like Facebook and Twitter are now so prominent that you may need to do so at some point.

If you’re referencing a social media post, though, make sure you do it right. In this blogpost, we look at the rules for doing this in Harvard referencing.

When Should I Cite Social Media?

It should go without saying that a Twitter rant is not a proper academic source. As such, if you’re looking for an authoritative source to back up a point you’re making, you should always try to find a published source (e.g. a book, a journal or even a newspaper article).

However, if you’re analysing social media itself or public responses to an event, you can cite a social media post as an object of study. This should still be accompanied by a full citation.

In-Text Citations for Social Media

In the main text, a citation for a social media post should include the author’s surname (or organisational name) and the year of publication:

Speaking on Twitter, the prime minister said that constitutional change must be respectful (Turnbull, 2016).

If the author is named in your essay, give the citation immediately afterwards:

Turnbull (2016) wrote that change should be approached with ‘humility & respect’, which was well received by his followers.

Twitter and Facebook posts don’t have page numbers, obviously, so you don’t need to include these in citations. But if you are quoting from a longer passage of text, you could include a paragraph number instead.

Social Media in a Harvard Reference List

Social media posts cited in your work should also be added to the reference list at the end of your document. The format to use here is:

Surname, Initial(s). (Year) Title of Post/Excerpt, Day and Month [Social Media Platform]. Available at URL [Accessed date].

The title may be the trickiest bit here. For example, with a Twitter post that doesn’t have a title, we’d use the text from the tweet:

Turnbull, M (2016) The Constitution belongs to the people. Those who propose change must approach the task with humility & respect http://aus.pm/iyho, 18 December [Twitter]. Available at https://twitter.com/TurnbullMalcolm/status/808940364048449540 [10 January 2017].

Finally, make sure to link directly to the post cited in the URL you provide, not just the account from which it was sent.

A Note on Harvard Referencing

Harvard referencing can vary between institutions, especially when it comes to non-standard sources such as social media. Make sure to check your style guide when citing sources, as the conventions your university uses might not be exactly the same as those described here.

And if you’re ever unsure about how to use Harvard referencing, we have can help. Simply send us a sample document to find out what we can do.