Harvard Templates

Social Media

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Social Media Profile

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Template

Please ensure that you follow the template exactly, inluding text formatting such as italics and punctuation.

Title of site (Year last updated) [Platform]. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Example

Citation
Paraphrasing / Summarising

(Robert Gordon University, 2024)

Robert Gordon University's X/Twitter profile (Year) shows...

Quoting

"..." (Robert Gordon University, 2024)

In their X/Twitter bio Robert Gordon University (2024) state that "..."

Reference List

Robert Gordon University (2024) [X/Twitter]. Available at: https://x.com/RobertGordonUni (Accessed 3 June 2024).

Social Media Posts

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Template

Please ensure that you follow the template exactly, including text formatting such as italics and punctuation.

Author(Year posted) 'Title or description of post' [Name of platform] Day/Month posted. Available at: URL (Accessed: Date).

Example

Citation
Paraphrasing / Summarising

(BBC, 2024)

A Facebook post by the BBC (2024) showed ...

Quoting

"..." (BBC, 2024)

According to a Facebook post by the BBC (2024) "..."

Reference List

BBC News (2024) 'Your voice, your vote' [Facebook] 3 June. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/?_rdc=1&_rdr (Accessed 3 June 2024).

Social media authors do not always use their real names but may use a pseudonym instead. Use the name that they have given in your citation and reference.

Many social media posts are created by organisations rather than individual authors. In this case, the name of the organisation will be the author. See the template for Books by an organisation (link to template) and follow the same author rules.

You can copy this URL to share a direct link to this referencing template:

Template

Please ensure that you follow the template exactly, including text formatting such as italics and punctuation.

Author (Year posted) 'Title or description of post' [Name of platform] Day/Month posted. Available at: URL (Accessed: Date).

Example

Citation
Paraphrasing / Summarising

(Press and Journal, 2024)

A post on the Press and Journal's X account (2024) stated that ...

Quoting

"..." (Press and Journal, 2024)

A post on the Press and Journal's X account (2024) said "..."

Reference List

Press and Journal (2024) 'General elections explained' [X] 4 June. Available at: https://twitter.com/pressjournal (Accessed 4 June 2024).

Social media authors do not always use their real names but may use a pseudonym instead. Use the name that they have given in your citation and reference.

Many social media posts are created by organisations rather than individual authors. In this case, the name of the organisation will be the author. See the template for Books by an organisation (link to template) and follow the same author rules.

You can copy this URL to share a direct link to this referencing template:

Template

Please ensure that you follow the template exactly, including text formatting such as italics and punctuation.

Author (Year posted) 'Title or description of post' [Name of platform] Day/Month posted. Available at: URL (Accessed: Date).

Example

Citation
Paraphrasing / Summarising

(RGUUnion, 2024)

On their Instagram, RGUUnion (2024) showed ...

Quoting

"..." (RGUUnion, 2024)

On their Instagram, RGUUnion (2024) said "..."

Reference List

RGUUnion (2024) 'Happy pride month!' [Instagram] 1 June. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/rguunion/ (Accessed 4 June 2024).

Social media authors do not always use their real names but may use a pseudonym instead. Use the name that they have given in your citation and reference.

Many social media posts are created by organisations rather than individual authors. In this case, the name of the organisation will be the author. See the template for Books by an organisation (link to template) and follow the same author rules.

You can copy this URL to share a direct link to this referencing template:

Template

Please ensure that you follow the template exactly, including text formatting such as italics and punctuation.

Author (Year posted) 'Title or description of post' [Name of platform] Day/Month posted. Available at: URL (Accessed: Date).

Example

Citation
Paraphrasing / Summarising

... once such initiative being The Breakfast Club (Robert Gordon University, 2022)

A popular post by Robert Gordon University (2022) shows ...

Quoting

... this if offered "Tuesday morning from 8.15am - 9:30am" (Robert Gordon University, 2022)

As stated by Robert Gordon University (2022), this if offered "Tuesday morning from 8.15am - 9:30am".

Reference List

Robert Gordon University (2022) 'Hands up, who’s coming along to our breakfast club next Tuesday?' [TikTok] 8 December. Available at: https://www.tiktok.com/@robertgordonuni/video/7174849282317552901?lang=en (Accessed: 6 August 2024).

Notes

Social media authors do not always use their real names but may use a pseudonym instead. Use the name that they have given in your citation and reference.

Many social media posts are created by organisations rather than individual authors. In this case, the name of the organisation will be the author. See the template for Books by an organisation (link to template) and follow the same author rules.