Now that Harry has turned 38, one would reasonably expect him to have a smart phone and to make use of popular social media outlets such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

To understand how Harry Potter would use social media, we might first want to look into JK Rowling’s social media for inspiration, and also to use as a guide.

TWITTER:

On Twitter, J.K Rowling amasses over 14 million followers. However, there are 10 times more muggles than wizards in the world, which would mean the wizard population falls somewhere around 500 million. If JK Rowling has about .28% of the muggle population that follows her, we could assume the same for Harry. Harry Potter’s Twitter account would have approximately 1.4 million followers, but us muggle folk would not be privy to this, he’d have his privacy settings set to only allow witches and wizards.

Under settings and privacy, one can access all kinds of settings to help keep unwanted information from getting into the wrong hands; you never know when the force will awaken, or rather dark wizards will rise.

JK Rowling has nearly 11,000 tweets, which is a bit much. While Harry is certainly notorious, he was never about the fame. As head of the Auror Department, surely he’d have some interesting news stories to share and some helpful tips and alerts for other magical folk, but he would likely be less active.

Twitter is a demanding social media platform that requires a minimum of five posts a day, but posting 20 times a day is even more favorable. While JK Rowling doesn’t typically get close to the 20 posts, she does tend to post over five times a day, though mainly retweets. Some of her most used words include: Trump, Brexit, and people. I’d guess some of Harry’s might be: Ministry, Auror, and even Hogwarts as he discusses what is new at Hogwarts.

His most used hashtags might be #darkmagic, #MoM, #quidditch, #HolyheadHarpies and #Hogwarts. Hashtags are key in categorizing tweets in a way that they draw attention and also facilitate the connection between people interested in the same topics.  

FACEBOOK:

On Facebook, J.K Rowling has a smaller number of followers than she does on Twitter, where she is much more active. It is possible that  the same would hold true for Harry, who might use Facebook as a tool to connect with family rather than to showcase his  public persona. Though JK Rowling uses it as a tool to connect with fans, I believe Harry Potter would take advantage of the privacy settings  on Facebook to keep his profile available only to his friends. He’d also make his profile unsearchable, so that fans might not be able to search and request to follow him.

JK Rowling does get somewhat personal on her Facebook account, but because it is still vastly public she does not generally share personal moments. Rather, she  posts  events and experiences that are already public, using more photos and videos than she does on Twitter. She also speaks more about her charity and matters that are more near and dear to her.

If Harry Potter had a Facebook account, my guess is that he would post photos of trips with the family, personal achievements, and Ginny playing Quidditch. That is, his Facebook would be quite indicative of his devotion to his family.  On the other hand, Ginny might have him tagged in some of their intimate family moments, giving his followers a closer look into the Potter family.  

Tagging (depending on settings) is a great way to increase exposure because the post would not only show up for Ginny, it would show up for Harry as well. Some organizations he’s involved in might want to increase their credibility by also tagging Harry. However, if his privacy settings don’t allow for him to be tagged or simply don’t show tags on his feed, it would not work.

Though Harry might not post frequently, it might be around the recommended three times a week. On Facebook, the recommended number of posts is far less than Twitter. Twitter is a much more demanding social media platform. Just because the posts are less frequent doesn’t mean the engagement should be. To maintain an active presence on Facebook, one must comment and engage with others sharing on the platform. Like with most social media, it is meant to be social. Harry could comment on some of his closets friends posts including sharing some of those posted by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

INSTAGRAM:

Not surprisingly, JK Rowling doesn’t have an Instagram account. It is highly likely that Harry would not either, or he might open one and forget that he has it. If his kids are up to no good on Instagram, Ginny would keep him in the know, sparing him from having to join the social media giant. Instagram has more women than men as active users, making it more likely that Ginny would have an account.

With one billion active users, Instagram is quickly catching up to Facebook. Sixty percent of Instagram users are under 29, so the chances that Harry would show interest in keeping up with this platform are slim.

Where does that leave Snapchat? Way off his radar!  Roughly 70% of Snapchat muggle users are female, and 71% are under the age of 34. While Albus and James are likely only using Snap and Instagram, Harry probably doesn’t even know what Snapchat is.

When Harry Potter went to school using cell phones was not en vogue, and therefore he missed the entire social media era as a teen. Had he gone to school 10 years later, Harry Potter and his friends could have saved themselves some major troubles. Check out the links below for a few laughs:

If the Harry Potter characters had social media

If ‘Harry Potter’ characters had modern day technology

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