Citing Social Media In Research
by TeachThought Staff
How To Cite Social Media Posts: Updated Guide For Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube & TikTok
When and in what contexts it makes sense to cite social media content is probably a more relevant post than sharing a graphic that simply shows the format, but they’re both nice to have, yes?
Below, courtesy of Gould Library at Carleton College, are actual examples of how to cite X posts, instagram and facebook posts, YouTube videos, TikTok videos, and other social media shares in scholarly writing and research.
MLA 9th ed.
Lastname, Firstname [or single username]. (@handle). “First several words of Instagram post (if any)…” Instagram, Day month year posted, URL.
libechillbro. (@libechillbro). “Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week…” Instagram, 18 Apr. 2024, instagram.com/p/5pjGjvjTH6/.
APA 7th ed.
Handle [@username]. (Year, month day posted). First several words of Instagram post (if any)… [Instagram post]. Instagram. URL
libechillbro [@libechillbro]. (2024, April 18). Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week… [Instagram post]. Instagram. https://instagram.com/p/5pjGjvjTH6/
Chicago 18th ed.
Lastname, Firstname (@username). Year. “Full text of Instagram post.” Instagram photo, Month day, year posted. URL.
Penguin, Oscar (@libechillbro). 2024. “Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week, and we’ll be handing them out from 2:30-4:30 this afternoon.” Instagram photo, April 18, 2024. https://instagram.com/p/5pjGjvjTH6/
X (Formerly Twitter)
MLA 9th ed.
@Username. “Full text of post.” X, Day month year posted, time posted, URL.
@libechillbro. “Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week, and we’ll be handing them out from 2:30-4:30 this afternoon.” X, 18 June 2024, 4:39 PM, x.com/libechillbro/status/2651151366.
APA 7th ed.
@handle. (Year, month day posted). Full text of post [Post]. X. URL
@libechillbro. (2024, April 18). Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week, and we’ll be handing them out from 2:30-4:30 this afternoon. [Post]. X. http://x.com/libechillbro/status/2651151366
Chicago 18th ed.
Lastname, Firstname (@username). Year. “Full text of the post.” X, Month day, year, time posted. URL.
Penguin, Oscar (@libechillbro). 2024. “Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week, and we’ll be handing them out from 2:30-4:30 this afternoon.” X, April 18, 2024, 1:28 p.m. http://x.com/libechillbro/status/2651151366.
MLA 9th ed.
Lastname, Firstname [or username or page name]. “first several words of a facebook post…” Facebook, Day month year posted, time posted [if available], URL.
Penguin, Oscar. “Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week…” Facebook, 18 Apr. 2024, facebook.com/openguin/posts/10154065808067067.
APA 7th ed.
Lastname, Firstname. (Year, month day posted). First several words of Facebook post… [Status update]. Facebook. URL
Penguin, Oscar (2024, April 18). Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week… [Status update]. Facebook. http://facebook.com/openguin/posts/10154065808067067
Chicago 18th ed.
Lastname, Firstname. Year. “Full text (or first several words…) of Facebook post.” Facebook, Month day, year posted. URL
Penguin, Oscar. 2024. “Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week, and we’ll be handing them out from 2:30-4:30 this afternoon.” Facebook, April 18, 2024. http://facebook.com/openguin/posts/10154065808067067
YouTube
MLA 9th ed.
Lastname, Firstname [or single username]. “Title of YouTube Video.” YouTube, Day month year posted, URL.
Penguin, Oscar. “Root Beer Floats.” YouTube, 18 Apr. 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ICGujpcO28.
For more detail, see the MLA guide for videos on websites.
APA 7th ed.
Lastname, Firstname [Channel name]. (Year, month day posted). Title of YouTube Video [Video]. YouTube. URL
Penguin, Oscar [Oscar’s Kitchen]. (2024, April 18). Root Beer Floats [Video]. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ICGujpcO28
Chicago 18th ed.
Lastname, Firstname [or single username]. “Title of YouTube Video.” YouTube, Month day, year posted. Video, length of video. URL.
Penguin, Oscar. “Root Beer Floats.” YouTube, April 18, 2024. Video, 0:35. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ICGujpcO28.
TikTok
MLA 9th ed.
@Username. “First several words of TikTok caption…” TikTok, Day month year posted, URL.
@libechillbro. “Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week…” TikTok, 18 Apr. 2024, www.tiktok.com/@libechillbro/video/7234567890123456789.
APA 7th ed.
@Username. (Year, month day posted). First several words of TikTok caption… [Video]. TikTok. URL
@libechillbro. (2024, April 18). Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week… [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@libechillbro/video/7234567890123456789
Chicago 18th ed.
@Username. Year. “Full text of TikTok caption.” TikTok, Month day, year posted. Video, length. URL.
@libechillbro. 2024. “Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week, and we’ll be handing them out from 2:30-4:30 this afternoon.” TikTok, April 18, 2024. Video, 0:30. https://www.tiktok.com/@libechillbro/video/7234567890123456789.
Conclusion
As media becomes more nuanced, new modalities emerge, authors use new channels to distribute their thinking–and even as the ‘crowd’ becomes a legitimate source of information (see wikipedia, X, etc.), new rules for governing that reality will continue to emerge.
The more general those rules are, the less reactive governing bodies will have to be moment by moment.