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8/12/2019 APA Style Blog_ How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Facebook, and Google+).pdf http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/apa-style-blog-how-to-cite-social-media-in-apa-style-twitter-facebook-and 1/5 Blog Home  About Us Blog Guidelines Subscribe to the Blog Feed Contact Us  APA Style Home October 18, 2013 How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Facebook, and Google+)  by Chelsea Lee Thanks to developments in technology and feedback from our users, the APA Style team has updated the formats for citing social media, including content from Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. These guidelines are the same as you’ll find in our  APA Style Guide to Electronic  References, Sixth Edition (available in PDF and Kindle formats). Three Ways to Cite Social Media There are three main ways to cite social media content in an APA Style paper: generally with a URL, as a personal communication, and  with a typical APA Style in-text citation and reference list entry.  We'll look at each of these along with examples. General Mentions With a URL If you discuss any website or page in general in a paper (including but not limited to social media), it is sufficient to give the URL in the text the first time it is mentioned. No reference list entry is needed. Here is an example: News agencies like CNN provide breaking news coverage to millions of people every day on their website (http://www.cnn.com) and Twitter account (http://twitter.com /CNN). In our first investigation, we analyzed the content of CNN’s Twitter feed during the year 2012. Personal Communications If you paraphrase or quote specific information from social media but your readership will be unable to access the content (e.g., because of friends-only privacy settings or because the exchange occurred in a private message), cite the content as a personal communication (see  Publication Manual  § 6.20). A personal communication citation should be used because there is no direct, reliable path for all readers to retrieve the source. Here is an example: K. M. Ingraham (personal communication, October 5, 2013) stated that she found her career as an educational psychologist intellectually stimulating as well as emotionally fulfilling. In-Text Citations and Reference List Entries Finally, if you paraphrase or quote specific, retrievable information from social media, provide an in-text citation (with the author and date) and a reference list entry (with the author, date, title, and source URL). The guidelines below explain how to format each of these elements for any social media citation, and examples follow. Au th or First, provide either an individual author’s real last name and initials in inverted format (Author, A. A.) or the full name of a group. This allows the reference to be associated with and alphabetized alongside any other works by that author. Second, provide social media identity information. On Twitter, provide the author’s screen name in square brackets (if only the screen name is known, provide it without brackets). On Facebook and Google+, when the author is an individual, spell out his or her given name in square brackets. The author reflects who posted the content, not necessarily who created it. Credit additional individuals in the narrative if necessary. D ate Provide the year, month, and day for items that have a specific date associated with them, such as status updates, tweets, photos, and videos; otherwise, provide only the year. If the date is unknown, use “n.d.” (for no date) instead. If the date is unknown but can be reasonably approximated, use “ca.” (for circa) followed by the approximated year, in square brackets. For multiple citations from the same author in the same year (regardless of the month or day), alphabetize the entries by title and add a lowercase letter after the ye ar (e.g., 2013a, 2013b; n.d.-a, n.d.-b; or [ca. 2013a], [ca. 2013b]). Ignore nonletter characters s uch as the at sign (@) and pound sign (#) whe n alphabetizing. Title Provide the name of the page or the content or caption of the post (up to the first 40 words) as the title. Do not italicize the titles of status updates, tweets, pages, or photographs; do italicize the titles of items that stand alone, such as videos and photo albums. If the item contains no words (e.g., a photograph without a caption), provide a description of the item in square brackets. Describe the content form (e.g., tweet, Facebook status update, photograph, timeline, video file) after the title in square brackets. Sou r ce Provide a retrieval URL that leads as directly and reliably to the cited content as possible (click a post’s date stamp to access its archived URL). Provide a retrieval date if the content may change (e.g., whole feeds or pages). Do not provide a retrieval date if the post has a specific date associated with it already (e.g., status updates, tweets, photos, and videos). A Style Blog: How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Fac... http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/10/how-to-cite-social-media-in-... 5 18/10/2013 05:44 p.m.

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Blog Home

 About Us

Blog Guidelines

Subscribe to the Blog Feed

Contact Us

 APA Style Home

October 18, 2013

How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Facebook, and Google+)

 by Chelsea Lee

Thanks to developments in technology and feedback from our users, the APA Style team has updated the formats for citing social media,

including content from Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. These guidelines are the same as you’ll find in our  APA Style Guide to Electronic

 References, Sixth Edition (available in PDF and Kindle formats).

Three Ways to Cite Social MediaThere are three main ways to cite social media content in an APA Style paper:

generally with a URL,

as a personal communication, and

 with a typical APA Style in-text citation and reference list entry.

 We'll look at each of these along with examples.

General Mentions With a URL

If you discuss any website or page in general in a paper (including but not limited to social media), it is sufficient to give the URL in the text the first time it is

mentioned. No reference list entry is needed. Here is an example:

News agencies like CNN provide breaking news coverage to millions of people every 

day on their website (http://www.cnn.com) and Twitter account (http://twitter.com

/CNN). In our first investigation, we analyzed the content of CNN’s Twitter feed

during the year 2012.

Personal Communications

If you paraphrase or quote specific information from social media but your readership will be unable to access the content (e.g., because of friends-only privacy 

settings or because the exchange occurred in a private message), cite the content as a personal communication (see Publication Manual  § 6.20). A personal

communication citation should be used because there is no direct, reliable path for all readers to retrieve the source. Here is an example:

K. M. Ingraham (personal communication, October 5, 2013) stated that she found her

career as an educational psychologist intellectually stimulating as well as emotionally 

fulfilling.

In-Text Citations and Reference List Entries

Finally, if you paraphrase or quote specific, retrievable information from social media, provide an in-text citation (with the author and date) and a reference list

entry (with the author, date, title, and source URL). The guidelines below explain how to format each of these elements for any social media citation, and

examples follow.

A u t h o r   

First, provide either an individual author’s real last name and initials in inverted format (Author, A. A.) or the full name of a group. This allows the

reference to be associated with and alphabetized alongside any other works by that author.

Second, provide social media identity information. On Twitter, provide the author’s screen name in square brackets (if only the screen name is known,

provide it without brackets). On Facebook and Google+, when the author is an individual, spell out his or her given name in square brackets.

The author reflects who posted the content, not necessarily who created it. Credit additional individuals in the narrative if necessary.

D a t e  

Provide the year, month, and day for items that have a specific date associated with them, such as status updates, tweets, photos, and videos; otherwise,

provide only the year.

If the date is unknown, use “n.d.” (for no date) instead.

If the date is unknown but can be reasonably approximated, use “ca.” (for circa) followed by the approximated year, in square brackets.

For multiple citations from the same author in the same year (regardless of the month or day), alphabetize the entries by title and add a lowercase letter

after the year (e.g., 2013a, 2013b; n.d.-a, n.d.-b; or [ca. 2013a], [ca. 2013b]). Ignore nonletter characters such as the at sign (@) and pound sign (#) when

alphabetizing.

T i t l e  

Provide the name of the page or the content or caption of the post (up to the first 40 words) as the title.

Do not italicize the titles of status updates, tweets, pages, or photographs; do italicize the titles of items that stand alone, such as videos and photo albums.

If the item contains no words (e.g., a photograph without a caption), provide a description of the item in square brackets.Describe the content form (e.g., tweet, Facebook status update, photograph, timeline, video file) after the title in square brackets.

So u r c e  

Provide a retrieval URL that leads as directly and reliably to the cited content as possible (click a post’s date stamp to access its archived URL).

Provide a retrieval date if the content may change (e.g., whole feeds or pages). Do not provide a retrieval date if the post has a specific date associated with

it already (e.g., status updates, tweets, photos, and videos).

A Style Blog: How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Fac... http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/10/how-to-cite-social-media-in-...

5 18/10/2013 05:44 p.m.

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8/12/2019 APA Style Blog_ How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Facebook, and Google+).pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/apa-style-blog-how-to-cite-social-media-in-apa-style-twitter-facebook-and 2/5

 

Example CitationsTweet, Individual Author

Gates, B. [BillGates]. (2013, February 26). #Polio is 99% eradicated. Join me &

@FCBarcelona as we work to finish the job and #EndPolio. VIDEO: http://b-gat.es/X75Lvy [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/BillGates/status

/306195345845665792

In-text citation: (Gates, 2013).

Tweet, Group Author

 

Stanford Medicine [SUMedicine]. (2012, October 9). Animal study shows sleeping

 brain behaves as if it's remembering: http://stan.md/RrqyEt #sleep#neuroscience #research [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com

/SUMedicine/status/255644688630046720

In-text citation: (Stanford Medicine, 2012).

Facebook Status Update, Individual Author

Gaiman, N. [Neil]. (2012, February 29). Please celebrate Leap Year Day in the

traditional manner by taking a writer out for dinner. It’s been four years since

many authors had a good dinner. We are waiting. Many of us have our forks or

chopsticks at the [Facebook status update]. Retrieved from

https://www.facebook.com/neilgaiman/posts/10150574185041016

In-text citation: (Gaiman, 2012).

Facebook Status Update, Group Author

 APA Style. (2011, March 10). How do you spell success in APA Style? Easy! Consult

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary or APA’s Dictionary of Psychology. Read

more over at the APA Style Blog [Facebook status update]. Retrieved fromhttps://www.facebook.com/APAStyle/posts/206877529328877

In-text citation: (APA Style, 2011).

Google+ Post

A Style Blog: How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Fac... http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/10/how-to-cite-social-media-in-...

5 18/10/2013 05:44 p.m.

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Cornell University. (2012, October 11). Having a cup of coffee before closing your eyes

is the most effective way to combat daytime drowsiness, according to research.

Sounds counterintuitive, but it takes 20 minutes for the caffeine to get into your

 bloodstream. So if you take [Google+ post]. Retrieved from

https://plus.google.com/116871314286286422580/posts/NqCFGr4eveT

In-text citation: (Cornell University, 2012).

Social Media Video

 American Psychological Association. (2011, September 19). This is psychology: Family

caregivers [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com

/photo.php?v=10150303396563992&set=vb.290103137578

In-text citation: (American Psychological Association, 2011).

Social Media Photo or Graphic, With Caption

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National Geographic. (2012, November 20). A supertelephoto lens allowed Colleen

Pinski to capture this image of an annual solar eclipse. See more top shots:

http://on.natgeo.com/UasjJH [Photograph]. Retrieved f rom

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151148294503951&

set=pb.23497828950.-2207520000.1357225190

In-text citation: (National Geographic, 2012).

The photographer can be credited in the narrative, for example, “Colleen Pinski photographed a solar eclipse using a telephoto lens (National Geographic,

2012).”

Social Media Photo or Graphic, Without Caption

U.S. Census Bureau. (2012, October 10). [Pathways after a bachelor’s degree in

psychology: Educational attainment, common occupations, and synthetic

 work-life earnings and estimates] [Infographic]. Retrieved from

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151027855527364&

A Style Blog: How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Fac... http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/10/how-to-cite-social-media-in-...

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set=a.10151027848052364.407698.202626512363

In-text citation: (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012).

Social Media Photo Album

Red Bull Stratos. (2012, October 15). Mission to the edge of space, accomplished 

[Photo album]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/media

/set/?set=a.507275739283434.122701.122924687718543

In-text citation: (Red Bull Stratos, 2012). 

Include other details in the narrative, for example, "Felix Baumgartner broke the speed of sound in freefall during his jump from the edge of space (for

photos from mission day, see Red Bull Stratos, 2012)."

Social Media Page

 American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Timeline [Facebook page]. Retrieved

September 27, 2013, from https://www.facebook.com

/AmericanPsychologicalAssociation/info

In-text citation: (American Psychological Association, n.d.).

Day, F. [Felicia]. [ca. 2013]. Posts [Google+ page]. Retrieved July 8, 2013, from

https://plus.google.com/+FeliciaDay/posts

In-text citation: (Day, [ca. 2013]).

National Institute of Mental Health [NIMHgov]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter page].

Retrieved October 17, 2013, from https://twitter.com/NIMHgov 

In-text citation: (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.).

For More

For more information on all kinds of electronic references, see the APA Style Guide to Electronic References, Sixth Edition (available in PDF and Kindle

formats), as well as the APA Publication Manual . To cite social media items not covered here, follow the format that is most similar, and also see our post on

 what to do if your reference isn’t in the manual.

Thank you to all our readers who helped us develop these formats. Your feedback is always appreciated.

Posted by Chelsea Lee at 04:03:30 PM in Electronic references, Facebook, How-to, Personal communications, Reference list, References, Social media, Twitter,

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