Skip to Main Content

APA Style and Formatting: Social Media

Attention Students!

This guide is a starting point. For full details on correctly citing resources and creating references, please consult
the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th Ed.) (2020), or Cites & Sources (6th Ed.) (2021).

Please Note! Library staff do not teach APA, and cannot evaluate or correct work. If you need help with APA Style, please contact your instructor.

How Do I Cite Social Media?

Below are some best practices for citing social media content (10.15):

  • If social media is used to discover content, cite the content directly, e.g.: when citing a blog post that was found via Twitter, cite the work as a blog post. There is no need to mention that the work was discovered via Twitter.
  • Include the text of a social media post up to the first 20 words. 
  • Note the presence of any audio-visual content in square brackets, e.g.: [Tweet].
  • Social media content might contain nonstandard spelling and capitalization, links, emojis, and hashtags. Do not alter the spelling and capitalization in a social media reference. Retain hashtags and links as they appear. Emojis can be replicated, or a desctiption in square brackets can be provided, e.g: [winking smiling face emoji]. 

A screenshot of X, formerly known as Twitter. Blue arrows point to the URL, the username and name, and the first 20 words of the post.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.15)
Author, A.  [@username]. (Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Description of audiovisuals]. Site Name. URL

Hint!
The 7th edition of the Publication Manual was published in 2020. In 2023, Twitter changed its name to X. However, the format for reference list entries and in-text citations remains the same.

Example:
Loyalist Library [@LoyalistLibrary]. (2024, March 14). The Evergreen nominees are here! Part of the Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading, the Evergreen Awards are for adults. . . [Photograph of book covers of nominated titles]. X. https://twitter.com/LoyalistLibrary/status/1768301699247046666

Parenthetical Citation 
(Author, Date), e.g.: (Loyalist Library, 2020)

Narrative Citation 
Author (Date), e.g.: Loyalist Library (2020)

An example of a Facebook posts. Blue arrows point to the URL, the name of the page, the date, and the first 20 words of the post.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.15)
Author, A. (Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Description of audiovisuals]. Site Name. URL

Example:
Loyalist College (2024, March 13). We're proud to contribute to the nursing profession in our region through continued innovation in education, and even prouder to. . . [Image attached]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/loyalistcollege

Parenthetical Citation 
(Author, Date), e.g.: (Loyalist College, 2024)

Narrative Citation 
Author (Date), e.g.: Loyalist College (2024)

An example of a Facebook page for Loyalist College. Blue arrows point to the URL and the page name and owner.

Citing a Facebook page differs from citing a Facebook post in a few ways (10.15):

  • Pages may change or be updated, so include a retrieval date before the URL.
  • Include the notation "Facebook page" in square brackets following the date.
  • Use the page title in the reference list entry if necessary, e.g.: "Timeline", "Home", "Photos", "About", etc.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.15)
Name of Group. (n.d.). Page name [Description]. Site Name. Retrieval date. URL

Example:
Loyalist College. (2024). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved April 15, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/pg/loyalistcollegee

Parenthetical Citation 
(Page Name, Date), e.g.: (Loyalist College, 2024)

Narrative Citation 
Page Name (Date), e.g.: Loyalist College (2024)

A screenshot of an Instagram post shared by the Loyalist College Library. Blue arrows point to the creator, date, URL, and content.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.15)
Author, A. [@username] OR Name of Group [@username]. (Date). Content of the post up the the first 20 words. [Description or audiovisuals]. Site Name. URL

Example:
Loyalist College Library [@LoyalistLibrary]. (2024, March 8). The Evergreen nominees are here! Part of the Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading program, the Evergreen Awards are for adults . . . [Photographs of book covers]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C4gAnNvLYdW/ 

Remember! Information may be located elsewhere on a page. It is important to read thoroughly in order to find all of the information required for the reference list entry. 

Parenthetical Citation 
(Author OR Name of Group, Date), e.g.: (Loyalist College Library, 2024)

Narrative Citation 
Author OR Name of Group (Date), e.g.: Loyalist College Library (2024)

Citing Instagram Highlights differs slightly from citing Instagram posts in the following ways (10.15):

  • "n.d." is used in place of a date. Although each story within a highlight is dated, the highlight itself is not dated and may include stories from multiple dates.
  • Because a Highlight can change at any time, it is necessary to include a retrieval date.
  • URLs for highlights can be long, and it is permissible to use an appropriate URL shortener (9.36). Ensure that the URL works before including it in the reference list entry.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.15)
Author, A. [@username] OR Name of Group [@username]. (n.d.). Content of the post up the the first 20 words. [Description or audiovisuals]. Site Name. Retrieval date, URL

Example:
Loyalist College Library [@LoyalistLibrary]. (2020, January 6). New books in the library [Highlight]. Instagram. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from https://www.instagram.com/p/B6-6UJaAX4o/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Parenthetical Citation 
(Author OR Name of Group, n.d.), e.g.: (Loyalist College Library, n.d.)

Narrative Citation 
Author OR Name of Group (n.d.), e.g.: Loyalist College Library (n.d.)

A screenshot of a post from Reddit. The post was created on September 17, 2019 by Vassy Kapelos from CBC. Blue arrows point to the site name, post title and content, the creator, and the date of the post.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.15)
Author, A. [username] OR Name of Group [username]. (Date). Content of the post up the the first 20 words. [Description]. Site Name. URL

Example:
Kapelos, V. [cbcnews]. (2019, September 17). Hello, I’m Vassy Kapelos, the host of Power ＆ Politics on CBC News Network. Ask me anything! [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://reddit.com/r/canada/comments/d6gjav/im_vassy_kapelos_host_of_power_politics_on_cbc/  

Parenthetical Citation 
(Author, Date), e.g.: (Kapelos, 2019)

Narrative Citation 
Author (Date), e.g.: Kapelos (2019)

TikTok is not included in the Publication Manual, but the American Psychological Association (APA) has released guidelines for citing TikTok videos and profiles. The information here comes from “TikTok References”, published on the APA Style Blog in February 2020 and updated in March 2022.

TikTok Live
“Cite a livestream (e.g., TikTok Live) that is not archived by its hosting platform and cannot be retrieved by any other means (i.e., recorded and made available online via another hosting site) as a personal communication” (APA Style Blog, 2022).

TikTok Videos
The APA Style Blog provides the following guidelines for citing TikTok videos:

  • Present the name of the individual or group author the same as you would for any other reference. Then provide the TikTok handle (beginning with the @ sign) in square brackets, followed by a period. Provide the specific date of the post.
  • Provide the first 20 words of the caption as the title.
  • Count a URL or other link, a hashtag, or an emoji as one word each, and include them in the reference if they fall within the first 20 words.
  • Do not italicize emojis.
  • Include the description “[Video]” in square brackets after the title.
  • Credit TikTok as the site name in the source element and then provide the URL of the video.
  • The format used for TikTok is similar to the format used for Instagram and Twitter.
     

Reference List Entry: Format
Author, A. [@username]. (Date – Year, Month Day). Content of the post up to the first 20 words. [Description]. Site Name. URL

Reference List Entry: Example
Washington Post [@washingtonpost]. (2019, December 3). News is all around us #frozen #newsroom #newspaper [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost/video/6765886712896818437

Parenthetical Citation
(Washington Post, 2019)

Narrative Citations
Washington Post (2019)

Sources
American Psychological Association. (2022, March). TikTok references. APA Style Blog. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/tiktok-references

Please Note!

This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. (2020). Library staff have reviewed the information in this guide, and to the best of our knowledge, it is accurate. However, mistakes do occur. Students bear sole responsibility for ensuring that their citations are correct, and that their assignments meet the criteria laid out by their instructor. Students are encouraged to contact Peer Tutoring or the Writing Clinic for assistance.