apa style blog_ how to cite social media in apa style (twitter, facebook, and google+).pdf
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8/12/2019 APA Style Blog_ How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Facebook, and Google+).pdf
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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).
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5 18/10/2013 05:44 p.m.
8/12/2019 APA Style Blog_ How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Facebook, and Google+).pdf
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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
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5 18/10/2013 05:44 p.m.
8/12/2019 APA Style Blog_ How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Facebook, and Google+).pdf
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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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8/12/2019 APA Style Blog_ How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Facebook, and Google+).pdf
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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-...
5 18/10/2013 05:44 p.m.
8/12/2019 APA Style Blog_ How to Cite Social Media in APA Style (Twitter, Facebook, and Google+).pdf
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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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