Answered By: Leah Cover
Last Updated: May 22, 2020     Views: 114

APA:

The APA Manual does not include an official method for citing Tweets, Facebook status updates, or other social media postings. Follow the general APA guidelines and include:

  • Author (real last name, initials, or group name) followed by [screen name in brackets].
  • Date (Year, month, day, if available, otherwise Year. Use “n.d” if no date is available).
  • Title (Use up to the first 40 words of a post as the title. For a post with no text, eg. a photo, include brief description in [square brackets], note form, eg. [Tweet], [Facebook status update] in [square brackets].
  • Source (List a retrieval URL for the posting, eg.https://www.facebook.com/EWUWritersCenter).

Example:

Brown, J. [johnbrown] (1856, May 3). Having a great time in #BleedingKansas. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/johnbrown/status/xxxxxxxxxxx

For in-text citations cite (Author, date).

See also:

APA Style blog

MLA:

Follow the general MLA guidelines and include:

  • Author’s real name if known, then (user name in parentheses).
  • Title should include the complete tweet or Facebook status update
  • Date
  • Time
  • Form of publication (Tweet).

Example:

Brown, John (johnbrown). “Having a great time in #BleedingKansas.” 3 May 1856, 4:15 p.m. Tweet.

For in-text citations cite (Author).