Usually, you want to use solid academic sources, including books and articles from scholarly journals. Nonetheless, more and more, the Internet is offering up a wide variety of information suitable for a research paper. Citing social media sources is especially important if you are writing a paper on the effects of social media on the general population or if you are writing on currently trending topics.
Wiritng Social Media Citations in MLA Style
1Cite a ‘tweet’. For a tweet on Twitter, begin with the author’s last name, followed by his or her first name and the username in parenthesis. Follow it with the full tweet in quotations, the date it was posted, the time it was posted, and the word “Tweet.” It should look something like this:
- “Knight, Joe (CakesforLife). ‘Always sift your flour before adding it to the cake.’ 22 Jan. 2013, 4:15 p.m. Tweet.”
2Follow a similar format for a Facebook post. Begin with the author’s last name, followed by a comma, his first name, and then a period. Use the full post in quotations. Add the date and time posted with a comma in between, followed by a period and the words “Facebook post.”.
- For example: “Fitz, Ross. ‘I baked the best cake today. Stay tuned for the recipe.’ 24 May 2012, 2:24 a.m. Facebook post.”
3Use a similar format with YouTube. Begin with the author’s last name, followed by a comma, the author’s first name, and then a period. Then add the title of the video in quotations. Follow that with “Online video clip,” a period, the name of the website in italics, and then the website’s publisher. Next, use the date the video was published, then a period. After that, use the medium of publication, a period, and the date you accessed it.
- For example: “Gross, Jean. ‘All Things Green.’ Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 22 Apr. 2004. Web. 31 Oct. 2005.”
4Create an in-text citation. To make an in-text citation, use the author’s last name for the citation. Go to the end of the sentence you are citing, and put the author’s last name in parenthesis before the period:
- For the tweet or Facebook post: “To make less dense cakes, make sure to sift the flour when adding dry ingredients (Knight).”
- For the YouTube video, use a shortened form of the title instead: “Green objects come in a variety of shapes (All Things).”
Writing Social Media Citations in APA Style
1Cite a ‘tweet’ in APA. For Twitter, begin this time with the person’s Twitter handle with a period at the end. Place the date it was published in parenthesis, beginning with the day and following it with the month and year with a period afterwards. Enter the full text of the post next, followed by a period, “[Twitter post],” a period, and the website; don’t use the quotation marks in the citation. For example:
- “@CakesforLife. (2013, January 22). Always sift your flour before adding it to the cake. [Twitter post]. Retrieved from www.twitter.com”
2Begin with the person’s username for a Facebook post. The username should be followed by a period and the date in parenthesis; add a period afterwards. Use the full post next, followed by “[Facebook update]” and the website:
- “Rfitz. (2012, May 24). I baked the best cake today. Stay tuned for the recipe. [Facebook update]. Retrieved from www.facebook.com”
3Create your Youtube citation. For a YouTube video or other video site, begin with the author’s last name, followed by his or her first initial(s) and a period. Use the date of publication next in parenthesis, followed by a period, the title of the video, and “[Video file].” Add the website at the end:
- “Gross, J. (2004, April 22). All things green [Video file]. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/greenthingsforlife”
4Write your in-text citation. For an in-text citation, use the author’s handle or last name. In the sentence you are citing, place a parenthesis at the end before the period. Put the author’s last name or the handle in the parenthesis, followed by a comma and the date:
- “To make less dense cakes, make sure to sift the flour when adding dry ingredients (CakesforLife, 2013).”
- How you cite your source depends on the format and which format you choose is usually decided by your school or professor. Two of the primary formats are the Modern Language Association (MLA) style and American Psychological Association (APA). Each of these styles require you to format your information in a particular way.