Social Media and Websites
Social Media
The basic format for citing social media is as follows:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month and day). Title [Description of audiovisuals]. Site name. URL
Note that the title is typically the wording of the social media post (up to 20 words). If the post does not include any audiovisuals or links, just leave out the description in square brackets.
When citing a tweet, be sure to add [Tweet] after the title and description:
Grump, D. [@BGrumpy99]. (2019, December 24]. Will probably be disappointed with my Christmas presents (again). 🙁 #ChristmasSucks [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BGrumpy99/status/1938798317498374
You can omit the description of audiovisuals in square brackets, or else provide a different wording (e.g., Link attached).
You can also cite a Twitter profile. In this case, provide a retrieval date, since the content may change:
Grump, D. [@BGrumpy99]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved January 22, 2020, from https://twitter.com/BGrumpy99
You may replace “Tweets” with other parts of the Twitter profile (e.g., lists, moments, topics).
Post on Facebook, Tumblr, etc.
Here’s an example of a Facebook post:
Sophie and Sebastian. (2019, September 14). Excited to share another fun children’s story [Image and link attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/SophieandSebastian/posts/32345666
You can tailor this for other social media posts. Change the descriptions in brackets to suit your needs. For example, for Instagram you would might write [Photographs] instead of [Status update].
To cite a Facebook page, make sure you indicate the specific page title (home, photos, etc.):
Russia Hoax Conspiracy Society. (n.d.). Photos [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved August 2, 2018, from https://www.facebook.com/russiahoax
You’ll note that this reference has a lot in common with the Twitter profile citation above.
Emojis
Try to retain emojis if possible. If you are unable to create the same emoji, you can describe it in square brackets:
🙂
[grinning face]
For a list of emojis, see the Unicode website.
Forum Post
Cassidy, B. (2017, December 5). So I am writing a paper on the psychology of train robbers and I wonder if any of you could [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://wwww.reddit.com/robberyforum/trains_comments
Notice that even though the post keeps going, we’ve cut it off after 20 words.
Webpages
Let’s start with the basic format:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month and day). Title. Site. URL
Here is an example of a webpage:
Bauer, A. (2017, August 21). My view of the eclipse. Andy’s Science Blog. https://www.andysscienceblog.com/eclipse
If you’re interacting with multiple pages from the same website, you’ll have to cite each one separately.
If you want to cite an entire website, don’t do so in the reference list. Just mention the website in your text and provide the URL in parentheses.
If the author and the site title are the same, omit the latter. If the page is likely to change over time, provide a retrieval date:
Geese Unlimited. (n.d.). Why ducks are overrated (the latest stats). Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https:/www/geeseunlimited.com/ducks
For more information, please consult pp. 348-52 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).