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APA Citation Guide (APA 7th Edition): Social Media

Note: Cite social media only when the material was originally published there, such as an original Instagram post. If the link to a resource was posted on social media (e.g., article link in a Tweet) or if the material was reposted (e.g., Pinterest pin), cite the original source. 

Social Media

Online Forum Post

Reference List Citation

Author's Last Name, First Initial. or Group Name [Username]. (Year of forum post, Month Day). Title of forum post up to the first 20 words [Online forum post]. Name of Forum. http://forumpostURL


Example

National Geographic [nationalgeographic]. (2019, November 16). Dogs are even more like us than we thought [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/user/nationalgeographic/comments/dxg8ca/dogs_are_even_more_like_us_than_we_thought/

 

Note: Write out the actual text of the forum post title in the citation and keep spelling and grammar the same as in the original, even if there are errors. If the poster doesn't include their full name or group name, start the citation with their username (without square brackets).
In-Text Citation: Quote

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(National Geographic, 2019)
In-Text Citation: Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(National Geographic, 2019)

Online Forum Comment

Reference List Citation

Author's Last Name, First Initial. or Group Name [Username]. (Year of forum post, Month Day). Text of comment up to the first 20 words [Comment on Full title of post where comment appeared]. Name of Forum. http://forumcommentURL


Example

Aldrin, B. [BuzzAldrinHere]. (2014, July 8). My first words of my impression of being on the surface of the Moon that just came to my mind [Comment on the online forum post I am Buzz Aldrin, engineer, American astronaut, and the second person to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 moon landing. AMA!]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2a5vg8/comment/cirsu5z/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

 

Note: Write out the actual text of the forum post title in the citation and keep spelling and grammar the same as in the original, even if there are errors. If the commenter doesn't include their full name or group name, start the citation with their username (without square brackets).
In-Text Citation: Quote

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(Aldrin, 2014)

 

Note: Use the commenter's username if their last name is not given.
In-Text Citation: Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(Aldrin, 2014)


Note: Use the commenter's username if their last name is not given.

LinkedIn Post

Reference List Citation

Author's Last Name, First Initial. or Group Name. (Year posted). Text of post up to first twenty words [Description of attached content] [Post or Video]. LinkedIn. http://URL

Notes: Since posts don't have exact dates, use an approximate year for the date element. If the post includes other content, add this information in square brackets after the post element. Examples include [Image attached], [Thumbnail with link attached], [Video attached]. 


Example

Statistics Canada. Using data from the Canadian #Housing Statistics Program, our latest article shows that first-time home buyers in #BritishColumbia had higher [Image attached] [Post]. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/statcan_housing-britishcolumbia-novascotia-activity-6846187529159380992-kbKh
In-Text Citation: Quote

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(Statistics Canada, 2021)
In-Text Citation: Paraphrase

 

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(Statistics Canada, 2021)

LinkedIn Profile

Reference List Citation

Author's Last Name, First Initial. or Group Name. (n.d.). Page title [LinkedIn page]. LinkedIn. Retrieved date, from http://URL

Notes: Since profiles don't have update dates, use n.d. in the date element. For page title, identify the section on the profile, such as Home, About, Jobs. 


Example

O'Brien, C. Home [LinkedIn page]. LinkedIn. Retrieved 22 September 2021, from  https://www.linkedin.com/in/conanobrien
In-Text Citation: Quote

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, n.d.)


Example

(O'Brien, n.d.)
In-Text Citation: Paraphrase

 

 

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, n.d.)


Example

(O'Brien, n.d.)

TikTok Video

Reference List Citation

Account Name [@username]. (Year posted, Month Day). Text of post up to first twenty words [Video]. TikTok. http://URL


Example

Saturday Night Live [@nbcsnl]]. (2021, March 29). Ok but for real what is an NFT [Video]. https://www.tiktok.com/@nbcsnl/video/6945222679502785797

Note: Write out the actual text of the post in the citation and keep spelling and grammar the same as in the original, even if there are errors.
In-Text Citation: Quote

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year, Timestamp for beginning of quote)


Example

(Saturday Night Live, 2021, 0:10)
In-Text Citation: Paraphrase

 

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(Saturday Night Live, 2021)

Instagram Post

Reference List Citation

Author's Last Name, First Initial. or Group Name [@Username]. (Year of post, Month Day). Content of post up to first twenty words [Format of post, such as photograph(s), video]. Instagram. http://postURL


Example

Statistics Canada [@statcan_eng]. (2019, November 7). Did you know that 33% of graduates from the class of 2015 paid off their student debt within three years [Infographic]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/B4kuBnolB1J/

Note: Write out the actual text of the forum post title in the citation and keep spelling and grammar the same as in the original, even if there are errors.
In-Text Citation: Quote

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(Statistics Canada, 2019)
In-Text Citation: Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(Statistics Canada, 2019)

Tweet

Reference List Citation

Author's Last Name, First Initial. or Group Name [@XUsername]. (Year of post, Month Day). Text of post up to first twenty words [Post]. Twitter. http://XPostURL


Example

CBC Toronto [@CBCToronto]. (2019, November 15). Many Canadians are frustrated by the overpackaging of food and household necessities at the grocery store, where they are often found in plastic bags, wrap, boxes and trays [Post]. https://twitter.com/CBCToronto/status/1195318121143422976

Note: Write out the actual text of the post in the citation and keep spelling and grammar the same as in the original, even if there are errors.
In-Text Citation: Quote

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(CBC Toronto, 2019)

Note: Because tweets do not have page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings,this information is left out of the in-text citation.
In-Text Citation: Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(CBC Toronto, 2019)

Facebook Post

Reference List Citation

Author's Last Name, First Initial. or Group Name. (Year of post, Month Day). Text of post up to first twenty words [Description of audiovisual content if included in post]. Facebook. http://postURL


Example

Seneca Polytechnic. (2019, November 28). Future Workforce student panel represented by Seneca students! Future Workforce is a gathering of 200+ employers of students and new [Image attached]. Facebook. https://bit.ly/2YAeI4z 

Note: Write out the actual text of the post in the citation and keep spelling and grammar the same as in the original, even if there are errors.
In-Text Citation: Quote

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(Seneca Polytechnic, 2019)

Note: Because posts do not have page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, this information is left out of the in-text citation.
In-Text Citation: Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name or Group Name, Year)


Example

(Seneca Polytechnic, 2019)

Pinterest

Pinterest generally includes images and other content that have been reposted from websites. Instead of citing content found on Pinterest, it is recommended to cite the webpage where the material was originally posted. For example, if you found an image pinned on Pinterest, open the link to the webpage that originally contains the image and cite the webpage in your work.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.