LibGuides: APA Citation Guide (6th ed.): Social Media

How do I cite...

Tips

Author

On sites where items are posted under user names but not necessarily proper names, enter the user name where you would normally put the author's name. Author in this case will be the main creator(s) for the item you are citing.

Creator information may often be found under a section called "About" for some types of social media, however this is not always standard.

Date

Most items will provide a date they were posted. The standard format for the date is Year, Month Day.

If only part of the date is provided, post what you have such as the year and skip the rest of the date.

If no date is provided, use the initials n.d. where you would normally put the date.

Formatting

Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Blog Post

Author's Last Name, First initial. Second Initial if Given. or Username if real name not provided. (Year blog post was published, Month Day). Title of blog post [Blog post]. Retrieved from URL.

Reference List Example

Dobbs, D. (2012, June 13). Fun in cities: Feature, not bug [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/fun-in-cities-feature-not-bug/

Note: If the blog author's real name is not provided, use their username instead.

In-Text Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Dobbs, 2012)

In-Text Quote

(Author's Last Name, Year, Section Heading section if given)

Example: (Dobbs, 2012)

Note: This blog post has no page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings so this information is left out of the in-text citation.

Mobile Application Software (App)

Name of Company that created the application or Creator's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given (Year current version of the application was released). Name of application (Version version number if given) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from URL application was downloaded from.

Reference List Example

National Geographic Society (2012). National parks by National Geographic (Version 1.2) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/itunes/

In-Text Paraphrase

(Name of Company or Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (National Geographic Society, 2012)

In-Text Quote

(Name of Company or Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (National Geographic Society, 2012)

Note: Because apps typically do not have page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings,this information is left out of the in-text citation.

Podcasts

Director/Producer/Host's Last Name, First initial. Second Initial if Given. (Role in the production e.g. Host, Director, Producer). (Year podcast was released, Month Day if given). Title of podcast episode: Subtitle if given [Audio podcast]. Title of podcast. Retrieved from URL.

Reference List Example

Rogers, S. (Host). (2012, June 18). Richard Wagamese: Children's book panel [Audio podcast]. The next chapter. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/thenextchapter/episode/2012/06/18/richard-wagamese-bookworm-childrens-book-panel/

In-Text Paraphrase

(Director/Producer/Host's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Rogers, 2012)

In-Text Quote

(Director/Producer/Host's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Rogers, 2012)

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

Streaming Video From a Website (YouTube, Vimeo, Hulu, etc.) - Poster's Name Known

Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. of person who posted the video if known. [User name that posted the video] . (Year video was posted, Month Day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL

Note: According to APA, for citing purposes the person who posted the video is credited as the author.

Reference List Example

Nye, B. [TheRealBillNye]. (2009, April 8). Bill Nye the science guy on energy [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/0ASLLiuejAo

In-Text Paraphrase

(Creator's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Nye, 2009)

In-Text Quote

(Creator's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Nye, 2009)

Note: Because videos typically do not have page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings,this information is left out of the in-text citation.

Streaming Video From a Website (YouTube, Vimeo, Hulu, etc.) -Poster's Name Not Known

User name that posted the video. (Year video was posted, Month Day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL

Note: According to APA, for citing purposes the person who posted the video is credited as the author.

Reference List Example

All Aces Media. (2012, January 19). Often awesome the series [Video file]. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/35311255

In-Text Paraphrase

(User name, Year)

Example: (All Aces Media, 2012)

In-Text Quote

(User name, Year)

Example: (All Aces Media, 2012)

Note: Because videos typically do not have page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings,this information is left out of the in-text citation.

Streaming Video From a Library Database (Films on Demand, Senema, NBC Learn, etc.)

Name of Company/Organization that Provided Content or Creator's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. if known. (Year video was created, Month Day if known). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from Database Name database.

Reference List Example

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2009). World's oldest mummies [Video file]. Retrieved from Films on Demand database.

In-Text Paraphrase

(Name of Company/Organization, Year)

Example: (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2009)

Note: Films on Demand is a large collection of educational streaming videos.

In-Text Quote

(Name of Company/Organization, Year)

Note: Because videos typically do not have page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings,this information is left out of the in-text citation.

Twitter (Tweets)

Author's Last Name, First Initial. or Group Name [Twitter username]. (Year tweet was posted, Month Day). Text of post [Tweet]. Retrieved from Twitter Account's URL

Reference List Example

Mercer, R. [rickmercer]. (2010, May 3). The only thing i have achieved today is ignoring my list. And that's not on the list [Tweet]. Retrieved from http://twitter.com/RICKMERCER

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 Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Mercer, 2010)

In-Text Quote

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Mercer, 2010)

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

Wikipedia

Title of entry. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved Month Day, Year that website was viewed, from URL for entry

Note: According to APA, n.d. is used instead of a date of publication as the date is difficult to determine. Include the date you viewed the website as the content is likely to change over time.

Wikipedia may not be considered an acceptable source for a college or university assignment. Be sure to evaluate the content carefully and check your assignment.

Reference List Example

Veterinary medicine. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 18, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterinary_medicine

In-Text Paraphrase

("Title of entry," n.d.)

Example: ("Veterinary Medicine," n.d.)

In-Text Quote

("Title of entry," n.d., Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number)

Example: ("Veterinary Medicine," n.d., Paraveterinary Workers section, para. 1)

Note: If a dictionary or encyclopedia entry has no author, the in-text citation should include the title of the entry. The title of the entry should be in quotation marks, with each word starting with a capital letter.

When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from.