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MLA Citation Guide (9th Edition): Social Media

This guide will help you cite sources using the MLA Style 9th edition.

Social Media

X's (formerly known as Tweets)

 

Works Cited List Citation

X (formerly known as Twitter) Account Name [@username]. "Text of X (formerly know as tweet)." X (formerly known as Twitter), Day Month Year of Tweet, URL.

Note: You can shorten a long X (Tweet) by listing only the first few words followed by an ellipsis (...).

Note: If the author's account name is similar to their username, you can exclude the [@username] element from the citation.

Examples:

Hubble. "#MayThe4thBeWithYou! Hubble captured this view of a celestial 'lightsaber' that’s called HH 24..." X, 4 May 2021, x.com/NASAHubble/status/1389581790868905991.

Lee, Min Jin [@minjinlee11]. "I will never be ashamed of being hated for my race. This shame belongs to the racist. It is not my shame." X, 17 Mar. 2021, x.com/minjinlee11/status/1372038596463624192.

In-Text Citation

(X Account Name)

Example:

(Hubble)

(Lee)

Instagram Posts

 

Works Cited List Citation

Instagram Account Name [@username]. Description of post. Instagram, Day Month Year of Post, URL.

Note: If the author's account name is similar to their username, you can exclude the [@username] element from the citation.

Examples:

Kaur, Rupi. Video of Rupi Kaur poem reading. Instagram, 30 Apr. 2021, www.instagram.com/p/COTCyVaADQe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art. Photo of 1999 NTT DOCOMO emojis and 2016 iOS emojis. Instagram, 17 Feb. 2021, www.instagram.com/p/CLaTInaB50k/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.

In-Text Citation

(Account Name)

Example:

(Kaur)

(MoMA The Museum of Modern Art)

TikTok Videos

 

Works Cited List Citation

TikTok Account Name [@username]. "Text of TikTok." TikTok, Day Month Year Posted, URL.

Note: You can shorten long text by listing only the first few words followed by an ellipsis (...).

Note: If the author's account name is similar to their username, you can exclude the [@username] element from the citation.

Examples:

Saturday Night Live [@nbcsnl]. "Ok but for real what is an NFT." TikTok, 29 Mar. 2021, https://www.tiktok.com/@nbcsnl/video/6945222679502785797.

Washington Post. "In its latest software updates, Apple is forcing apps to first ask before collecting personal information on your phone or tablet." TikTok, 30 Apr. 2021, https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost/video/6956987818140830982.

In-Text Citation

(Account Name)

Example:

(Saturday Night Live)

(Washington Post)

Facebook Posts

 

Works Cited List Citation

Facebook Account Name [@username]. "Text of post or Title of Video." Facebook, Day Month Year of Post, URL.

Note: You can shorten long text by listing only the first few words followed by an ellipsis (...).

Note: If the author's account name is similar to their username, you can exclude the [@username] element from the citation.

Examples:

Cho, Seong-Jin. "The Unkown Mozart: World Premiere by Seong-Jin Cho." Facebook, 27 Jan. 2021, www.facebook.com/100044536921960/videos/828765901006444.

Internet Archive. "At the Internet Archive, this is how we digitize a book..." Facebook, 6 Feb. 2021, www.facebook.com/internetnetarchive/videos/252387973129402/.

In-Text Citation

(Last Name or Account Name)

Example:

(Cho)

(Internet Archive)

LinkedIn Posts

 

Works Cited List Citation

Last Name, First Name or Group Name. "Text of post." LinkedIn, Day Month Year of Post, URL.

Note: You can shorten long text by listing only the first few words followed by an ellipsis (...).

Example:

Statistics Canada. "Using data from the Canadian #Housing Statistics Program, our latest article shows that first-time home buyers in #BritishColumbia had higher incomes than repeat buyers..." LinkedIn, 22 Sept. 2021, www.linkedin.com/posts/statcan_housing-britishcolumbia-novascotia-activity-6846187529159380992-kbKh.

In-Text Citation

(Last Name or Group Name)

Example:

(Statistics Canada)

LinkedIn Profile

 

Works Cited List Citation

Last Name, First Name or Group Name. "Profile Title" LinkedIn, Year, URL.

Example:

O'Brien, Conan. "Conan O'Brien." LinkedIn, 2021, www.linkedin.com/in/conanobrien.

In-Text Citation

(Last Name or Group Name)

Example:

(O'Brien)

Online Forum / Discussion Board Posts

 

Works Cited List Citation

Username or Last Name, First Name. "Title of Post." Name of Online Forum, Day Month Year of Comment, Time of Comment if given, URL.

Example:

Informatica6. "[OC] Google Year in Search 2020 Top Search Terms." Reddit, 15 Dec. 2020, 02:55:54, www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/kdhjpn/oc_google_year_in_search_2020_top_search_terms/.

In-Text Citation

(Username or Last Name)

Example:

(Informatica6)

Tips for Citing Social Media

Author

A username can be provided in place of a real name. If both username and real name are provided, put the user name first with the real name following in brackets. 

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

Date

The format of all dates is: Date Month (shortened) Year. E.g. 5 Sept. 2012.

If no date is given, leave that information out of the citation. 

 

         

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