APA – Social Media

(Publication Manual 10.15)

Elements:

For Twitter and Instagram:

Author, A. A. or Group Author [@username]. (Year, Month and day). Content of the post up to 20 words [Description of audiovisuals]. Site name. URL

For Twitter profile:

Author, A. A. or Group Author [@username]. (n.d.). Tab name [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Note: Include retrieval date because contents of Twitter profile are designed to change over time and the page is not archived.

For Facebook and other social media:

Author, A. A.; or Group Author [with or without Username]; or Username. (Year, Month and day; or n.d.). Content of the post up to 20 words [Description of audiovisuals] [Post type]. Site name. URL

Notes: Do not alter spelling or capitalization in social media posts.
Replicate emojis, if possible, or provide name in square brackets. Emoji names are available at http://unicode.org/emoji/charts/index.html
Format of Facebook examples can be applied to Tumblr, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc.

Examples:

Tweet

Badlands National Park [@Badlands NPS]. (2018, February 26). Biologists have identified more than 400 different plant species growing in @BadlandsNPS #DYK #biodiversity [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BadlandsNPS/status/968196500412133379

CDC [@CDCgov]. (2020, June 11). Scientists do not know if having antibodies to the virus that causes #COVID19 can protect someone from getting infected again [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1271180413134876672

Twitter profile

APA Style [@APA_Style]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved January 15, 2020, from https://twitter.com/APA_Style

Jordan, M. B. [@michaelb4jordan]. (n.d.). Tweets & replies [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https://twitter.com/michaelb4jordan/with_replies

Facebook post

News From Science. (2019, June 21). Are you a fan of astronomy? Enjoy reading about what scientists have discovered in our solar system—and beyond? This [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNOW/photos/a.117532185107/10156268057260108/?type=3&theater

Facebook page

Community of Multiculturalism. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.facebook.com/communityofmulticulturalism/

Note: Include retrieval date because page is designed to change over time and is not archived.

Online forum post

Little, J. [j450n_l]. (2018, December 12). I’m the first person in the world with a neural-enabled prosthetic hand. Using an specialized prosthetic and a device implanted [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/a5jxbe/im_the_first_person_in_the_world_with_a/

Online forum comment

haffy-1223. (2018, September 12). What do you think while on the launchpad about to launch? [Comment on the online forum post I’m NASA astronaut Scott Tingle. Ask me anything about adjusting to being back on Earth after my first spaceflight!]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9fagqy/im_nasa_astronaut_scott_tingle_ask_me_anything/e5v0027/