PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Facebook post

How to Cite a Facebook Post in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a Facebook post gives the name on the account, the full date in parentheses, up to the first 20 words of the post in italics as the title, a note about any attached image or link in square brackets, the post type in square brackets (such as [Status update] or [Video]), Facebook as the site name, and the post's URL. The in-text citation is the author and the year: (CDC, 2026).

The format

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Up to the first 20 words of the post [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. URL

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the post's link into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads what Facebook shows the public and fills in the page's name, up to the first 20 words of the post, Facebook as the platform, and the post's URL, plus the date when Facebook shares it. Then fill in two things Facebook doesn't hand over: type Status update or Video in Name of Platform Posts, and, for a post with a photo or a link preview, type Image attached or Thumbnail with link attached in Description of attached content. If the date comes in blank, open the post and hover over its time stamp to see the full date.

Check the author, too. For a post, the search brings in the author as a Group Author (Organization), so a person's page comes in as "Bill Gates" instead of "Gates, B." Change the role to Username (screen name) and type the first and last name. For a post in a Facebook group, the search brings in the group's name; change it to the person who wrote the post. Private and members-only posts can't be read, so enter those by hand.

Adding one by hand? Choose Social Media, then A social media post. For an organization, use the Group Author (Organization) role and type the page's name. For a person, use Username (screen name) with First and Last. Paste the post text in Post Content (PERRLA keeps the first 20 words), type the post type and any attachment, type Facebook in Platform Name, pick the date, and paste the URL. Leave Retrieval Date empty for a post.

Citing a whole page? Choose Page or profile on a social media platform, or paste the page's link (like facebook.com/AmericanNursesAssociation) and PERRLA sets up [Facebook page] and today's retrieval date. It fills in Home as the page title; change it to the tab you're citing, such as About.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Author

Use the name on the account. A page run by an organization gets the organization's name, exactly as the page shows it. A person gets their last name and initials, like any other author. End with a period.

CDC.

Gates, B.

The CDC's page is named CDC, so the reference says CDC, not Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. APA Style's Facebook examples don't add a handle in square brackets after the name, so neither does your reference. In a Facebook group, the author is the member who wrote the post, not the group.

2. Date

Give the year, month, and day of the post, in parentheses, followed by a period.

(2026, October 9).

Facebook shows short dates in the feed, like "October 9 at 10:00 AM" or "3d." On a computer, hover over that time stamp to see the full date with the year. You don't need the time.

3. Post text as the title

Use the post's own words as the title: up to the first 20 words, in italics, exactly as written. Keep the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation, and stop at word 20 even in the middle of a sentence.

Most people age 14 and up should aim to keep sodium under 2,300 milligrams a day. Toddlers and children should

A link, a hashtag, and an emoji each count as one word. Leave emojis in place if they fall within the first 20 words, but don't italicize them. A post shorter than 20 words goes in whole.

4. Attachment

If the post includes a photo, a link preview, or content shared from another post, say so in square brackets after the title: [Image attached], [Thumbnail with link attached], or a short description like it. A text-only post skips this part.

[Image attached]

5. Post type

Next comes the kind of post, in square brackets, then a period. A regular post is a status update. A video post, including a Facebook Reel, is a video.

[Status update].

[Video].

When the video is the post, [Video] is all you need. Don't add [Video attached] in front of it.

6. Site name and URL

Name Facebook as the site, then give the post's own link. Open the post by selecting its time stamp, then copy the address from your browser.

Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/cdc/posts/pfbid031QMRAz9VeeFmTQiwf9sYrctGxvehf4Q8G8qAdrKQ3So3HFBpspGuZiGT9ddupjQwl

Post links are long, and that's fine. Remove tracking pieces that start with ?fbclid= or ?mibextid=, but keep the rest. Don't use the link to the whole page or to your feed, don't put a period after the URL, and don't add a retrieval date for a post.

Examples

A post from an organization, with an image

A CDC post on daily sodium limits, with a graphic attached. The page's name is CDC, so the reference uses CDC. The title stops at word 20, in the middle of the second sentence.

  • Parenthetical citation(CDC, 2026)
  • Narrative citationCDC (2026)

A video post from a person's page

Bill Gates sharing a video on Grassroot Soccer, a program that uses soccer to help young people with health challenges from HIV prevention to mental health. A person gets last name and initials, and a video post takes [Video] in place of [Status update].

  • Parenthetical citation(Gates, 2026)
  • Narrative citationGates (2026)

A Facebook page

To cite a page itself, such as an organization's About information, cite the tab you used. The tab's name is the title, followed by [Facebook page]. Pages change, so the reference gets n.d. and the date you looked at it.

  • Parenthetical citation(American Nurses Association, n.d.)
  • Narrative citationAmerican Nurses Association (n.d.)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for a Facebook post gives the author and the year. Use the name from the front of the reference.

  • Organization: (CDC, 2026) or CDC (2026)
  • Person: (Gates, 2026) or Gates (2026)
  • Facebook page: (American Nurses Association, n.d.)
  • Two posts by the same author in the same year: add a lowercase letter after the year, in the reference and in the citation, in the order the references appear on your references page: (CDC, 2026a) and (CDC, 2026b).

Posts have no page numbers. To quote a post, put the words in quotation marks and cite the author and year. A narrative citation names the author in your sentence: The CDC (2026) pointed out that most sodium comes from highly processed foods, not the salt shaker. More on handles, hashtags, and the 20-word rule across platforms: how to format APA citations for social media posts.

Common mistakes

  • CDC. (2026, October 9). Most people age 14 and up should aim to keep sodium under 2,300 milligrams a day. [Image attached]. Facebook.CDC. (2026, October 9). Most people age 14 and up should aim to keep sodium under 2,300 milligrams a day. Toddlers and children should [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook.Two misses in one. The title is the first 20 words, not the first sentence, and the post type, [Status update], goes in its own brackets after the attachment.
  • Bill Gates. (2026, July 18).Gates, B. (2026, July 18).A person's name is inverted, with initials, the same as in any other reference. Only organization names stay as written.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026, October 9).CDC. (2026, October 9).APA Style uses the name on the account, so your reader can match the reference to the page they'll find on Facebook.
  • Name of the Group. (Year, Month Day). First 20 words of the post [Status update]. Facebook.Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). First 20 words of the post [Status update]. Facebook.In a Facebook group, the person who wrote the post is the author. The group's name isn't the author, and it doesn't go anywhere in the reference.
  • Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/cdcFacebook. https://www.facebook.com/cdc/posts/pfbid031QMRAz9VeeFmTQiwf9sYrctGxvehf4Q8G8qAdrKQ3So3HFBpspGuZiGT9ddupjQwlThe URL goes to the post itself. The page's main link only shows whatever the page posted most recently.
  • Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://www.facebook.com/reel/2211953472980697/https://www.facebook.com/reel/2211953472980697/A post doesn't change once it's up, so it doesn't get a retrieval date. Retrieval dates are for pages, like a Facebook page's About tab, that change over time.

Quick checklist

  • The name on the account: organization as written, person as Last, F.
  • Full date: year, month, and day
  • Up to the first 20 words of the post, in italics and exactly as written
  • [Image attached] or [Thumbnail with link attached] when the post has one
  • [Status update] or [Video], then Facebook, then the post's own URL
  • No retrieval date for a post; n.d. and a retrieval date for a page

Questions students ask

How do I cite a post in a Facebook group?

Cite it like any other post, with the member who wrote it as the author. The group's name doesn't go in the reference. If the group is private, your reader can't open the post, so APA treats it as a personal communication: cite it in the text only, with no entry on the references page.

How do I cite a Facebook Story or a Facebook Live video?

If it disappeared and nobody saved it anywhere your reader could find it, cite it as a personal communication, in the text only. If the live video was saved to the page afterward, cite the saved video as a post with [Video].

What if the post is shorter than 20 words?

Use the whole post as the title. The 20-word rule is a maximum, so short posts go in complete, with their hashtags, links, and emojis.

Do I cite the Facebook post or the article it links to?

Cite what you used. If you're writing about the post itself, like how the CDC talked about sodium with the public, cite the post. If you're using facts from the linked page or article, open it and cite that source instead.

How do I cite a comment on a Facebook post?

APA Style hasn't published a Facebook comment example. The closest model is its online forum comment format: the commenter as the author, the comment's date, up to its first 20 words in italics, and a bracketed note naming the post it responds to, then Facebook and the comment's own link. Ask your instructor whether a comment is a good source for your assignment first.

Is [Status update] still right if Facebook calls it a post?

Yes. APA Style's Facebook examples use [Status update] for a regular post and [Video] for a video. Facebook's own labels change, and APA's wording hasn't, so use APA's.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.9, 8.17, 9.8, 9.14, 9.16, 9.19–9.22, 9.34–9.35, and 10.15, and the APA Style website's Facebook references page. Example posts verified on Facebook on October 21, 2026: each post's text, page name, date (from the post's time stamp), attachment, and link read from the post itself.

PERRLA builds the Facebook reference from the post's link, with the text cut at 20 words and Facebook as the site.

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