In a matter of decades, social media has become a legitimate source of data, public opinion, and primary source material, which means it’s showing up in research papers now more than ever. Whether you’re writing a research paper on viral misinformation, analyzing Instagram trends for a communications class, or documenting public health announcements, knowing how to format APA citations for social media is incredibly useful.

And if you don’t know how to format them? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take a look at what the APA has to say.

Why you need to cite social media posts

You may be wondering: do I really need to cite a tweet? The short answer is definitely – if you reference someone else’s words or ideas, you cite them. It makes no difference whether those words appeared in a peer-reviewed journal or a 280-character post. APA style applies across the board, and citing your sources gives credit where it’s due and strengthens your credibility as a writer.

The good news is that APA 7th Edition has you covered with clear guidance on citing content from platforms like Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit.

The basic formula for social media citations

Most social media citations follow the same basic structure. All it takes is committing the pattern to memory (or using a tool like PERRLA, which can automatically format social media references and citations for you).

Here’s the basic template for an APA 7 social media reference:

Author Last Name, First Initial. [@username]. (Year, Month Day). First 20 words of post [Type of post]. Platform Name. URL

A few important things to note: Use the author’s real name if it’s publicly available, followed by their username in brackets. If only a username is available, use that alone (no brackets necessary). Include the date the post was published, and if the post contains text, use the first 20 words as the title. If it’s a video- or image-only post, describe the content in brackets instead. And if the post also includes a video, image, poll, or a link, indicate that in square brackets after the title.

PRO TIP: If the first 20 words of the post include a URL, a hashtag, or an emoji, count them as one word each. Do not italicize emojis.

Citing X/Twitter posts

X, formerly known as Twitter, is likely the most commonly cited social media platform in academic writing. Here’s a (fictional) example of what a reference entry looks like:

Henderson, G. [@SasquatchRidingUnicorn]. (2020, April 30). The Pacific Northwest is among the most frequently visited areas in the United States when it comes to Bigfoot trackers {Post]. X. https://x.com/SasquatchRidingUnicorn/status/thisisafictionalpost

In your in-text citation, you’d just use the author’s last name (or username) and year: (Henderson, 2020).

Citing Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook posts

The format for all three  is essentially the same as X/Twitter, with the platform name swapped out. For a photo post on Instagram, your description in brackets would say [Photograph] instead of [Post]. For TikTok, it would say [Video]. For a Facebook post, it would say [Status update].

Let’s look at another (fictional) example):

Henderson, E. [@SonOfSasquatchRidingUnicorn]. (2020, March 10). Unidentified fur, believed to be that of a Bigfoot, photographed near the Oregon coast [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/… 

Citing Reddit posts and comments

Reddit follows the same basic template, but you’ll want to label the post type as [Reddit post] or [Comment on Reddit post].

Since Reddit users often go by a username alone, you may not have a real name, and that’s fine. Use the username as the author.

Here’s another (totally, completely fictional) example:

throwaway_totallynotasasquatch. (2019, May 3). So has anyone heard anything about some famous Bigfoot tracker who plans to visit the PNW next year? [Reddit post}. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/…

In-text citations for social media

In-text citations for social media work exactly like any other APA citation: (Author, Year). If you’re quoting directly, add a paragraph number or timestamp if available, though for most social media posts, the author and year are sufficient.

If the author is only known by a username, use the username in the in-text citation:

(@username, 2020).

Quick tips to get it right every time

• Always check whether the post is still publicly accessible before you cite it.
• Use the author’s real name when available, even if you found the account by username.
• If a post has no text (like a photo or video), describe the content clearly in brackets for the title element.
• Keep your URL on point – link directly to the post when possible.

Citing social media in APA format may feel a bit awkward at first (which is to be expected, since it’s not what the format was initially designed for). But APA 7th Edition has kept pace with the “Like & Subscribe” Age, and the rules are cleaner than you might expect. Once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll get the hang of it.

Formatting social media references with PERRLA

With PERRLA, creating perfectly formatted references and citations for social media posts is as simple as opening the References & Citations Panel, choosing the All Types tab, and selecting Social Media as the Reference Type. From there, just fill out the form, and let PERRLA handle the rest. Remember, you can try PERRLA absolutely free (no credit card required) by signing up for our 7-day trial. We can handle all the formatting details – so you can focus on the writing.