Social Media - APA 7th Referencing Style Guide

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Search this Guide Search APA 7th Referencing Style Guide

• Referencing & APA style
• In-text citation
• Reference list
  • Elements of a reference
  • Format & examples of a reference list
• Articles
• Books
• Conferences
• Reports & grey literature
• Figures (graphs and images)
• Tables
• Theses and dissertations
• Audiovisual media
  • Audio works
  • Films, TV & video
  • Visual works
• Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
• Computer software, games & apps
• Data sets
• Lecture notes & Intranet resources
• Legal resources
• Personal communications
• PowerPoint slides
• Social media
  • Citing social media
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Online forum post
  • Blog post
• Specific health examples
• Standards & patents
• Websites & webpages
• Footnotes and appendices
• Frequently asked questions

Citing social media

Cite only original content from social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit etc. If you want to cite content from a social media post or account that is not the original source of the content, cite it directly. For example, if you find a Facebook post that links to a blog, cite the blog not the Facebook post.

Notes:

• Social media posts may include text, images and audiovisual content
• Do not alter the spelling and capitalisation in a social media reference
• Retain hashtags, links and emojis (if possible)
• If you cannot create the emoji, provide the name of the emoji in square brackets e.g. [face with tears of joy emoji]. The full list of names can be found on the Unicode Consortium's website

Reference format

Author	Date	Title	Social media site name		URL
Twitter and Instagram: Author, A. A. [@username]. Name of Group [@username]. Facebook and others: Author, A. A. Name of Group. Name of Group [Username]. [Username].	(n.d.). (2019, August 8).	Content of the post up to the first 20 words. Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Description of audiovisuals]. [Description of audiovisuals].	Site name.		https://xxxxxx Retrieved August 27, 2020, from https://xxxxxx

Twitter

Tweet

Ardern, J. [@jacindaardern]. (2018, October 15). I salute you, @Kereru4PM #BirdOfTheYear [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/jacindaardern/status/1051569120066469889

Cher [@cher]. (2019, October 15). Trump Brags About Serving Up American Troops to Saudi Arabia for Nothing More Than Cash https://t.co/AEDTi8LXzm?amp=1 via @YahooEnt [Thumbnail with link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/cher/status/1216581212828880896

Figure.NZ [@figurenz]. (2019, October 15). Looking forward to resting up over the holidays? [sleeping face emoji] [beach with umbrella emoji] NZ #Health Survey figures show about 70% of adults meet sleep duration... [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/FigureNZ/status/1207422765986279424

• If the tweet includes images (including GIFs), videos, thumbnail links to outside sources, links to other tweets (i.e. a retweet with comment) or a poll, indicate that in square brackets
• For tweet replies, do not include the "replying to" information. If it is important to note, mention it in your writing and provide an in-text citation
• Replicate emojis if possible. If not, provide the CLDR short name from the Unicode Emoji List in square brackets

Twitter profile

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

• Provide a retrieval date because the contents of the page can change over time
• Twitter profiles have several tabs. "Tweets" is the default, so to create a reference to one of the other tabs, substitute that tab name for "Tweets" in the reference

Find how to cite in text on the In-text citation page.

Facebook

Facebook post

New Zealand Geographic. (2020, January 15). Check out all the #NZVR experiences at nzgeo.com/vr/waikato Mike Holmes pulls shortfin eels from a fyke net under the watchful... [Video]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1001823770194342

World Health Organization. (2020, January 15). Urgent health challenges for the next decade: [exclamation mark emoij] Elevating health in the climate debate. The climate crisis is a health crisis... [Image attached] [Facebook post]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/WHO/photos/a.167668209945237/2853056008073097/?type=3&theater

Facebook page

New Zealand Fashion Museum. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved January 15, 2020 from https://www.facebook.com/nzfashionmuseum/

• Use the page title in the reference (e.g., "Home", "Timeline", "About", "Photos")
• This format can be adapted for references to other social media pages such as Tumblr, LinkedIn, Instagram etc.

Find how to cite in text on the In-text citation page.

Instagram

Instagram photo or video