MLA: Citing Social Media Posts
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There are several free online citation generators that will make your Works Cited or Reference pages for you. Beware that these do not always format your sources correctly (there is a reason they are free). If you choose to use one of these tools, use the tabs at the top of the screen to check that they are correct before submitting your assignment. You don't want to lose points on your assignment because the AI generators were wrong!
MLA Social Media Posts
Works Cited
When citing a post from social media, you will use a lot of the same information, no matter which site or app the post was on.
- Author name and/or username/handle
- If the account name uses the common Firstname Lastname format, then make it Lastname, Firstname. Otherwise don't reverse the name order. See the examples below.
- Title of the post "in quotes"
- The text of the post can serve as the title if there is no title
- Use a description of the post if there is no title
- Name of the website or app, italicized
- Date of post
- Link to post, hyperlink removed
Twitter/X
Name [Handle]. "Text of the post." X, date. Link.
Chaucer Doth Tweet [@LeVostreGC]. "A daye wythout anachronism ys lyke Emily Dickenson wythout her lightsaber." X, 7 Apr. 2018, twitter.com/LeVostreGC/status/9828299872868297009.
Name [Handle]. Description of post. X, date. Link.
Ng, Celeste [@pronounced_ing]. Photo of a letter from Shirley Jackson. X, 22 Jan. 2018, twitter.com/pronounced_ing/status/955528799357231104.
TikTok
Name [Handle]. "Title or text of the post." TikTok, date, link to post, hyperlink removed.
Lilly [@uvisaa]. "[I]f you like dark academia there's a good chane you've seen my tumbler #darkacademia." TikTok, 2020, www.tiktok.com/@uvisaa/video/6815708894900391173.
Thomas, Angie. Photo of The Hate U Give book cover. Instagram, 4 Dec. 2018, instagram.com/p/Bq_PaXKgqPw/.
World Wildlife Fund. "Five Things to Know On Shark Awareness Day."Facebook, 14 July 2020, facebook.com/worldwildlifefund/videos/745925785979440/.
In-Text Citation
Use the creator's last name if their account uses a first and last name, otherwise use the account name.
(Thomas)
(Chaucer Doth Tweet)
(World Wildlife Fund)
More on Citations
MLA Month Abbreviations
You will abbreviate most months on your Works Cited. When you use the abbreviation, be sure to include the period.
January ----- Jan.
February ----- Feb.
March ----- Mar.
April ----- Apr.
May ----- May
June ----- June
July ----- July
August ----- Aug.
September ---- Sept.
October ----- Oct.
November ----- Nov.
December ----- Dec.
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