How to Cite Social Media Posts in APA, MLA, and Chicago

Social media posts show up in academic work more than you might expect. Political scientists cite posts from elected officials. Communications researchers analyze Instagram campaigns. Sociologists reference Reddit discussions. If you’re using social media as a primary source, you need to cite it properly.

The challenge is that social media doesn’t fit neatly into traditional citation categories. Posts disappear, usernames don’t match real names, and the “title” of a post is often the post itself. Each major style guide has adapted its rules to handle these cases, but the details differ significantly.

Every example cites a real post that we read on 20 October 2026, except the three Facebook lines, which are templates. CiteTools has no social media form, so each line applies the style’s own form by hand.

General Principles for Social Media Citations

Before diving into specific formats, keep these principles in mind:

• Use the name the account shows. If a profile shows a full name, cite that. APA, MLA and Chicago add the handle after the name where the style asks for it.
• Quote short posts in full. For short posts, include the full text as the title. APA stops at the first 20 words, and a link, hashtag or emoji counts as one word.
• Give the full date of the post. Social media is time-sensitive, so APA, MLA and Chicago all give the day, month and year. Chicago adds the time to a cited comment.
• Archive ephemeral content. Posts can be deleted or accounts deactivated. Take screenshots or use the Wayback Machine as a backup. More on this below.

X Posts

All three styles document X, formerly Twitter. Posts on X were once called tweets; APA and MLA now call them posts.

APA 7th Edition

Gates, B. @BillGates. (2025, June 25). Health aid works. Video attached Post. X. https://x.com/BillGates/status/1937944878983598517

Key rules:

• Give the name of the person or group, then the handle in square brackets
• Italicize the first 20 words of the post as the title, and stop at the 20th word (APA’s examples show no ellipsis)
• Count a link, a hashtag or an emoji as one word each, and do not italicize an emoji
• Name an attached image, video or link card in square brackets after the title: Image attached, Video attached, Thumbnail with link attached
• Add Post as the format descriptor
• Give X as the site name, then the direct URL to the post

A post that holds a link and an image counts the link as one word, and the image is noted after the title:

ScienceDaily @ScienceDaily. (2024, August 22). Rethinking the dodo: review of 400 years of scientific literature corrects the record on icon of extinction https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240816121523.htm Image: Shutterstock Image attached Post. X. https://x.com/ScienceDaily/status/1826620973681885185

MLA 9th Edition

Gates, Bill. “Health aid works.” X, 25 June 2025, x.com/BillGates/status/1937944878983598517.

Key rules:

• Start with the account name, last name first for a person
• You may add the handle in brackets when it differs from the account name, and add it when the entry has no URL
• Quote the full text of the post as the title, and end a shortened text with an ellipsis
• Give X as the title of the container, in italics, also for posts made when the platform was still Twitter
• Date in MLA day-month-year format, then the URL as the platform gives it, which MLA’s examples print without https://

The MLA citation generator reads a post’s page and labels the result From the page. Replace the page title with the post’s text, and check the author, handle and container name.

Chicago 18th Edition

Chicago usually limits social media citations to the text. Add a note when formal documentation helps. A bibliography entry is appropriate only in rare cases. In place of a title, quote up to the first 280 characters of the post. Chicago’s own guide cites a 2022 post as “Twitter (now X)”, so a post made after the 2023 rename is cited as X.

Footnote:

1. Bill Gates (@BillGates), “Health aid works,” X, June 25, 2025, https://x.com/BillGates/status/1937944878983598517.

Bibliography:

Gates, Bill (@BillGates). “Health aid works.” X, June 25, 2025. https://x.com/BillGates/status/1937944878983598517.

For a broader comparison of how these three styles differ, see APA vs MLA vs Chicago.

Instagram Posts

Instagram citations follow a similar pattern but include the photo or video description as the title.

APA 7th Edition

National Geographic @natgeo. (2021, August 2). Photo by @amivitale / Hilary Zaranek rides her horse at the J Bar L Ranch. Hilary is a National Geographic Photograph. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CSGHc13MTT0/

• Use Photograph or Video as the format descriptor
• Use the first 20 words of the caption as the title, however long the caption is, and stop there

MLA 9th Edition

National Geographic @natgeo. “Photo by @amivitale / Hilary Zaranek rides her horse at the J Bar L Ranch . . . .” Instagram, 2 Aug. 2021, www.instagram.com/p/CSGHc13MTT0/.

Chicago 18th Edition

Footnote:

1. National Geographic (@natgeo), “Photo by @amivitale / Hilary Zaranek rides her horse at the J Bar L Ranch,” Instagram, August 2, 2021, https://www.instagram.com/p/CSGHc13MTT0/.

This line quotes the first sentence of the caption, which is within Chicago’s limit of 280 characters.

Facebook Posts

Facebook posts are cited similarly, but you may encounter privacy issues – only cite public posts. The three examples below are templates: replace each placeholder with the account name, the date and the address of the post you cite.

APA 7th Edition

Account name. (Year, Month Day). First 20 words of the post Image attached Status update. Facebook. URL

• Use the name associated with the account; APA’s Facebook example has no handle to add
• Name attached images, videos or links in square brackets, then give the post type: Status update or Video

MLA 9th Edition

Account name. “Text of the post.” Facebook, Day Mon. Year, URL.

Chicago 18th Edition

Footnote:

1. Account name, “Text of the post,” Facebook, Month Day, Year, URL.

Reddit Posts and Comments

Reddit is increasingly cited in research, especially in social science, technology, and health studies. The unusual element here is pseudonymity – Reddit users often use screen names, not real names. The examples cite an “Ask me anything” thread that Axiom Space, a company, ran on the r/IAmA forum.

APA 7th Edition

Post:

Axiom Space Axiom-Space. (2026, July 19). We’re developing the next-generation spacesuit to return humans back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. Online forum post. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1v0xpgn/were_developing_the_nextgeneration_spacesuit_to/

Comment:

Axiom Space Axiom-Space. (2026, July 20). The AxEMU suit may look similar, but it has a lot more capability. It can support longer duration space walks, Comment on the online forum post We’re developing the next-generation spacesuit to return humans back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. AMA with Axiom Space’s CTO of human spaceflight (a former NASA astronaut) and our EVA program manager!. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1v0xpgn/were_developing_the_nextgeneration_spacesuit_to/oyq1bld/

• Give the real name or the group name first, then the screen name in square brackets, without “u/”
• When the real name is not known, give only the screen name, without brackets
• Use up to the first 20 words of the post or comment as the title
• For a comment, add “Comment on the online forum post” and the full title of the post in the brackets, in italics and sentence case
• Use Online forum post as the descriptor for a post

MLA 9th Edition

Axiom Space. “We’re developing the next-generation spacesuit to return humans back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. AMA with Axiom Space’s CTO of Human Spaceflight (a former NASA Astronaut) and our EVA Program Manager!” Reddit, 19 July 2026, www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1v0xpgn/were_developing_the_nextgeneration_spacesuit_to/.

MLA’s examples copy the text of a post exactly as written. They drop the handle when it resembles the account name and the entry has a URL.

Chicago 18th Edition

Footnote:

1. Axiom Space (u/Axiom-Space), “We’re developing the next-generation spacesuit to return humans back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. AMA with Axiom Space’s CTO of Human Spaceflight (a former NASA Astronaut) and our EVA Program Manager!,” Reddit, July 19, 2026, https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1v0xpgn/were_developing_the_nextgeneration_spacesuit_to/.

TikTok Videos

TikTok is newer to academic citation, but its cultural influence makes it relevant in media studies, marketing research, and sociology.

APA 7th Edition

The Washington Post @washingtonpost. (2024, March 28). The Washington Post Universe is here! 🌎 Should we be on any other platforms? Let us know! Video. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost/video/7351526258431331626

MLA 9th Edition

The Washington Post. “The Washington Post Universe is here! Should we be on any other platforms? Let us know!” TikTok, 28 Mar. 2024, www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost/video/7351526258431331626.

The MLA Style Center says an emoji need not appear in a post’s title, so this line leaves out the globe. This line sets the account’s name in italics because the account is a newspaper, as the Style Center’s Snapchat example does.

Handling Disappearing Content

Social media posts can be deleted, accounts can be suspended, and platforms can shut down entirely. This creates a unique problem for academic citations: your source might not exist by the time someone reads your paper.

What the styles say:

1. APA: a temporary post, such as an Instagram Story, or a livestream that nobody archived is cited as a personal communication. If a copy exists online, cite that copy as a normal post.
2. MLA: cite a deleted post from your screenshot, as it looked when you captured it. Say in your prose or a note that it has since been deleted. For a page from the Wayback Machine, name the Internet Archive as a second container.
3. Chicago: for a web page, the link to a version saved in the Wayback Machine may be cited.

Best practices:

1. Take a screenshot of the post with the date and URL visible. Include it as a figure or appendix if your instructor allows it.
2. Use the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) to archive the page. Some researchers archive every social media source they cite.
3. Save the permalink. Always link to the specific post, not the user’s profile or a search result.
4. Watch for profile pages. APA asks for a retrieval date for a profile or page, which changes over time. It asks for none for a single post. MLA lets you add an access date at the end when you viewed a post on a phone and it showed no date.

Pseudonyms and Privacy

Social media handles raise ethical and practical questions:

• Public figures and organizations: Cite freely using their real name and handle.
• Pseudonymous users: Use their username. APA says to give only the screen name when the real name is not known. Do not attempt to identify them if they haven’t disclosed their real name.
• Private accounts: Generally do not cite private social media posts. If your research requires it, consult your IRB or ethics board.
• Sensitive content: If citing someone’s post could put them at risk (e.g., a Reddit post about mental health), consider paraphrasing without linking directly to their profile.

For related guidance on properly paraphrasing sources, see our guide on how to paraphrase without plagiarizing.

Common Mistakes

1. Citing the platform instead of the post. Your citation should point to the specific post, not x.com or instagram.com.
2. Using only the handle when the account shows a name. Check the profile for the name first, then add the handle where your style asks.
3. Forgetting the format descriptor in APA. APA asks for a label such as Post, Photograph or Video after the title.
4. Citing private or group content without permission. Only cite publicly accessible posts.
5. Omitting the date. Social media dates are easy to find and always relevant.
6. Not archiving ephemeral content. If the post disappears, your citation becomes unverifiable.

Quick Reference Table

Try It with CiteTools

Paste a post’s URL into CiteTools.io for a first draft, and check it against the forms above. The result depends on the platform:

• X: CiteTools returns the author and the date, with the page title in place of the post’s text and “X (Formerly Twitter)” as the platform. Replace the title with the post’s text.
• Instagram: CiteTools splits the account name as if it were a person’s (“Geographic, National”) and finds no date.
• TikTok: CiteTools names “tiktok.com” as the author and finds no date.
• Reddit: CiteTools cannot read the page, so build the entry by hand.

You can also export your citations to BibTeX or RIS for use in your reference manager.

If you’re citing video content specifically, check out our detailed guide on how to cite a YouTube video.

Sources

• APA Style, references for X (archived 2026-10-08), Instagram (archived 2026-09-09), TikTok (archived 2024-09-19), Facebook (archived 2026-09-16) and online forums such as Reddit (archived 2026-08-24).
• MLA Style Center, Citing Material Posted on Social Media Platforms, How do I cite Twitter now that its name has changed to X?, emojis in tweets, citing a deleted tweet, citing a work accessed through Wayback Machine, citing material posted to Snapchat and The Italicization of Names like Facebook. The Style Center marks the posts on emojis and deleted tweets as relating to the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook.
• The Chicago Manual of Style Online, Citation Quick Guide, notes and bibliography and author-date: social media content (CMOS 14.106) and web page.