This section shows examples of social media citations using the Modern Language Association or MLA (9th ed).style. The MLA Style Center website has citation examples.
Blog Post
Format: Author's Last Name, First Name or Username if real name not provided. "Title of Blog Post." Name of Blog, Blog Network/Publisher if given, Day Month Year of blog post, URL of blog post. Accessed Day Month Year blog was visited.
Example: Naish, Darren. "If Bigfoot Were Real." Tetrapod Zoology, Scientific American Blogs, 27 June 2016, blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/if-bigfoot-were-real/. Accessed 28 June 2016.
In-text citation example: Author's last name. (Naish). Note: Blog posts have no page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings so this information is left out of the in-text citation.
Format: Author Last Name, First Name or Account Name. Description of Post. Facebook, Day Month Year of Post, Time of Post, URL. Accessed Day Month Year post was viewed.
Example: Rick Mercer Report. Spread the Net Challenge Winners 2016. Facebook, 23 Mar. 2016, 9:00 a.m., www.facebook.com/rickmercerreport. Accessed 26 June 2016. Note: As Facebook posts can be lengthy, describe the post instead of reposting its content. To find the time of a Facebook post, hover your mouse next to the date of the post over the clock icon. It may not be possible to link directly to the specific post itself.
In-text citation example: (Author's Last Name or Account Name). (Rick Mercer Report)
Note: If there are two authors, cite the authors as follows (list authors in the order they are given on the page, not alphabetically):
Last Name, First Name of First Author, and First Name Last Name of Second Author.
Example: Smith, James, and Sarah Johnston.
Note: If there are three or more authors, cite only the name of the first author listed with their Last Name, First Name Middle Name followed by a comma et al.
Example: Smith, James, et al.
This citation format applies to images posted on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc
Format: Screen Name [@handle]. Description of image. Name of Social Media Site, Day Month Year of Tweet, Time of post, URL.
Example: Kasper Nymann [@polarpx]. Photograph of Silkie chicken in grass. Twitter, 5 May 2020, 11:10 a.m., https://twitter.com/polarpx/status/1257734510730412034?s=21.
In-text example: (Screen Name). (Kasper Nymann)
LinkedIn Learning Format: Authors. "Video title." LinkedIn, date of release, URL
Example: Thomas, Nina. “Designing your Creator Brand with Canva.” LinkedIn, 2023, https://www.linkedin.com/learning/designing-your-creator-brand-with-canva/what-is-canva?autoSkip=true&resume=false&u=42272537
LinkedIn Post Format: Last name, first name or group name. "Text of post." LInkedIn, Day Month Year of Post, URL.
Note: You can shorten long text by listing only the first few words followed by an ellipsis (...).
Example: Statistics Canada. "Using data from the Canadian #Housing Statistics Program, our latest article shows that first-time home buyers in #BritishColumbia had higher incomes than repeat buyers..." LinkedIn, 22 Sept. 2021, www.linkedin.com/posts/statcan_housing-britishcolumbia-novascotia-activity-6846187529159380992-kbKh.
LinkedIn Profile Format: Last Name, First Name or Group Name. "Profile Title" LinkedIn, Year, URL.
Example: O'Brien, Conan. "Conan O'Brien." LinkedIn, 2021, www.linkedin.com/in/conanobrien.
In-text citation: (Last Name or Group Name)
Example: (O'Brien)
Tweets
Format: Screen Name [@handle]. "The entire tweet word-for-word." X/Twitter, Day Month Year of Tweet, Time of Tweet, URL.
Example: Sohaib Athar [@ReallyVirtual]. "Helicopter hovering above Abbottad at 1AM is a rare event." X/Twitter, 4 Jan. 2013, 3:58 p.m., twitter.com/reallyvirtual/status/64780730286358528?lang=en.
In-text citation example: (Screen Name). (Sohaib Athar)
Streaming video from a website (YouTube, Vimeo etc)
Format: Last Name, First Name of video creator or Username of Creator. "Title of Video." Title of the Hosting Website, uploaded by Username, Day Month Year of Publication, URL of video. Accessed Day Month Year video was viewed.
Example: Sethi, Ramit. "How to Write a Winning Resume, With Ramit Sethi." YouTube, uploaded by I Will Teach You to Be Rich, 23 June 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0fjkKCsM1w. Accessed 28 June 2016.
Note: If the video creator is unknown, begin the citation with the title of the video.
In-text citation example:
If video creator is known:
(Last Name of Video Creator Start Time of Revelant Section-End Time of Section)
(Sethi 00:03:30-00:04:16)
If video creator is unknown:
("Words from Title" Start Time of Revelant Section-End Time of Section)
("Secrets of Drawing" 02:40-03:25)
Note: Cite the relevant hour, minute and seconds as displayed in your media player.
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