Referencing style

Social media

30 September 2023

You can cite social media content in APA style. Learn how and check out our examples from Facebook and Instagram.

APPLY NOW

Facebook post

Author, A. A. or Name of Group. (Year, Month Date). Content of post up to the first 20 words [Description]. Facebook. URL

Ministry of Education. (2017, March 16). Canterbury’s brand new Lemonwood Grove School [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/EducationGovtNZ/posts/1452687051422666

New Zealand Red Cross. (2017, March 16). More than 20 million people in Nigeria [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/NewZealandRedCross/posts/1359650854078676

This format can be adapted for posts to other social media services, such as Tumblr and LinkedIn.

Facebook page

Author, A. A. or Name of Group. (n.d.). Page title [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

Christchurch City Council. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved November 25, 2021, from https://www.facebook.com/ChristchurchCityCouncil/?ref=page_internal

Use the page title in the reference, for example Timeline, Home, Photos, About.
This format can be adapted for references to other platform or profile pages, such as YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn.
See also Facebook References on the APA Style website.

Instagram photo or video

Author, A. A. or Name of Group [@username]. (Year, Month Date). Content of post up to the first 20 words [Description]. Instagram. URL

University of Canterbury Lib [@uclibrary]. (2018, November 27). UC’s architectural drawings declared a national heritage treasure! Housed at the Macmillan Brown Library, the Armson Collins Architectural Drawings Collection [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BqrJg7Agu75/

Instagram highlight or profile

Author, A. A. or Name of Group [@username]. (n.d.). Content of highlight or profile up to the first 20 words [Description]. Instagram. Retrieved, Month Date, Year, from URL

University of Canterbury Lib [@uclibrary]. (n.d.-a). Our best books [Highlight]. Instagram. Retrieved, November 25, 2021, from https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17849804728356390/

University of Canterbury Lib [@uclibrary]. (n.d.-b). Posts [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved, November 25, 2021, from https://www.instagram.com/uclibrary/

Use n.d. for the date; although each story within a highlight is dated, the highlight itself is not dated and may include stories from multiple dates.
Because a highlight or profile can change at any time, include the retrieval date.

In-text citations

(University of Canterbury Lib, 2018) and (University of Canterbury Lib, n.d.-a) and (University of Canterbury Lib, n.d.-b); if combined in one citation (University of Canterbury Lib, n.d.-a, n.d.-b, 2018).

See also Instagram References on the APA Style website.

Author, A. A. or Name of Group [@username]. (Year, Month Date). Content of post up to the first 20 words [Tweet]. Twitter. URL

Ministry of Health–Manatū Hauora [@minhealthnz]. (2021, November 23). We’re working on transforming mental health legislation. It is important to hear what New Zealanders want from mental health legislation [Video attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/minhealthnz/status/1462933036232630274

UC Library [@uoclibrary]. (2021, November 1). We’re excited to have recognition from UNESCO’s Memory of the World Aotearoa register for the papers of Canterbury poet Ursula [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/uoclibrary/status/1454899150059802628

Twitter profile

Author, A. A. or Name of Group [@username]. (n.d.). Title of Twitter profile tab [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved, Month Date, Year, from URL

UC Library [@uoclibrary]. (n.d.). Tweets & replies [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved, November 25, 2021, from https://twitter.com/uoclibrary/with_replies

Provide a retrieval date as the contents of the profile page can change over time.

In-text citations

Ministry of Health–Manatū Hauora (2021) ... OR ... (Ministry of Health–Manatū Hauora, 2021)

UC Library (n.d., 2021) ... OR ... (UC Library, n.d., 2021)

See also Twitter References on the APA Style website.

Cite only original content from social media sites.

If you used social media to discover content that you want to cite, cite it directly – there is no need to mention that you found the content through a link on social media.

Social media posts may contain text alone, text with audiovisuals (e.g., photos, videos) or audiovisuals only.

Include the text of a social media post up to the first 20 words.
Note the presence of audiovisuals in square brackets after the text of the post, for example [Image attached], [Infographic], [Thumbnail with link attached], [Video].

Social media posts may have non-standard spelling and capitalisation, hashtags, links and emojis.

Do not alter the spelling and capitalisation in the reference.
Retain hashtags and links.
Replicate emojis if possible. If unable to replicate the emoji, provide the emoji’s name in square brackets, for example [face with tears of joy emoji]. The full list of emojis can be found on the Unicode Consortium’s website.
When calculating the number of words in your reference, count a URL or other link, a hashtag or an emoji as one word each, and include them in the reference if they fall within the first 20 words. Do not italicise emojis.