Do I put social media in a Chicago bibliography?

Usually no. CMOS 18, 14.106, and the live Quick Guide say posts and comments are mentioned in the text or cited in a note because they are brief and informal. Add a bibliography or reference-list entry only when you cite one account or thread repeatedly, or when your instructor requires a list entry for every source. The official exception printed on the Quick Guide is the Chicago Manual Facebook post.

How do you cite a tweet in Chicago 18?

Give the real name if you have it, the handle, a quotation of the post (up to 280 characters, including emojis), the platform name, the date, and the permalink. The live Quick Guide note is NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb), 11 July 2022, labelled Twitter (now X). The 14.106 handbook X sample reprinted by Douglas College is Roxane Gay (@rgay), "The bags under my eyes are quite roomy," X (formerly known as Twitter), June 17, 2018, 3:59 p.m. A 2015 tweet may still say Twitter.

Is it Twitter or X in Chicago style?

Both appear in CMOS 18. Phillips Academy restates 14.106 as Twitter (now X) for posts from before July 2023. The official 14.106 Gay sample uses X (formerly known as Twitter). The live NASA Webb note uses Twitter (now X). Pick one approach and keep it consistent. Do not rename a 2015 permalink's platform solely to look current.

How many characters of a post should I quote?

CMOS 18 allows up to 280 characters, including spaces, and tells you to keep emojis. CMOS 17 stopped at the first 160 characters; some LibGuides, including KPU, still print that older cap. If your assignment follows the 18th edition, use the 280-character cap. The live NASA Webb note truncates the tweet after the parenthetical "less than a day."

How do I cite an Instagram post in Chicago?

Use the 14.106 pattern and describe the medium. The live Quick Guide running-text sample is the 19 December 2023 @potus eulogy post; CMOS does not print a URL for that sentence. The official 14.106 handbook sample reprinted by Douglas College is Pete Souza (@petesouza), "9/11 anniversaries from the past," series of seven Instagram photos, September 11, 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CiXjR5junw6. The 2016 Obama and Xi photograph is the CMOS 17 sample. Stories that have expired should be archived or marked no longer available.

How do I cite a Facebook comment in Chicago?

Cite the comment in terms of the original post. The official live Quick Guide sample is: Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style, "singular they." The author-date form is (Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style 2015). Comments stay out of the bibliography.

Does Chicago author-date need a reference list entry for a tweet?

Not by default. Identify the post in the sentence, as the live Quick Guide does with @potus, or use a parenthetical citation such as (NASA Webb Telescope 2022). Add a reference-list entry only when the post or account is a source you keep citing. The official NASA reference moves the year after the name and uses periods: NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb). 2022. "…" Twitter (now X), July 11. URL.

How do I cite a deleted tweet or a private message?

For a deleted public post, quote what you captured and add (post deleted) or (account deleted) in parentheses. For a direct message or a private account, cite it as a personal communication with no URL. The official Quick Guide sample is: Sam Gomez, Facebook direct message to author, August 1, 2024. See the personal-communications guide.

Is Chicago 17 or 18 current for social media in 2026?

The 18th edition (September 2024) is the current Chicago Manual of Style. Use CMOS 18 unless the instructor still requires the 17th edition. The differences that matter for social media are the 280-character quotation cap, retained emojis, the X/Twitter naming options, the live NASA Webb and @potus Quick Guide samples, the 2022 Souza Instagram handbook sample, and the explicit deletion and privacy rules. Turabian 9 still follows CMOS 17; Turabian 10 is announced for 24 November 2026.

Can I use a citation generator for Chicago social media?

Yes, then check the result against CMOS 14.106 and the live Quick Guide. Generators often add a bibliography line, an access date, or APA-style [Post] labels. Delete those extras. The social media citation generator and the Chicago footnote generator are starting points; the official samples on this page are the check.

How to Cite Social Media in Chicago (CMOS 18) [2026]

Name the account, quote enough of the post to identify it (up to 280 characters, including spaces, and keep the emojis), name the platform, give the date, and add the permalink when a reader needs to recover the post. Private messages and locked accounts are personal communications, not social media citations. Start with running text. Add a footnote only when the permalink, the time of day, or a later shortened note will help. Skip the bibliography unless you keep returning to that account or thread.

CMOS 18 social media templates

Notes-Bibliography first note:

Author Name (@handle), "Quoted text or short description," Platform, Month Day, Year, URL.

Notes-Bibliography shortened note:

Last Name, "Short quoted phrase."

Notes-Bibliography bibliography (rare):

Last Name, First Name (@handle). "Quoted text or short description." Platform, Month Day, Year. URL.

Author-Date in-text:

(Last Name Year)

Author-Date reference (rare):

Last Name, First Name (@handle). Year. "Quoted text or short description." Platform, Month Day. URL.

Direct message (note only; no URL):

First Name Last Name, Facebook direct message to author, Month Day, Year.

Official CMOS 18 Quick Guide wording (opened 16 September 2026)

Notes and Bibliography sample citations

Citations of content posted to social media can usually be limited to the text (as in the first example below). A note may be added if a more formal citation is needed. In rare cases, a bibliography entry may also be appropriate. In place of a title, quote up to the first 280 characters of the post. Comments are cited in reference to the original post.

Author-Date sample citations

Citations of content posted to social media can usually be limited to the text (as in the first example below). If a more formal citation is needed, a reference list entry may be appropriate. In place of a title, quote up to the first 280 characters of the post. Comments are cited in reference to the original post.

Notes and Bibliography sample citations

Personal communications, including email and text messages and direct messages sent through social media, are usually cited in the text or in a note only; they are rarely included in a bibliography.

Author-Date sample citations

Personal communications, including email and text messages and direct messages sent through social media, are usually cited in the text only; they are rarely included in a reference list.

Those sentences are still on the official Notes and Bibliography sample citations page and the matching Author-Date samples page. Both pages point to CMOS 14.106 for social posts and 14.111 for private messages. The Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide is the public entry point. The atomic how-to-cite page formats one post; this guide is the workflow around it: text versus note, notes versus author-date, X versus Twitter, and when a comment, a Story, or a DM changes the pattern.

Official Running-Text Sample: @potus, 19 December 2023

The live Quick Guide's first social media example is a sentence, not a footnote. It describes a 19 December 2023 Instagram post from the @potus account: a photograph of the president delivering a eulogy at Washington National Cathedral after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's death. CMOS does not print a permalink for this running-text sample. Do not invent one. The funeral itself is independently documented; the citation job here is the Instagram mention, not a reconstructed URL.

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide running text (opened 16 September 2026)

The Instagram post included a photo of the president delivering a eulogy at the National Cathedral and referred to O'Connor as "gracious and principled" (@potus, December 19, 2023).

Older classroom handouts still paste Conan O'Brien's 22 April 2015 Earth Day tweet as if it were the current Quick Guide opener. That tweet is real. It is no longer the first example on the live CMOS 18 pages. If you only need a sentence that names a handle and a date, copy the @potus line above. For a standalone tweet page, see How to Cite a Tweet in Chicago.

Official CMOS 18 Note: NASA Webb Telescope

The live Notes-Bibliography Quick Guide's first formal social media note is NASA Webb Telescope's 11 July 2022 post about Webb's First Deep Field. CMOS prints Twitter (now X), keeps the 👀 emoji, and stops the quotation after the parenthetical "less than a day." The live tweet continues with "This is Webb's first image released as we begin to #UnfoldTheUniverse" and uses a spaced em dash. Copy the official sample when the syllabus wants CMOS house style. Quote the post you opened, up to 280 characters, when you are documenting the tweet itself. The NASA Science release is the better source if you only need the image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, not NASA's wording on X.

CMOS Quick Guide NASA Webb samples (opened 16 September 2026)

First note:

1. NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb), "👀 Sneak a peek at the deepest & sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken—all in a day's work for the Webb telescope. (Literally, capturing it took less than a day!)," Twitter (now X), July 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1546621080298835970.

Shortened note:

3. NASA Webb Telescope, "👀 Sneak a peek."

Author-Date in-text:

(NASA Webb Telescope 2022)

Author-Date reference:

NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb). 2022. "👀 Sneak a peek at the deepest & sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken—all in a day's work for the Webb telescope. (Literally, capturing it took less than a day!)." Twitter (now X), July 11. https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1546621080298835970.

Two reprints still get this line wrong. The University of Lethbridge CMOS 18 blogs-and-social-media page (last updated 13 August 2026) changes peek to peak and drops universe. Medieval Institute Publications keeps the closed em dash but strips the emoji. CMOS 18 tells you to retain emojis. Quote the official Quick Guide or the post you opened; do not copy a truncated reprint and then claim the typo is NASA's.

Official CMOS 18 Facebook Sample: Singular They

The Chicago Manual of Style's own 17 April 2015 Facebook post is still the official Facebook sample. The live Quick Guide note omits the @ChicagoManual handle. The subscribed 14.106 handbook note, reprinted by Douglas College, includes it. CMOS printed a bibliography line for this post; that does not mean every Facebook citation needs one. Comments almost never enter the list. The official comment sample is Michele Truty's reply to the same post.

CMOS Quick Guide Facebook and comment samples (opened 16 September 2026)

First note (live Quick Guide; no handle):

2. Chicago Manual of Style, "Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993," Facebook, April 17, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

Bibliography (rare; official sample):

Chicago Manual of Style. "Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993." Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

Comment note (Quick Guide shortened-note slot):

4. Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style, "singular they."

Author-Date in-text:

(Chicago Manual of Style 2015)

Author-Date reference (year printed twice in the official sample):

Chicago Manual of Style. 2015. "Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993." Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

Author-Date comment:

(Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style 2015)

CMOS 18, 14.106 handbook Facebook reprint (Douglas College)

First note (handle included):

19. Chicago Manual of Style (@ChicagoManual), "Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993," Facebook, April 17, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

If the assignment wants the public Quick Guide form, omit the handle. If it wants the 14.106 handbook form that library guides reprint, keep (@ChicagoManual). Do not mix the two in one paper.

Official CMOS 18 Handbook Samples: Roxane Gay and Pete Souza

The subscribed 14.106 paragraph still uses Roxane Gay's 17 June 2018 X post and Pete Souza's 11 September 2022 Instagram series. Those notes are not on the public Quick Guide. Douglas College's CMOS 18 social media page reprints both, including the "formerly known as Twitter" gloss and the 3:59 p.m. timestamp. Copy these when the syllabus points at the handbook rather than the free Quick Guide.

CMOS 18, 14.106 X sample (Douglas College reprint)

First note:

18. Roxane Gay (@rgay), "The bags under my eyes are quite roomy," X (formerly known as Twitter), June 17, 2018, 3:59 p.m., https://twitter.com/rgay/status/1008484262763483136.

Shortened note:

Gay, "bags under my eyes."

Author-Date in-text:

(Gay 2018)

Author-Date reference (only if the post belongs in the list):

Gay, Roxane (@rgay). 2018. "The bags under my eyes are quite roomy." X (formerly known as Twitter), June 17, 3:59 p.m. https://twitter.com/rgay/status/1008484262763483136.

CMOS 18, 14.106 Instagram sample (Douglas College reprint)

First note:

20. Pete Souza (@petesouza), "9/11 anniversaries from the past," series of seven Instagram photos, September 11, 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CiXjR5junw6.

Shortened note:

Souza, "9/11 anniversaries."

Author-Date in-text:

(Souza 2022)

Author-Date reference (only if needed):

Souza, Pete (@petesouza). 2022. "9/11 anniversaries from the past." Series of seven Instagram photos, September 11. https://www.instagram.com/p/CiXjR5junw6.

CMOS 18 replaced the 17th-edition Instagram sample. Classroom handouts and older LibGuides still paste the CMOS 17 line: Pete Souza (@petesouza), "President Obama bids farewell to President Xi of China at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit," Instagram photo, April 1, 2016. That post is real. It is no longer the 18th-edition teaching sample. If the assignment follows CMOS 18, copy the 2022 series instead. Use a description (series of seven Instagram photos, Instagram photo, Instagram video) when the object is visual or the caption is a poor identifier. Quote the caption when it names the image.

Chicago 18th Edition, Not 17th

University of Chicago Press published the 18th edition in September 2024. Social media now lives at CMOS 14.106. Older handouts still cite 17th-edition paragraph 14.209, quote only the first 160 characters, and call every post Twitter. The logic is the same. The details students get marked on are not. Phillips Academy's CMOS 18 what's-new page (updated March 2026) restates two 14.106 changes: quote up to the first 280 characters, including spaces and emojis, and format a pre-July 2023 X post as Twitter (now X).

What changed for social media between Chicago 17 and Chicago 18
Rule	CMOS 17 (2017)	CMOS 18 (2024)
Section	14.209	14.106
How much post text to quote	Up to the first 160 characters	Up to 280 characters, including spaces
Emojis	Often dropped in older examples	Retain them
Twitter / X	Twitter	Twitter for pre-rebrand posts; Twitter (now X) or X (formerly known as Twitter)
Live Quick Guide running text	Conan O'Brien, 22 April 2015	@potus Instagram, 19 December 2023
Live Quick Guide first note	Conan O'Brien tweet	NASA Webb Telescope, 11 July 2022
Instagram teaching sample	Souza, Obama and Xi, 1 April 2016	Souza, 9/11 series, 11 September 2022
Default location	Text or note; bibliography rare	Same: text or note; bibliography still rare
Deleted post	Seldom specified	Note the deletion in parentheses
Private content	Treat as unpublished	Cite as a personal communication (14.111)

Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 9th edition (2018), is still the live student companion and follows CMOS 17 in several details. Turabian 10 has been announced, with retail listings opened on 13 September 2026 giving 24 November 2026 as the publication date. Until an instructor names the tenth edition, treat "Turabian" as the ninth-edition, CMOS 17-aligned pattern: confirm whether that sheet wants the 160-character cap or the CMOS 18 280-character cap. When the sheet just says "Chicago," use CMOS 18.

What This Guide Covers (and What It Does Not)

This is a Chicago source-type guide for posts, comments, Stories, and other platform-native updates. It is not a field survey, not a website guide, and not a video guide.

Use this page for X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn, and YouTube Community posts in CMOS 18.
Use How to Cite Websites in Chicago for ordinary webpages and blogs (CMOS 14.104–14.105).
Use How to Cite Multimedia in Chicago for a YouTube video, podcast, or film.
Use How to Cite Personal Communications for DMs, emails, and locked accounts.
Use Citing Social Media: Complete Guide only when you need APA, MLA, and Chicago on one page.
Use How to Cite Social Media in APA or MLA when the syllabus names those styles.

CMOS does not publish a separate template for every app. One pattern covers X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and the rest. Build the citation from these elements, then stop. Do not invent a title, a publisher city, or an access date the post does not need.

Required and optional elements in CMOS 14.106
Element	What to record	Notes
Author	Real name if known, then the handle in parentheses	If only a screen name exists, use that as the author. The live Quick Guide Facebook note omits the handle; the 14.106 handbook reprint includes it.
Text	Quoted post text, up to 280 characters	Keep emojis; shorten a long caption with an ellipsis
Description	"Instagram photo," "TikTok video," "series of seven Instagram photos"	Use a description when the post is visual or the caption is a poor identifier
Platform	X, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn	Name the service, not "social media"
Date	Month Day, Year	Add the time of day when the chronology matters
URL	Permalink to the post	Not the profile page. Do not invent a URL for a running-text mention.
Deletion note	"(post deleted)" or "(account deleted)"	CMOS 18 adds this in parentheses at the end

Chicago does not require an access date on a dated public post. Save access dates for undated pages in the website guide. Do not paste a tracking suffix onto the permalink.

When to Use Notes-Bibliography vs Author-Date

The social media format does not choose the Chicago system. The course does. History and most humanities seminars want notes. Journalism and communication, film and media studies, sociology, and political science often want author-date. If the assignment sheet names a system, that instruction wins. Do not switch a social media sentence into a footnote just because the source is a tweet.

Notes-bibliography

Running text, as in the live @potus Instagram sample
Or a numbered first note with the permalink, as in NASA Webb
A shortened note on later mentions
Bibliography only for a thread or account you keep citing

Author-date

Running text with handle and date
Or a parenthetical citation: (NASA Webb Telescope 2022)
A comment cites the original post: (comment on Chicago Manual of Style 2015)
Reference list only when the post functions like a recurring source

Which Chicago system usually carries social media citations
Context	System	Typical social media move
History, art history, religion	Notes-bibliography	Quote in a footnote; skip the bibliography
Literature and languages	Notes-bibliography	Running text or a note
Communication and media studies	Author-date	Handle and date in the sentence
Sociology, political science	Author-date	Parenthetical citation; list only a heavily used account
Student paper under Turabian	Whichever the instructor named	Confirm CMOS 17 vs CMOS 18 details

Chicago author-date is not APA. APA 7 puts a comma after the author, uses sentence case, and labels the item "[Post]" on "X." Chicago keeps the quotation as the post wrote it, drops the bracketed genre tag, and uses (Gay 2018) rather than (Gay, 2018). If you need the APA form, leave this page and open How to Cite Social Media in APA. For a tabular system contrast, see APA vs Chicago.

Worked Pair: One Post, Both Chicago Systems

Use this side-by-side when you are unsure whether your paper is notes or author-date. The source is the official live Quick Guide Facebook sample.

Notes-bibliography

Note

2. Chicago Manual of Style, "Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993," Facebook, April 17, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

Bibliography

Usually omitted. If required: Chicago Manual of Style. "Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993." Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

Author-date

In-text

(Chicago Manual of Style 2015) or running text that names the page and the date

Reference list

Usually omitted. If required, keep the official doubled year: Chicago Manual of Style. 2015. "Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993." Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

Leftover Conan O'Brien Sample

Conan O'Brien posted the Earth Day line on 22 April 2015. The handle and the date in parentheses already identify the post. Kwantlen Polytechnic's social media page still treats it as a current 14.106 teaching sample and still tells students to quote only 160 characters. That 160-character cap is CMOS 17. Keep the tweet if you already cited it; do not present it as the live Quick Guide opener.

Still-real 2015 tweet, no longer the Quick Guide opener

Older running-text form:

Conan O'Brien's tweet was characteristically deadpan: "In honor of Earth Day, I'm recycling my tweets" (@ConanOBrien, April 22, 2015).

First note (when a permalink is needed):

1. Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien), "In honor of Earth Day, I'm recycling my tweets," Twitter, April 22, 2015, 11:10 a.m., https://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/590940792967016448.

Same 2015 post with the CMOS 18 gloss:

2. Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien), "In honor of Earth Day, I'm recycling my tweets," Twitter (now X), April 22, 2015, 11:10 a.m., https://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/590940792967016448.

Shortened note:

3. O'Brien, "In honor of Earth Day."

CMOS 18 does not force you to rename a 2015 tweet as an X post. Content posted before the July 2023 rebrand may still say Twitter. Phillips Academy restates the handbook option as Twitter (now X). The 14.106 Gay sample uses X (formerly known as Twitter). Pick one approach and keep it consistent.

Comments, Replies, and Threads

CMOS cites a comment in terms of the original post. The official Facebook sample is Michele Truty, above. For an X reply, name the commenter, give the date, and point back to the original account. You do not need a separate note for every reply you paraphrase. If the whole thread is the source, one note plus a parenthetical "thread" is enough. Do not invent a reply citation you cannot open.

Comment cited in terms of the original post

Official Quick Guide comment note:

4. Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style, "singular they."

X reply template (not an official sample):

Display Name (@handle), "Quoted reply," reply to Original Account, Month Day, Year, URL.

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn, and YouTube Community

CMOS 18 does not print a separate TikTok or Reddit template. Apply 14.106: author or handle, quoted text or description, platform, date, permalink. Do not borrow APA's "[Post]" bracket or MLA's italicized platform name. Those markers belong to APA social media and MLA social media. The two notes below are CMOS 18 reprints from the University of Lethbridge library guide, not extra official manual samples. They are real posts; they are not on the live Quick Guide.

University of Lethbridge CMOS 18 reprints of real posts

Facebook note:

13. Justin Trudeau, "Busy first day in Vietnam. We're focused on a variety of important issues like increasing trade and promoting human rights," Facebook, November 8, 2017, https://www.facebook.com/JustinPJTrudeau/posts/10156155270170649.

Instagram photo note:

14. World Health Organization (@who), "Stop using antibiotics in healthy animals to prevent the spread of #AntibioticResistance," Instagram photo, November 7, 2017, https://www.instagram.com/p/BbMwkRngtip/.

Same CMOS 18 pattern, other platforms

TikTok video (note):

Creator Name (@handle), "Caption or description of the video," TikTok video, Month Day, Year, URL.

Reddit post (note):

u/username, "Title of the post," Reddit, r/subreddit, Month Day, Year, URL.

LinkedIn post (note):

Author Name, "Text of the post," LinkedIn, Month Day, Year, URL.

YouTube Community post (note):

Account Name (@handle), "Text of the community post," YouTube Community, Month Day, Year, URL.

A YouTube video is not a Community post. Cite the video with the audiovisual pattern in How to Cite Multimedia in Chicago. A Community post is a 14.106 social media item: no running time, no "YouTube video" descriptor unless you are citing the video itself. Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours unless the account adds them to a highlight. If you cite a Story, archive it and say so, or mark it no longer available. Do not send readers to a third-party Story-downloader.

Deleted Posts, Archives, and Private Messages

CMOS 18 assumes the post may vanish. Keep a screenshot or an archived capture that shows the account, the date, and the text. Perma.cc and the Internet Archive are the usual public options. If you must cite a deleted post, add that fact in parentheses at the end of the citation. The live Quick Guide personal-communication sample is Sam Gomez, not a labelled template.

Deleted post (note):

15. @handle, "Quoted text of the post," X, Month Day, Year (post deleted).

Archived post (note):

16. Account Name (@handle), "Quoted text," Twitter, Month Day, Year, archived at Internet Archive, URL.

Official Quick Guide DM note:

1. Sam Gomez, Facebook direct message to author, August 1, 2024.

Official Author-Date DM:

(Sam Gomez, Facebook direct message to author, August 1, 2024)

The Gomez line is a personal communication: no permalink, no bibliography entry, and no fishing in a private inbox without permission. Details are in How to Cite Personal Communications. Do not cite a private Facebook group, a locked Instagram account, or a protected X account as if it were a public post.

A public post can be a primary source for contemporary history, political communication, or platform culture. It is a weak source for a medical claim, a legal holding, or a statistic that a government report already published. CMOS 14.106's warning to prefer a published source is a research rule, not only a citation rule. The NASA Webb tweet is a timestamped announcement; the NASA Science page is the citable scientific description of SMACS 0723.

Strong uses: a public official's own wording, the timestamped reaction to an event, a museum or archive's announcement, a photographer's caption for an image you discuss.
Weak uses: an anonymous thread as proof of a scientific finding, a screenshot with no account, a quote you cannot relocate.
Better sources for the same fact: a press release, a news article, a journal paper, or a government document. Cite those with the ordinary Chicago patterns instead of the tweet that repeated them.

Verify the account. Official institutional handles and verified public figures are easier to defend than a look-alike account created last week. Record the permalink the day you cite it. If the post later disappears, your note already has the deletion or archive clause.

Ethics, Privacy, and Ordinary Users

Public is not the same as fair game. CMOS tells you how to document a public post. It does not tell you that every public post should be documented. For a private person who is not a public figure, many researchers paraphrase without naming the handle, or they skip the post and cite a published report of the same event.

Cite public posts from public officials, newsrooms, museums, and other institutions by name.
Do not cite closed groups, private Stories, or DMs without consent.
Do not deanonymize a user who posted under a handle that does not include a legal name.
Follow your IRB or ethics board when social media is research data rather than a single quotation.

Errors that make a CMOS 18 social citation look like a different style
Mistake	Why it fails	Fix
Putting every tweet in the bibliography	CMOS 14.106 says the list is unusual	Cite in the text or a note
Quoting only the first 160 characters as a hard cap	That is CMOS 17; KPU still prints it	Quote up to 280 characters in CMOS 18
Treating Conan O'Brien as the live Quick Guide opener	The live pages now open with @potus Instagram	Copy the 19 December 2023 running-text sample
Treating the 2016 Souza Obama/Xi note as the CMOS 18 sample	CMOS 18 uses the 2022 9/11 series	Copy the current Instagram sample
Changing NASA's peek to peak and calling the typo original	The 11 July 2022 tweet and the live Quick Guide say peek	Quote the post or the official note you opened
Stripping emojis	CMOS 18 tells you to retain them	Keep 👀 and hashtags that identify the post
Renaming every 2014 tweet as X	CMOS allows Twitter for pre-rebrand posts	Say Twitter, or Twitter (now X)
Writing (Gay, 2018) or adding [Post]	That is APA 7	Use (Gay 2018) and skip the bracket
Italicizing the platform like X	That is MLA 9	Chicago names the platform in roman type
Inventing a URL for the @potus running-text sample	CMOS printed a sentence, not a permalink	Keep the mention in the text
Linking the profile instead of the post	Readers cannot recover the text	Use the status or /p/ permalink
Citing a DM with a URL	Private content is a personal communication	Copy the Gomez form; drop the URL

Official Sources and Further Reading

When a generator, a blog, or this page disagrees with the manual, the manual wins. These are the primary sources opened for this rewrite.

Notes and Bibliography sample citations — live 280-character rule, @potus running text, NASA Webb note, Facebook note, Truty comment, and Gomez DM (opened 16 September 2026).
Author-Date sample citations — the matching author-date paragraph, NASA and Chicago Manual references, and the Gomez parenthesis.
Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide — public entry point for both Chicago systems.
CMOS 18, 14.106 — social media posts and comments (campus or personal subscription; login wall on this runner).
CMOS 18, 14.105 — blogs and comments, the neighboring rule.
CMOS 18, 14.111 — email, texts, and social media direct messages.
University of Chicago Press. 2024. The Chicago Manual of Style. 18th ed. See 14.106 for social media.
Kate L. Turabian. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 9th ed. Still the live student companion; Turabian 10 is announced for 24 November 2026.
Phillips Academy: What's New in the 18th Edition — 280-character rule and Twitter (now X) for pre-July 2023 posts.
Douglas College: Chicago 18 social media — 14.106 handbook reprints for Gay, Chicago Manual with handle, and Souza.
University of Lethbridge: blogs and social media — CMOS 18 notes for Trudeau, NASA Webb (check peek), WHO Instagram, and the Twitter (now X) gloss.
Medieval Institute Publications style guide — CMOS 18 house style with NASA Webb and the Souza 9/11 series; do not copy the missing emoji.
Kwantlen Polytechnic: blogs and social media — leftover 160-character cap and Conan-as-current-sample; useful as a CMOS 17 warning, not as CMOS 18 authority.
NASA Science: Webb's First Deep Field — the image behind the NASA Webb tweet.
Internet Archive and Perma.cc — public archives when you need a durable copy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I put social media in a Chicago bibliography?: Usually no. CMOS 18, 14.106, and the live Quick Guide say posts and comments are mentioned in the text or cited in a note because they are brief and informal. Add a bibliography or reference-list entry only when you cite one account or thread repeatedly, or when your instructor requires a list entry for every source. The official exception printed on the Quick Guide is the Chicago Manual Facebook post.
How do you cite a tweet in Chicago 18?: Give the real name if you have it, the handle, a quotation of the post (up to 280 characters, including emojis), the platform name, the date, and the permalink. The live Quick Guide note is NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb), 11 July 2022, labelled Twitter (now X). The 14.106 handbook X sample reprinted by Douglas College is Roxane Gay (@rgay), "The bags under my eyes are quite roomy," X (formerly known as Twitter), June 17, 2018, 3:59 p.m. A 2015 tweet may still say Twitter.
Is it Twitter or X in Chicago style?: Both appear in CMOS 18. Phillips Academy restates 14.106 as Twitter (now X) for posts from before July 2023. The official 14.106 Gay sample uses X (formerly known as Twitter). The live NASA Webb note uses Twitter (now X). Pick one approach and keep it consistent. Do not rename a 2015 permalink's platform solely to look current.
How many characters of a post should I quote?: CMOS 18 allows up to 280 characters, including spaces, and tells you to keep emojis. CMOS 17 stopped at the first 160 characters; some LibGuides, including KPU, still print that older cap. If your assignment follows the 18th edition, use the 280-character cap. The live NASA Webb note truncates the tweet after the parenthetical "less than a day."
How do I cite an Instagram post in Chicago?: Use the 14.106 pattern and describe the medium. The live Quick Guide running-text sample is the 19 December 2023 @potus eulogy post; CMOS does not print a URL for that sentence. The official 14.106 handbook sample reprinted by Douglas College is Pete Souza (@petesouza), "9/11 anniversaries from the past," series of seven Instagram photos, September 11, 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CiXjR5junw6. The 2016 Obama and Xi photograph is the CMOS 17 sample. Stories that have expired should be archived or marked no longer available.
How do I cite a Facebook comment in Chicago?: Cite the comment in terms of the original post. The official live Quick Guide sample is: Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style, "singular they." The author-date form is (Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style 2015). Comments stay out of the bibliography.
Does Chicago author-date need a reference list entry for a tweet?: Not by default. Identify the post in the sentence, as the live Quick Guide does with @potus, or use a parenthetical citation such as (NASA Webb Telescope 2022). Add a reference-list entry only when the post or account is a source you keep citing. The official NASA reference moves the year after the name and uses periods: NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb). 2022. "…" Twitter (now X), July 11. URL.
How do I cite a deleted tweet or a private message?: For a deleted public post, quote what you captured and add (post deleted) or (account deleted) in parentheses. For a direct message or a private account, cite it as a personal communication with no URL. The official Quick Guide sample is: Sam Gomez, Facebook direct message to author, August 1, 2024. See the personal-communications guide.
Is Chicago 17 or 18 current for social media in 2026?: The 18th edition (September 2024) is the current Chicago Manual of Style. Use CMOS 18 unless the instructor still requires the 17th edition. The differences that matter for social media are the 280-character quotation cap, retained emojis, the X/Twitter naming options, the live NASA Webb and @potus Quick Guide samples, the 2022 Souza Instagram handbook sample, and the explicit deletion and privacy rules. Turabian 9 still follows CMOS 17; Turabian 10 is announced for 24 November 2026.
Can I use a citation generator for Chicago social media?: Yes, then check the result against CMOS 14.106 and the live Quick Guide. Generators often add a bibliography line, an access date, or APA-style [Post] labels. Delete those extras. The social media citation generator and the Chicago footnote generator are starting points; the official samples on this page are the check.

Generate a Chicago social media citation

Create a notes-bibliography or author-date draft, then match it to the live CMOS 18 Quick Guide samples above. Keep the quotation, the platform name, and the permalink; drop a bibliography line unless you truly need one.

Notes-bibliography generator →Author-date generator →Social media citation generator →

How to Cite Social Media in Chicago: Quick Answer

Official Running-Text Sample: @potus, 19 December 2023

Official CMOS 18 Note: NASA Webb Telescope

Official CMOS 18 Facebook Sample: Singular They

Official CMOS 18 Handbook Samples: Roxane Gay and Pete Souza

Chicago 18th Edition, Not 17th

What This Guide Covers (and What It Does Not)

Elements of a Chicago Social Media Citation

When to Use Notes-Bibliography vs Author-Date

Worked Pair: One Post, Both Chicago Systems

Leftover Conan O'Brien Sample

Comments, Replies, and Threads

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn, and YouTube Community

Deleted Posts, Archives, and Private Messages

Social Media as a Primary Source

Ethics, Privacy, and Ordinary Users

Common Chicago Social Media Mistakes

Official Sources and Further Reading

Frequently Asked Questions

Generate a Chicago social media citation

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