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

A public social post is citable, but APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18 do not share one template. APA 7 §10.15 puts the first 20 words in italics on a reference-list line. MLA 9 follows the core-elements template and writes X, not Twitter, as the container. Chicago 18 §14.106 usually cites the post in a sentence or a note and quotes up to 280 characters. This is the cross-style comparison. For one style in depth, use the APA, MLA, or Chicago social-media guide.

By 24 min read

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How to Cite Social Media: Quick Answer

Name the account a reader can recover, identify the post, date that post, name the platform, and give a permalink when one exists. Then apply the style the syllabus named. APA wants a reference-list entry for every recoverable post. MLA wants a works-cited line keyed to the first element. Chicago prefers running text; a note is optional; a bibliography line is rare. Private DMs, friends-only posts, and vanished Stories are personal communications in all three styles.

The same social post, three official systems
DecisionAPA 7 §10.15MLA 9 §§5.1–5.16Chicago 18 §14.106
Where the citation livesParenthetical year plus a References lineProse or parentheses plus a Works Cited lineUsually the sentence; note if needed; list line rarely
What stands in for a titleFirst 20 words, italic; no ellipsisPost text in quotation marks, or a descriptionUp to the first 280 characters, including spaces and emoji
HandleReal name, then [@handle] on X, Instagram, TikTokAdd [@handle] only when it is not obviously the same nameName then (@handle) in the note or sentence
Date on a dated postYear, month, and dayDay Month Year, or the page copyright year if the day is hiddenMonth Day, Year; time of day is optional
Platform name in 2026X and [Post] unless the instructor still wants Twitter / [Tweet]X as the container for every post on that siteTwitter is allowed for pre-2023 posts; you may add (now X)
Unrecoverable DM or StoryIn-text personal communication onlyDo not force a works-cited URL the reader cannot openNote or text only; CMOS 14.111

Cross-style templates (slots, not citations)

APA 7 reference:

Author, A. A. [@username]. (Year, Month Day). First 20 words of the post [Image attached] [Post]. X. https://xxxxx

APA 7 parenthetical:

(Author, Year)

MLA 9 works cited:

Author [@handle]. “Text of the post.” X, Day Mon. Year, permalink.

MLA 9 in-text:

(Author)

Chicago note:

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

Chicago running text:

Author's post made the claim (@handle, Month Day, Year).

Unrecoverable DM (any style):

(A. A. Author, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

Official wording from each current style authority

APA Publication Manual §10.15, as restated by Camosun from pp. 348–350

Cite only original content from social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and so forth. If you used social media to discover content (e.g., you found a link to a blog post on Pinterest or Twitter) and you want to cite the content, cite it directly.

MLA Style Center, “Citing Material Posted on Social Media Platforms” (16 June 2021)

To cite material posted on a social media platform, follow the MLA format template. List the author of the post, usually the account name, followed by the title of the material or a description in place of a title in the Title of Source element. Then list the title of the social media site in the Title of Container element. Next list the publisher, unless the name of the site’s publisher is essentially the same as the website title. Then provide the date of publication of the post—if given—or the copyright date of the page. Finally, list the URL in the Location element. As always, key your in-text reference to the first element of the entry. The in-text reference may appear in prose or parentheses.

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide, Notes and Bibliography (opened 18 September 2026)

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.

APA vs MLA vs Chicago Social Media Citations

This page answers one question: which social-media rule set applies, and how do the three current editions disagree. It is not a clone of the APA, MLA, or Chicago platform catalogs. Those pages walk one style through X, Instagram, TikTok, Stories, and comments. This page is the decision sheet: where the citation lives, how much of the caption you copy, and what to do when the three authorities still disagree about Twitter versus X. The previous version invented a 2024 Biden tweet, a Neil deGrasse Tyson tweet, a National Geographic Instagram, a NASA Instagram, a WHO Facebook post, a Dr. Science TikTok, a Bill Gates LinkedIn post, and a Reddit ELI5 thread, all with placeholder status IDs. Those fabricated strings stay gone. Every full example below is an official APA, MLA, or Chicago sample, a university reprint of the current handbook, or a clearly labelled slot template.

Pick the Style Before You Format the Post

The field custom is a tie-breaker, not a license to mix punctuation. Psychology, education, nursing, and most social-science courses want APA 7. Literature, languages, and many first-year composition courses want MLA 9. History, art history, and most book-heavy humanities courses want Chicago notes. A journal's author instructions beat any of those defaults. If the sheet says Chicago author-date, do not import APA's italic 20-word title or MLA's X container italics into the reference list. Chicago author-date looks like APA and is not APA: the year has no comma after the name, the caption stays in quotation marks, and there is no [Post] bracket.

Stay on this page when

  • You still do not know which style the paper uses
  • You need the recoverability test in all three systems
  • You are choosing among X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Reddit and want the official sample for each style
  • You need to see why APA cuts a caption at 20 words and MLA does not

Leave this page when

  • The syllabus already named APA, MLA, or Chicago — open that style's social-media guide
  • The item is a YouTube video, a podcast episode, or a news article you found because someone shared it
  • You are citing a book, article, or report that merely circulated on social media
  • You need every platform-by-platform failure mode in one style

Cite the Post, Not the Share

All three styles treat a retweet, a share, or a pin as a finding aid unless the sharer added words you are actually using. APA §10.15 says to cite original social content and to cite a blog post or article directly when social media is only how you found it. MLA cites the original work's title, date, and DOI or URL. Chicago's Quick Guide cites comments in reference to the original post, not as free-floating sources. Quote-posts and quote-tweets that add analysis are a second source if that added text is your evidence.

What you opened versus what you cite
What you openedCite thisDo not cite this
A public X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Reddit postThat post, in the assigned styleThe profile header, the like count, or a reshare with no new words
A news story, paper, or report someone sharedThe story, paper, or reportThe share, pin, or quote-tweet that pointed you there
A comment under a postThe comment, tied to the original postThe original post alone, if the comment is your evidence
A DM, friends-only post, or unsaved StoryA personal communication, or a public archive if one existsA fake permalink the reader cannot open
A YouTube video that also lives as a short on TikTokThe copy you actually watched, with that platform's patternBoth platforms as if they were one source

Official APA 7 Examples

APA 7 treats a recoverable post as a standalone work. Invert the name, add the handle in square brackets on X, Instagram, and TikTok, write the year-month-day, italicize the first 20 words, describe attached media, name the post type, then give the platform and permalink. In the text, cite the year only — (Gates, 2019) or (Obama, 2024), not (@BillGates, 2019). The printed 2020 manual still labels some examples [Tweet] and Twitter. The current APA Style X references page uses [Post] and X. The Common Reference Examples handout last updated 3 March 2026 prints the same pair on Barack Obama's 17 May 2024 Brown v. Board post. Match the pair your instructor showed you.

Royal Roads WriteAnswers on the X rename (22 October 2025)

After Twitter's name changed to X in 2023, the term "post" replaced "tweet." As in the example, references to posts that predate the change should use the new terms, since that's what readers will see when they follow the link to the source.

Official APA Style and Common Reference Examples social-media samples

X post, Common Reference Examples (3 March 2026):

Obama, B. [@BarackObama]. (2024, May 17). Today marks 70 years since the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing [Post]. X. https://x.com/BarackObama/status/1791540592238874953

Parenthetical citation:

(Obama, 2024)

X post, individual author (APA Style X references):

Gates, B. [@BillGates]. (2019, September 7). Today, it’s difficult for researchers to diagnose #Alzheimers patients early enough to intervene. A reliable, easy and accurate diagnostic would [Thumbnail with link attached] [Post]. X. https://x.com/BillGates/status/1170305718425137152

Parenthetical citation:

(Gates, 2019)

Facebook post (APA Style Facebook references):

News From Science. (2019, June 21). Are you a fan of astronomy? Enjoy reading about what scientists have discovered in our solar system—and beyond? This [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNOW/photos/a.117532185107/10156268057260108/?type=3&theater

Instagram photograph (APA Style Instagram references):

Philadelphia Museum of Art [@philamuseum]. (2019, December 3). “It’s always wonderful to walk in and see my work in a collection where it’s loved, and where people are” [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5oDnnNhOt4/

TikTok video (APA Style / APA Style blog):

Cook, P. [@chemteacherphil]. (2021, September 17). Fighting fire with fire. #sciencetok #learnontiktok [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@chemteacherphil/video/7008953610872605957

Reddit comment (APA Style online forum references):

Gates, B. [thisisbillgates]. (2017, February 27). Philanthropy is small as a part of the overall economy so it can’t do things like fund health care or [Comment on the online forum post I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ask me anything.]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5whpqs/im_bill_gates_cochair_of_the_bill_melinda_gates/dea82mk/

A profile is not a post. APA uses n.d., an italic tab title such as Posts, a bracketed description, and a retrieval date. LinkedIn and Tumblr follow the Facebook pattern; there is no separate LinkedIn chapter. Do not invent a legal name for an anonymous account, and do not write u/ as an APA author prefix. Threads and Bluesky are not in the 2020 book. If the syllabus wants APA 7 for those platforms, reuse the X pattern — real name, [@handle], first 20 italic words, [Post], the live site name, permalink — or copy a university restatement that publishes a real post. Royal Roads WriteAnswers (22 October 2025) prints its own 25 July 2025 Bluesky line. That is a labelled university example, not an APA Style Center sample.

Bluesky — Royal Roads WriteAnswers restatement (not an APA Style Center sample)

Reference:

Royal Roads University. [@royalroads.ca]. (2025, July 25). Royal Roads is a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment. We join thousands of institutions and individuals [Post]. Bluesky. https://bsky.app/profile/royalroads.ca/post/3lusztqfqbc2r

Parenthetical citation:

(Royal Roads University, 2025)

Official MLA 9 Examples

MLA does not cap a caption at 20 italic words. The post text is the title of source, in quotation marks, or you write a short description if the post is only an image. The MLA Style Center social media overview (16 June 2021) is the public template. The 20 March 2024 X note is the current container rule: write X for every post on that site, including 2018 examples your instructor still calls tweets. Copy the URL as the site gives it. When MLA published the note, that host was still twitter.com.

MLA Style Center on the X rebrand (20 March 2024)

Because posts published formerly on Twitter now exist on X, we recommend using X as the title of container for any posts published on the platform, past and present.
With the name change came other changes as well: what used to be called tweets are now called posts. To be up-to-date, avoid referring to “tweets” and the corresponding verb form (“so-and-so tweeted”) in your prose.

Works Cited, post published after the rebrand:

O’Connor, Kim. “Kelly Link on ‘nighttime logic.’” X, 13 Feb. 2024, twitter.com/shallowbrigade/status/1757476492647219227.

Works Cited, 2022 post now living on X:

Klein, Ezra. “My phone keeps autocorrecting ‘I’ to ‘AI’ which is a little on-the-nose.” X, 22 Apr. 2022, twitter.com/ezraklein/status/1517591690101489665.

Official Style Center platform samples

X / Twitter post (older page still prints Twitter):

Chaucer Doth Tweet [@LeVostreGC]. “A daye wythout anachronism ys lyke Emily Dickinson wythout her lightsaber.” Twitter, 7 Apr. 2018, twitter.com/LeVostreGC/status/982829987286827009.

Handle omitted because it matches the name and a URL is present:

Keys, Alicia. “Videos.” TikTok, 2020, www.tiktok.com/@aliciakeys?lang=en.

No URL, so the handle stays (mobile / §5.16):

Nguyen, Viet Thanh [@viet_t_nguyen]. “I could put on my headphones at the Chinese restaurant or I could listen to @barrymanilow sing ‘Mandy.’ I choose Mandy.” Twitter, 19 Feb. 2019.

Facebook photo:

World Wildlife Fund. “Happy Earth Day from all of us at WWF!” Facebook, 22 Apr. 2019, www.facebook.com/worldwildlifefund/photos/a.58993914793/10156574728914794.

Instagram video, handle kept because it does not resemble the account name:

Hamilton Videos [@hamilton.vods]. Video of King George in Hamilton. Instagram, 5 July 2020, www.instagram.com/p/CCPEUJLDz0l/.

Snapchat photo with no unique URL:

Obama, Michelle. Photo with students in Vietnam. Snapchat, www.snapchat.com/add/michelleobama. Accessed 14 July 2020.

In a paper you submit now, change Twitter to X in your own entries and keep the rest of the official line. Older Style Center pages still print Twitter; leave those strings when you are quoting the page. MLA Handbook §5.16 is the handle test: keep a dissimilar handle, drop a similar one when the URL is present, and retain the handle if you omit the URL.

Official Chicago 18 Quick Guide Examples

Chicago does not want a bibliography of tweets. The public Notes and Bibliography and Author-Date Quick Guides, both pointing to CMOS 14.106 and opened on 18 September 2026, start with a sentence. Add a note when the permalink, the time of day, or a later shortened note will help. The current Quick Guide samples are a 19 December 2023 @potus Instagram, the 11 July 2022 NASA Webb deep-field post, the Chicago Manual of Style's 17 April 2015 Facebook line on singular they, Michele Truty's comment on that post, and a Sam Gomez Facebook DM under 14.111. The subscribed handbook paragraph, reprinted by Douglas College, still teaches Roxane Gay's 17 June 2018 X post with a 3:59 p.m. timestamp and the gloss X (formerly known as Twitter).

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide, Notes and Bibliography

Running text (official sample):

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).

First note, X / Twitter:

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.

First note, Facebook:

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.

Shortened note:

3. NASA Webb Telescope, “👀 Sneak a peek.”

Comment note:

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

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.

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide, Author-Date

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.

Reference list:

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.

In-text:

(NASA Webb Telescope 2022)

Comment in text:

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

Personal communications, including social DMs (Notes and Bibliography):

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.

Personal communications (Author-Date, opened 18 September 2026):

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.

Facebook DM note (14.111):

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

Facebook DM, Author-Date in text:

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

CMOS 18, 14.106 handbook 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.

Author-Date in-text:

(Gay 2018)

Keep the eyes emoji in the NASA Webb line. CMOS 18 counts emoji inside the 280-character window. The Quick Guide still says Twitter (now X) for that 2022 post; the 14.106 Gay reprint says X (formerly known as Twitter). CMOS 18 does not force you to rename every pre-rebrand tweet as an X post. Pick one approach and stay consistent. Author-date Chicago is (Gay 2018), not APA's (Gay, 2018). For notes-versus-author-date workflow, including the Pete Souza 14.106 Instagram series, use the Chicago social-media guide.

The Same Decision, Three Different Punctuation Systems

Students lose points by importing one style's social-media extras into another. APA's 20-word italic title is not an MLA rule and not a Chicago rule. MLA's quotation marks around the full caption are not an APA title. Chicago's 280-character quotation is a note convention, not a reference-list title. The table below is the mix-up checklist.

Failure modes that are style-specific
If you do thisAPA resultMLA resultChicago result
Paste the whole thread as the titleWrong: stop at word 20, no ellipsisUsually fine; shorten with a spaced ellipsis if the caption is longWrong if you exceed 280 characters in the note
Write Twitter and [Tweet] in 2026Acceptable only if the instructor is grading the 2020 manualWrong for a paper after the 20 March 2024 note; the container is XAllowed for pre-2023 posts; optional (now X)
Cite @handle in the parenthesesWrong when a real name is the author element: (Gates, 2019)Wrong when the works-cited line starts with a personal name: (Klein)The handle belongs beside the name, not instead of it
Put a DM in the end listWrong: personal communication, text onlyWrong unless a public archive existsWrong: 14.111, note or text only
Cite the reshare instead of the originalWrong unless you are using the quote-post's added wordsWrong unless the reshare is the work you discussWrong; comments attach to the original post
Drop the permalink because the app hid itThe reference is incomplete if a URL existsKeep the handle; MLA allows no-URL mobile entriesA sentence may be enough; add the URL if a reader must recover the post
Write (Gay, 2018) for a Chicago paperThat comma is APAMLA does not put the year in the parentheses unless you need it to tell two works apartWrong: Chicago author-date is (Gay 2018)

X Versus Twitter, and Why the Three Styles Disagree

The platform formerly called Twitter is X. That fact does not produce one house style. MLA's 2024 note is the strictest public rule: the container is X for past and present posts, and your prose should say post, not tweet. APA's current Style Center examples and the 3 March 2026 Common Reference Examples handout use X and [Post]; the 2020 book still prints Twitter and [Tweet]; Royal Roads restates the Style Center update and tells you to use the new terms even on a 2019 permalink. Chicago's Quick Guide still prints Twitter (now X) on the 2022 NASA Webb note, while the 14.106 Gay reprint uses X (formerly known as Twitter). Copy the URL exactly. A twitter.com host with a site name X is not an error if that is what the platform displayed.

Profiles, Highlights, Stories, and Deleted Posts

A dated post, a changing profile, a 24-hour Story, and a deleted post are four different objects. APA gives the profile n.d. and a retrieval date. MLA uses the tab name (Posts, Videos, Photos) and the page's copyright year, or an access date when the mobile view hides the year. Chicago rarely lists a profile at all; mention the account in the sentence. An unsaved Instagram Story is a personal communication in APA if the reader cannot open it; MLA's Style Center still lets you cite the story URL with a description and the day it appeared, while warning that the story disappears after twenty-four hours. If a post you cited is later deleted, prefer a public archive such as the Wayback Machine. If no archive exists, say so and treat the item as unrecoverable.

Deleted or unrecoverable content — labelled templates, not invented posts

APA, reader cannot open the URL:

(A. A. Author, personal communication, March 4, 2026)

MLA, no public copy:

Name the account and the date in your prose. Do not invent a works-cited permalink.

Chicago note when you must record the deletion:

Author Name (@handle), “Quoted text,” Platform, Month Day, Year (post deleted).

Comments, Threads, and Who Owns the Evidence

A comment is not the original post. APA's official Reddit sample is Bill Gates's 27 February 2017 AMA reply: the author is Gates, the title is the first 20 words of the comment, and the bracket names the original thread. Chicago's official comment is Michele Truty's 17 April 2015 reply, cited in reference to the Chicago Manual of Style Facebook post and omitted from the bibliography. MLA keys the in-text citation to whoever comes first in the works-cited line for that comment. If you are using the original post, cite the original post. If you are using the reply, cite the reply and keep the parent post visible so a reader can recover the thread.

Privacy, Screenshots, and Ethics

A citation is not a license to expose a private person. Public-figure accounts, organizational accounts, and posts the author placed on a public feed are the usual academic cases. Friends-only posts, locked accounts, and DMs fail the recoverability test and raise a consent problem. Citing a public post in a reference list does not require permission. Reproducing the post as a figure, a screenshot plate, or a long quotation may. Keep a local copy of anything you cite, because social posts are edited and deleted; the copy is evidence for you, not a substitute for a permalink the reader can open.

  • Is the account public, and can a reader who is not your friend open the URL?
  • Is the poster a public figure, an organization, or a private person who did not write for citation?
  • Are you citing the post because it is evidence, or because it is gossip that happens to be online?
  • If you reproduce the post as an image, do you also need copyright permission or a fair-use analysis?
  • Would naming a minor, a patient, or a research participant in a citation cause harm the assignment does not require?

YouTube, LinkedIn, and Other Neighbors

YouTube is not a social-media citation in APA when the object is the video: that is audiovisual media, with a video title and [Video]. TikTok uses the caption as a 20-word title. A YouTube Community post can follow the social pattern; the uploaded video cannot. LinkedIn is Facebook-shaped in APA and a core-elements source in MLA — the Style Center's official LinkedIn sample is a 2020 Modern Language Association post that uses the page copyright year because LinkedIn hid the calendar day. Chicago treats a public LinkedIn post like any other social statement: sentence first, note if needed. Reddit is an online forum in APA (§10.15 / the online forum references page) and a container titled Reddit in MLA.

Format the permalink, then check the style tests

Paste the post URL into the social-media generator, then confirm the assigned style's extras: APA's 20 italic words and brackets, MLA's handle test and X container, or Chicago's sentence-or-note choice. Open the matching single-style guide before you submit.

Social media citation generatorAPA social-media guideMLA social-media guideChicago social-media guide

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite a tweet in APA, MLA, and Chicago?
APA: real name, [@handle], year-month-day, first 20 italic words, [Post], X, permalink, and (Author, Year) in the text. The 3 March 2026 Common Reference Examples line is Obama (2024). MLA: account name, optional dissimilar handle, the post text in quotation marks, italic X, day-month-year, permalink. Chicago: quote the line in your sentence with the handle and date; add a note with up to 280 characters and the URL only if a reader needs it.
Do I write Twitter or X?
MLA: X, for every post on that site, past or present (Style Center, 20 March 2024). APA: X and [Post] on the current Style Center page and the 3 March 2026 handout; Twitter and [Tweet] in the 2020 book; Royal Roads (22 October 2025) says to use the new terms even on older permalinks. Chicago: Twitter is still acceptable for older posts; the Quick Guide writes Twitter (now X) on the 2022 NASA Webb note, and the 14.106 Gay reprint writes X (formerly known as Twitter). Copy the URL as displayed.
How much of the post goes in the citation?
APA: the first 20 words, and a hashtag, URL, or emoji counts as one word. MLA: the post text, shortened with an ellipsis only if you need to; a description if there is no text. Chicago: up to the first 280 characters, including spaces and emoji. Do not import APA's 20-word cap into MLA or Chicago.
Should I cite a retweet or the original post?
Cite the original post unless you are using words the reshare added. APA §10.15 says to cite original social content and to cite an article directly when social media is only how you found it. Chicago cites comments in reference to the original post.
How do I cite a deleted tweet or an Instagram Story?
If the reader cannot open it, APA and Chicago treat it as a personal communication (text or note only). MLA's Style Center still shows a Story URL with a description and the day it appeared, and warns that unsaved Stories vanish after twenty-four hours. Prefer a public archive when one exists.
Do I need permission to cite a public social media post?
A reference-list or works-cited line for a public post does not require permission. Reproducing the post as a screenshot, figure, or long quotation may. Private accounts and DMs fail recoverability and raise a consent problem; do not put them in an end list.
Is a YouTube video cited like a TikTok?
Not in APA. TikTok is social media with a 20-word caption title. YouTube is audiovisual media with the video title. MLA can put either platform in the container slot, but the video still has a title that is not a caption. Use the YouTube guides for the video and this page for platform-native posts.
Where does a LinkedIn post go?
APA: Facebook pattern — account name, specific date, first 20 words, a bracketed post type, LinkedIn, permalink. MLA: core elements; if LinkedIn hides the day, use the page copyright year, as in the official Modern Language Association 2020 sample. Chicago: sentence or note, same 14.106 logic as Facebook.
Do I put social media in the bibliography in Chicago?
Almost never. The Quick Guide says a bibliography or reference-list line is rare. The official exception in the samples is the Chicago Manual of Style's own 17 April 2015 Facebook post. Comments stay attached to that post and do not get their own list line. Author-date Chicago also prefers a sentence; a reference-list line is the exception, not the default.
How do I cite a Bluesky or Threads post?
None of the three current manuals prints a Threads sample. For APA, reuse the X pattern and name the live platform; Royal Roads WriteAnswers (22 October 2025) publishes a real 25 July 2025 Bluesky line for Royal Roads University. For MLA, put Bluesky or Threads in the container slot and follow the handle test. For Chicago, mention the post in the sentence or add a 14.106 note. Do not invent a Style Center example that does not exist.