Social media post


You may need to consult more than one section of Re:cite to accurately represent the source used. Your citation may look different depending on the number of authors it has. Check the About Chicago A page for further advice.

Footnote template

Footnote number. Author of post (username when available), "Text of post," Location/description of post, Month Day, Year, URL, (pertinent note).

Footnote example

First entry:

5. University of Melbourne Library (@unilibrary), “ # Onthisday in 1975 90% of Icelandic women went on strike, refusing to work in protest of gender inequality. This became known as 'Women's Day Off',” X (Formerly Twitter), October 23, 2018, https://twitter.com/unilibrary/status/1054855102111064065.

Second and subsequent entries:

33. University of Melbourne Library, "#Onthisday."

Bibliography

Bibliography template

Citations of social media posts can generally be omitted from the bibliography, however they should be included if they form a critical part of your research, or if they are frequently cited. Check with your lecturer if you are unsure.

Author of Post (handle where available). "Text of Post." Location/description of Post. Month Day, Year. URL.

Bibliography example

University of Melbourne Library (@unilibrary). “ # Onthisday in 1975 90% of Icelandic women went on strike, refusing to work in protest of gender inequality. This became known as 'Women's Day Off'.” X (Formerly Twitter). October 23, 2018. https://twitter.com/unilibrary/status/1054855102111064065.

Tips for this reference type

  • See Manual 14.106.
  • These examples are for publicly available content. Private and direct messages should be treated as a form of personal communication (see Manual 14.111 ).
  • The text of the post should include up to 160 characters, including spaces.
  • The location or description of the post could include the social media service and a description if relevant (i.e. Instagram photo).
  • If a website refers to themselves by their domain name (which is case sensitive), shorten and capitalise it in a logical way (e.g., www.google.com becomes Google).
  • Time stamps are not usually necessary, but can be included to differentiate posts from the same day.
  • A URL for a specific item can often be found via the date stamp.
  • Comments on posts should be cited in relation to the respective post (see examples at Manual 14.209).
  • Because social media content is subject to editing and deletion, authors are advised to retain a copy of anything they cite (see 13.17). If a deleted post must be cited, that fact should be added in parentheses at the end of the citation. (See 14.104).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)