CEMS APA 7th edition Referencing Style Guide: Social Media

Instagram References

Instagram Photo

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/

• Present the name of the individual or group author the same as you would for any other reference. Then provide the Instagram handle (beginning with the @ sign) in square brackets, followed by a period.
• Provide the specific date of the post.
• Provide the first 20 words of the post as the title. Count a URL, 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 italicize emojis.
• Include a description of the post (e.g., “[Photo],” “[Video]”) in square brackets after the title.
• Credit Instagram as the site name in the source element and then provide the URL of the photo.
• The format used for Instagram is also used for Twitter and TikTok.

Instagram Video

APA Public Interest Directorate [@apapubint]. (2019, June 14). Male depression is serious, but many men try to ignore it or refuse treatment. Different men have different symptoms, but [Video]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BysOqenB1v7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Instagram Profile

National Geographic [@natgeo]. (n.d.). IGTV [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/channel/

Swift, T. [@taylorswift]. (n.d.). Posts [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https://www.instagram.com/taylorswift

United States Army [@usarmy]. (n.d.). Tagged [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved January 18, 2020, from https://www.instagram.com/usarmy/tagged/

• Use the name of the profile page you want to cite in the title element of the reference (e.g., “Posts,” “IGTV,” “Tagged”).
• Include the description “[Instagram profile]” in square brackets.
• Provide a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time and is not archived.
• Provide the URL of the page.

Instagram Highlight

The New York Public Library [@nypl]. (n.d.). The raven [Highlight]. Instagram. Retrieved January 6, 2020, from https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17962199170163462/

• Include the description “[Highlight]” in square brackets.
• Provide a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time (users can add or remove stories from the highlight) and is not archived.
• Provide the URL of the highlight.

LinkedIn Post

American Psychological Association. (2019, December 9). Last month, APA joined more than 40 national and international psychology organizations to explore ways to collaborate and use psychological [Thumbnail with link attached] [Post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/american-psychological-association_how-psychologists-are-combating-climate-change-activity-6609801161937612800-GvdC

Goodwin, J. (2019, September). The best part of attending the American Psychological Association's 2019 Convention in Chicago this year was having the opportunity to [Image attached] [Post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jongoodwin3_apa2019-activity-6569581103441682432-CN98

• se the name associated with the account as the name in the reference.
• LinkedIn does not provide exact dates for posts; rather, it tells users how long ago the post was made. Use the date information provided on the post to infer as specific a date as possible for the reference.
• Provide the first 20 words of the post as the title. 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 italicize emojis.
• If a post includes images, videos, thumbnail links to outside sources, or content from another post (such as when sharing a link), indicate that in square brackets after the title.
• Describe the post type (e.g., “[Post],” “[Video]”) in square brackets after any description of attached content.
• Credit LinkedIn as the site name in the source element and then provide the URL of the post.

LinkedIn Profile

John Tyler Community College. (n.d.). Home [LinkedIn page]. LinkedIn. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https://www.linkedin.com/school/john-tyler-community-college/

• Use the page title in the reference (e.g., “Home,” “About,” “Jobs”).
• Include the notation “[LinkedIn page]” in square brackets after the title.
• Provide a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time and is not archived.
• Provide the URL of the page.

Online Forum Post

Little, J. [j450n_l]. (2018, December 12). I'm the first person in the world with a neural-enabled prosthetic hand. Using an specialized prosthetic and a device implanted [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/a5jxbe/im_the_first_person_in_the_world_with_a/

• When the real name of the author is known, provide it first, in inverted format, followed by the screen name in brackets, as in the example.
• When the real name of the author is not known, provide only the screen name without brackets.
• Provide the title of the post in the title position, up to the first 20 words.
• End with the site name (e.g., Reddit) and the URL of the post.

Blog Post

Rutledge, P. (2019, March 11). The upside of social media. The Media Psychology Blog. https://www.pamelarutledge.com/2019/03/11/the-upside-of-social-media

Online Forum Comment

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/

haffy-1223. (2018, September 12). What do you think while on the launchpad about to launch? [Comment on the online forum post I’m NASA astronaut Scott Tingle. Ask me anything about adjusting to being back on Earth after my first spaceflight!]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9fagqy/im_nasa_astronaut_scott_tingle_ask_me_anything/e5v0027/

• When the real name of the author is known, provide it first, in inverted format, followed by the screen name in brackets (as in the Gates example).
• When the real name of the author is not known, provide only the screen name without brackets (as in the haffy-1223 example).
• Provide up to the first 20 words of the comment; then write “Comment on the online forum post” and the full title of post on which the comment appeared (in italics and sentence case, enclosed within square brackets).
• End with the site name (e.g., Reddit) and the URL of the comment.
• To access the URL of the comment itself (rather than the URL of the whole post), select the date stamp of the comment and then copy and paste the resulting URL from your browser.

TikTok Video

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

Washington Post [@washingtonpost]. (2019, December 3). News is all around us #frozen #newsroom #newspaper [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost/video/6765886712896818437

• Present the name of the individual or group author the same as you would for any other reference. Then provide the TikTok handle (beginning with the @ sign) in square brackets, followed by a period.
• Provide the specific date of the post.
• Provide the first 20 words of the caption as the title. 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 italicize emojis.
• Include the description “[Video]” in square brackets after the title.
• Credit TikTok as the site name in the source element and then provide the URL of the video.
• The format used for TikTok is also used for Instagram and Twitter.

Tiktok Profile

The Rock. [@therock]. (n.d.). CEO of #RockTok [TikTok profile]. TikTok. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://tiktok.com/@therock

Witherspoon, R. [@reesewitherspoon]. (n.d.). [TikTok profile]. TikTok. Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://tiktok.com/@reesewitherspoon

• Unlike other social media profile pages, the TikTok page does not have a “Home” or other tabs. For the title in the reference, use the first 20 words of the description (in the example, the title is “CEO of #RockTok”). Include the notation “[TikTok profile]” in square brackets.
• If the profile page has no description in the bio, include only the bracketed description “[TikTok profile]” in the title element of the reference.
• Provide a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time and is not archived.
• Provide the URL of the page.

X Reference

APA Databases [@APA_Databases]. (2020, September 2). We have curated a collection of journal articles from APA PsycArticles on #COVID19. View: https://bit.ly/2QrWj76 for recent coverage [Image attached] [Post]. X. https://twitter.com/APA_Databases/status/1301175576703664128

CDC [@CDCgov]. (2020, June 11). Scientists do not know if having antibodies to the virus that causes #COVID19 can protect someone from getting infected again [Image attached] [Post]. X. https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1271180413134876672

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://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1170305718425137152

Prevention Institute [@preventioninst]. (2020, September 24). If you want to talk #health, you have to talk #racialjustice [Video attached] [Post]. X. https://twitter.com/preventioninst/status/1309211009039687680

• Present the name of the individual or group author the same as you would for any other reference. Then provide the X handle (beginning with the @ sign) in square brackets, followed by a period.
• In the case of a group identified by an abbreviation (as with the CDC example), use the group name as shown on the work, to aid in retrieval.
• Provide the specific date of the post.
• Provide the first 20 words of the post as the title, in italics. Count a URL, 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 italicize emojis.
• If the post includes an image, a video, a poll, or a thumbnail image with a link, indicate that in brackets after the title: [Image attached], [Video attached], [Thumbnail with link attached].
• Include the description “[Post]” in square brackets after the title.
• Credit X as the site name in the source element and then provide the URL of the post. Currently URLs for X posts still include the twitter.com domain name.
• The format used for X is also used for Instagram and TikTok.

X Profile

APA Style [@APA_Style]. (n.d.). Posts [X profile]. X. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://twitter.com/APA_Style

Jordan, M. B. [@michaelb4jordan]. (n.d.). Replies [X profile]. X. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https://twitter.com/michaelb4jordan/with_replies

•  profiles begin on the “Posts” tab by default. If you want to cite one of the other tabs (“Replies,” “Highlights,” “Media,” or “Likes”), use the name of that tab rather than “Posts” in the title element of the reference.
• Include the notation “[X profile]” in square brackets.
• Provide a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time and is not archived.
• Provide the URL of the page.