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MLA 9th Edition Style Guide: Social Media

This guide will assist you in formatting in-text citations and a Works Cited list in the current MLA style.

Social media

NOTE:  Twitter changed its name to X in July 2023. MLA recommends using the name X, even if the tweet was posted before the name change.  

 

X post before July 2023 name change

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.

Tweet with only a photo and no text

Ng, Celeste [@pronounced_ing]. Photo of letter from Shirley Jackson. X, 22 Jan. 2018, twitter.com/pronounced_ing/status/955528799357231104.

Tweet that is shortened – add an ellipsis (…) at he end before the quotation marks.

Smith, Clint. “Today is Frederick Douglass’ 200th birthday. . . .” X, 14 Feb. 2021, twitter.com/ClintSmithIII/status/

               963810866964639745.

Thomas, Angie. Photo of The Hate U Give cover. Instagram, 4Dec.2018, www.instagram.com/p/Bq_PaXKgqPw/.

Facebook post with posted date

World Wildlife Fund. “Happy Earth Day from all of us at WWF!” Facebook, 22 Apr. 2019,

www.facebook.com/worldwildlifefund/photos/a.58993914793/10156574728914794.

Facebook post without posted date. Add date you accessed the post

World Wildlife Fund. “Photos.” Facebook, www.facebook.com/worldwildlifefund/. Accessed 14 July 2020.

Modern Language Association. “Business leaders say college graduates are not effectively prepared with either soft or technical skills for today’s workforce. . . .” LinkedIn, 2020, www.linkedin.com/posts/modern-language-association_are-colleges-finally-going-to-start-training-activity-6683424396222193664-y29x.