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Chicago Citation Style: Blogs and Social Media

Blogs and Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc.)

  • Refer to Chicago Manual Section 14.205 for detailed definitions of website, social media, and blog 

    Because social media is subject to editing and deletion, retaining of copy of anything cited is recommended.

  • Blogs
    • Blog posts are cited like online newspaper articles (refer to 14.191.-200)
    • Include author of the post, title of blog post in quotation marks, title of blog in italics, date and URL
    • Blogs that are part of a larger publication (e.g. a blog of the New York Times) should also include the name of the publication (in italics after the title of the blog)

  • Social Media 

    • The Chicago manual (14.209)  states that citations of social media content can often be limited to the text or notes, and that a related full bibliographical entry is not required. However, some instructors require that all cited sources are listed in a bibliography, (regardless of type of resource). If in doubt, confirm with your instructor first before leaving information out of a bibliography. 
    • If a social media post holds significant importance in your paper or is referred to frequently, it is recommended to include it in your bibliography 

    • Include author, text of post (up to 160 spaces), social media service, date (including month, day and year), Time stamps are usually unnecessary but may be included to differentiate a post or comment from others on the same day ( for example Twitter), URL

Example - Blogs 
Chicago Manual Bibliography Footnote

14.191-200

 

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Entry." Title of Blog (blog), Month Day, Year of Entry. URL. 

 

Taplin, Kim. "Wisdom of the Trees." Vancouver Island Big Trees (blog), May 8, 2015.  https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2015/05/wisdom-of-trees.html.                                                                                                 

 

1. Author First Name Last Name, "Title of Entry," Title of Blog (blog), Month Day, Year of Entry, URL.

 

1. Kim Taplin, “Wisdom of the Trees,” Vancouver Island Big Trees (blog), May 8, 2015, https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2015/05/wisdom-of-trees.html.

        2. Taplin, "Wisdom."

 

 
Example - Twitter
Chicago Manual Bibliography Footnote

14.209 

 

Author Last Name, First Name (Handle/Username if available). "Title of Posting." Social Media Type, Month Day, Year, Time of Posting. URL.

 

O’Brien, Conan (@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.                                                                                           

1. Author First Name Last Name (Handle/Username if available), "Title of Posting," Social Media Type, Month Day, Year, Time of Posting, URL.

 

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.

        2. O'Brien, "Earth Day."

 

 
Example - Facebook
Chicago Manual Bibliography Footnote

14.209

 

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Posting." Social Media Type, Month Day, Year of Posting. URL.

 

Reynolds, Ryan. "Last night Canada honoured me with a Governor General’s Award and this video. I’m not crying. It’s just maple syrup." Facebook, November 27, 2021. https://fb.watch/fzq8Wdzwlj/. 

                                                                                 

1. Author First Name Last Name, "Title of Posting," Social Media Type, Month Day, Year, URL.

 

1. Ryan Reynolds, "Last night Canada honoured me with a Governor General’s Award and this video. I’m not crying. It’s just maple syrup," Facebook, November 27, 2021, https://fb.watch/fzq8Wdzwlj/.

      10. Reynolds, "Last night."

 
Example - Image from Flickr and Instagram 
Chicago Manual Bibliography Footnote

14.235  & 8.198

 

Creator's Last Name, First Name (Handle if available). "Title of Image." Image Sharing Site and Medium, Date of Creation. URL.           

Silva, Nuno Alexandre. "Freddie Mercury tribute." Flickr photo, September 20, 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/feijaomestre/8006332356/.

Horgan, John (@johnhorgan4bc). "For the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, they're known as Le Estcwicwéy̓, or The Missing." Instagram photo, May 27, 2022. https://www.instagram.com/p/CeEM3EGroys/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.           

Creator's First Name Last Name, "Title of Image," Image Sharing Site and Medium, Date of Creation, URL.

 

12. Nuno Alexandre Silva, "Freddie Mercury tribute," Flickr photo, September 20, 2012, https://www.flickr.com/photos/feijaomestre/8006332356/.

        15. Silva, "Freddie Mercury."

         17. John Horgan (@johnhorgan4bc), "For the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, they're known as Le Estcwicwéy̓, or The Missing," Instagram photo, May 27, 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CeEM3EGroys/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.

         22. Horgan, "For the Tk’emlúps."