Citation Help: Web Pages and Social Media
MLA Citation Examples: Web Pages & Social Media
The 9th edition of the MLA Handbook recommends using the following core elements in every citation. If elements are missing from the source, they should be omitted from the citation.
Important Elements
- Author.
- Title of source.
- Title of container,
- Other contributors,
- Version,
- Number,
- Publisher,
- Publication date
- Location.
For online sources:
- Include the URL (without http:// or https://). Angle brackets are not used around it.
- Use DOIs (digital object identifiers) when possible.
- Citing the date when an online work was consulted is optional.
- Placeholders for unknown information like n.d. (“no date”) are no longer used.
Website with author
Author Last, First. Title of Website. Website Owner, Year, Stable URL.
Kraizer, Sherryll. Safe Child. Coalition for Children, 2008, www.safechild.org.
Web page with no author
"Title of Web page." Title of Website, Date day Mon. year, Stable URL.
"Several Injured in Wrong-Way Crash on FDR: NYPD." NBCNewYork.com, 13 Nov. 2014, www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-FDR-Drive-East-Side-Highway-Wrong-Way-Crash-Traffic-Jam-282538721.html.
Blog Post
Author Last, First. (username if applicable). "Title of Post." Title of Blog, Date day Mon. year, Stable URL.
Whitehead, Tiffany. (librariantiff). "Interacting with Non-Fiction Text." Mighty Little Librarian, 27 Oct. 2015, http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/?p=1328.
YouTube Video
Creator. "Title of Video." YouTube, Date, Stable URL.
Iowa Women's Basketball. "University of Iowa Campus All-Access Tour." YouTube, 21 Aug. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJ3u6SGb7M.
Facebook Post
Post Author. "Title of Post." Facebook, Date day Mon. year, stable URL.
TIME. "Angela Merkel is TIME's 2015 Person of the Year." Facebook, 9 Dec. 2015, www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=angela%20merkel%20is%20time%27s%202015%20person%20of%20the%20year
Some examples courtesy of Penn State University Libraries
MLA Citation Examples by Source
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