MLA: Twitter Can Now Be A Citation Source
The good folks at the Modern Language Association have been known to keep up with the times. They are, after all, the MODERN Language Association. Yet this move would be geared more towards references from eyewitnesses to real-time events rather than the typical thesis-level research.
Begin the entry in the works-cited list with the author’s real name and, in parentheses, user name, if both are known and they differ. If only the user name is known, give it alone.
Next provide the entire text of the tweet in quotation marks, without changing the capitalization. Conclude the entry with the date and time of the message and the medium of publication (Tweet). For example:
Athar, Sohaib (ReallyVirtual). ‘Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).’ 1 May 2011, 3:58 p.m. Tweet.
No word yet on whether Snooki’s pregnancy tweets will be newsworthy outside of TMZ.