Social media’s importance is emerging day by day. It is the new media which has become a primary source of information and news for most internet users as we step into the world full of electronics and technological development touching every field of existence. Now, blog posts and bloggers have a place of their own, not just in journalism, but in academia and research fields too.
Recently, the Modern Language Association came out with its own standard format for citing tweets for research purposes. Twitter has emerged as the leading micro-blogging platform in the world where minute to minute news updates are easily followed online. The tweets which consist of 140-characters each, is something through which every Twitter user can express ideas, share news and discuss and debate.
From political figures to celebrities, to journalists and scientists, everyone has their own Twitter profiles, which is followed by dedicated followers of their tweets. Since the importance has come forward of tweets made by these learned people, tweets can be cited in the following manner in an academic journal:
Last Name, First Name (User Name). “Text of the tweet.” Date, Time. Tweet.
It is expected that in future, more tweets, Facebook updates and other social media news blogs will be cited as the online media grows its strength and the internet access and online learning becomes more common. Just as documentaries and YouTube videos have also come to be cited, so will be the tweets.