English 111 - Roberts: Social Media (Spotify, YouTube, etc.)

The CRAAP Test for social media sources:

Currency: When was the post published? Is it recent, or does it match historical event timelines (if being used as primary source)?

• Most social media platforms include a publication date on the post, or in the creator's feed. 
• Within video format apps like TikTok, you may need go to the creator's account to find publication dates of their videos. 

Relevance: Does the post match your research needs?

• Check the title and/or captions on posts. Do they mention concepts that match your research topic?
• For long-form content sites, like YouTube, check for any labeled timestamps, chapters, or use the transcript option to search within the content of the video for specific words or phrases. 

Authority: Who created the post? What is their channel background, or do they provide any bibliographic information on their profile page?

• You can always run a quick Google search on a creator/channel to see what their education background is--do they have a degree, or years working in a specific industry?
• Depending on the creator's content, there may not be a direct "academic" background they will have to match the subject area of their content. In this case, look at the breadth or scale of their content. How long have they been producing information on a specific topic? Do they consistently engage in the content type/subject in their daily life. If you are a longtime-follower, have you heard them reference other dependable creators in their content, or credit established reliable institutions?

Accuracy : How accurate is the information? Is the presentation free of grammatical errors? Does the creator seem confident in their presentation? Did they include sources for their information?

• Analyze their presentation. Do they seem confident in the information they are providing, do they credit anyone, or tell their viewers about other similar content creators? Have you ever heard of them being mentioned by another well-established creator who produces content in the same field?
• Have you fact checked the information they are presenting? While it is near impossible to police opinions, if a creator does include "factual" information in their post, you can definitely do your own research on that topic. You can even take their views/opinions and see if you can find supporting documentation in our databases. 

Purpose: Why was the information created? Is the information biased in any way? Is it trying to sell you something? Note any advertisements included in your sources. 

• Similar to the newspaper industry, social media content production relies heavily on advertising and/or subscription fees to stay in business. Stay aware while you view content to make sure that a paid advertisement has not been slipped into the content without notice. 
  • If you are interested in best practices and laws related to advertising in social media, check out this page from the American Bar Association
• Due to the nature of video production, advertising may be incorporated into the content itself. But even with this being the case, ethical, reliable content creators should provide notice upfront if they are going to include paid product information in their post. There should be both audio and visual clues indicating what product they were paid to speak on. Many social media platforms now include indicator features when paid products are mentioned in a video or post. Also similar to other source types, creators may reference products or companies, but the information supplied should be unbiased and informative in nature, rather attempting to sell you anything. 

Whenever looking at resources that include interviews, it is good practice to research all parties involved--this includes the interviewer and interviewee, as well as the publisher of the interview itself. 

MLA 9th Edition:

Podcast streamed from a website or app:

Last Name, First Name, role. “Title of the Episode.” Title of Podcast, season #, episode #, Publisher (if different than author/host), Publication Date, URL or Name of app.

Barbaro, Michael and Sabrina Tavernise, hosts. "The Ad Campaign." The Daily, The New York Times, 4 Nov. 2024, Spotify app.

Online video from a sharing site like YouTube

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Video.” Name of Streaming Site, uploaded by First Name Last Name/Name of Organization, Date of Publication, URL.

If the author’s name is the same as the uploader, only cite the author once.

“2016 MLA-Prize-Winning Publications.” YouTube, uploaded by Modern Language Association of America, 18 Jan. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKROuhFF9dI.

APA 7th Edition:

Podcast streamed from a website:
(If accessed via an app, omit the URL)

Last Name, First Initial, Middle Initial. (Role). (Date of publication). Title of the episode (Episode #) [Format of podcast]. Publisher. In Title of Podcast. Publisher (if different than author/host). URL

Glass, I. (Host). (2011, August 12). Amusement park (No. 443) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American life. WBEZ Chicago. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/443/amusement-park

Online Video from a sharing site like YouTube

Last Name, First Initial/Corporate Name. Title of video [Format]. Name of Streaming Site. URL

Green, H. (2016, January 29). Why the world “millennial” makes me cringe [Video]. YouTube. https://youtube.com/watch?v=bSGqz_SE1uM