The New York Times on Friday released new social media guidelines for its reporters, requiring them to avoid any actions that would lead to perceptions of bias or otherwise damage the paper's reputation.

The new guidelines apply to all social media platforms, public and private, and include stipulations about political objectivity, sharing stories in a one-sided manner, joining partisan groups, and more. The memo states that it only adds further detail to the policy that reporters do not damage the paper's credibility.

"If our journalists are perceived as biased or if they engage in editorializing on social media, that can undercut the credibility of the entire newsroom," the memo reads.

"We've always made clear that newsroom employees should avoid posting anything on social media that damages our reputation for neutrality and fairness," it adds. "This memo offers more detailed guidelines."

The memo puts a primary focus on taking political sides, which the Times says it seeks to prevent in order to maintain a sense of objectivity.

"Our journalists should be especially mindful of appearing to take sides on issues that the Times is seeking to cover objectively," the memo reads.

The new document could be a helpful response to members of the Times newsroom who have taken liberties with guidelines that were previously more general.

Jonathan Weisman, the Times‘ deputy Washington editor, asked his followers on Thursday if Secretary of Energy Rick Perry was proposing "socialism" with a proposal regarding coal transport.

So Energy Secretary Rick Perry wants to pay uneconomic coal mines to keep their coal on site. This is a: conservatism or b: socialism? — Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) October 12, 2017

Weisman also took to Twitter on Thursday to say President Donald Trump’s efforts to renegotiate NAFTA amount to an attempt to "blow up" the trade deal. He has also tweeted negatively about critics of former President Barack Obama.

Watching the Chamber of Commerce panic & Sherrod Brown cheer as Trump moves to blow up NAFTA is highly interesting. https://t.co/wRYoyKpi37 — Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) October 12, 2017

I'm enjoying Obama going from the guy who was going to take your guns to the guy who gave us bump stocks. But whatever works, amirite? — Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) October 6, 2017

The Times memo also lays out ways that writers could reveal bias by only sharing one side of a given issue, and it encourages reporters to share from other websites if they help reference "a diverse collection of viewpoints."

"Consistently linking to only one side of a debate can leave the impression that you, too, are taking sides," the memo reads.

This requirement that writers maintain balance in what they share from other outlets may require reporters to adjust how many stories critical of Republicans they share.

This @politico story on leaked tape of Pence Chief of Staff @nick_ayers is amazing for its candor & its delusions. https://t.co/Se4XTCgJXs pic.twitter.com/1li0cV1Q7U — Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) October 3, 2017

In case the on-record trash-talking from the State Dept spokesman didn’t make that clear, here’s an expletive https://t.co/oFVQL8mpY4 — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 6, 2017

Scoop, @joshgerstein — Mueller adds money-laundering ace. Why oh why oh why? https://t.co/c1IYWFWdFW — Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) September 16, 2017

The memo also calls on Times reporters not to use social media for customer complaints, which may prove to be a challenge for political reporter Nicholas Confessore. Earlier this month he used Twitter to complain about service at the New York subway, tagging the MTA, and he has also complained about Apple's iOS.

Hey @MTA: there's a hundred people wandering around the W4 station wondering how to find the F.

No signs.

Station manager shrugged. — Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) October 1, 2017

Has anyone yet written a guide to getting rid of the annoying new IOS features?

Like the gigantic block of text at the top of my inbox? — Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) October 3, 2017

These guidelines may pose difficulties for how Times reporters describe their own work. Confessore currently has a tweet pinned to the top of his Twitter timeline crediting President Donald Trump with providing the Washington swamp "lucrative new business," but it links back to a piece for the New York Times Magazine critical of Trump.

Trump pledged to drain the swamp. Instead, he gave it a lucrative new business model. Inside the K Street gold rush. https://t.co/Tmz1vv79Id — Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) August 30, 2017

The memo also cautions reporters about promoting partisan events, but it is unclear whether this applies to explicitly anti-Trump events not organized by an opposing political party. Weisman spoke at one such event about how Trump poses difficulties in parenting, and he promoted it on Twitter with a retweet Monday.

Parenting in the Trump era isn't simple but @mehdirhasan, Ben Wofford, Ava Siegler & @jonathanweisman can help. 7pm:https://t.co/uTUeWA6Q5Z pic.twitter.com/SGtWQMb7Eu — Politics and Prose (@PoliticsProse) October 9, 2017

Throughout the memo, reporters are reminded of the importance of speaking to their supervisors, other newsroom leaders, or consulting company policy. One thing it recommends is deleting tweets that do not follow the guidelines and issuing a correction, which White House reporter Glenn Thrush did last month regarding a tweet about Vice President Mike Pence.

Took down my ill-timed joke about how boring it is to pool Pence events. — Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) September 11, 2017

Thrush announced he would stop using his Twitter a few weeks before the Times released its new guidelines, naming the "distraction" as his reason for dropping it.