(Credit: AP, screenshot)

The Associated Press announced Jan. 17 that it has published an “update of the social media guidelines that were last revised in November 2011.”

According to the AP’s press release on the guidelines, “the main changes” include “procedures for correcting erroneous tweets and a short section on deleting tweets.”

AP staff are advised to correct any wrong social media posts “are quickly and transparently as errors in any other AP service” even if it’s on a personal account. The AP recommended staff “tweet or post that we made a mistake and explain exactly what was wrong.”

For any “serious errors” or before deleting any tweets, AP staff are advised to “contact a Nerve Center manager to discuss the situation.”

See the new guidelines here.

We wrote in November about the last revision, which advised Associated Press staff to be careful when re-tweeting so as to avoid inserting any opinion in tweets.  MediaBistro noted that this is the “third time” since July that the AP has updated its guidelines and that the November revisions “caused quite a stir.”

Hat Tip: Poynter