Posting Online and Your Personal Injury Case

There’s no denying that we now live in a society overtaken by social media. But while social media can do many wonderful things, such as bringing together family members and friends, or those with common interests, it isn’t without its own potential downsides. Although social media can be used to share the happiest of times, it is also commonly used to share big news – even if it’s bad. Therefore it’s not surprising that many people share details on social media when they have been involved in an accident. Unfortunately, this can come back to hurt their case.

When you post something online, it remains there forever – even if you remove it. Therefore, when you post something, you can’t “take it back.” Plus, what you put on your social media can often be taken out of context and used against you.

A Photo or Post Can Be Used Against You

For instance, imagine that Jan is in a car accident and files a claim, complaining of a new back injury and depression. Not thinking about it, Jan goes rock climbing and posts it on social media. If the other side sees Jan’s post they can use it as evidence that Jan lied about her back injury – or at least it’s severity.

Now let’s imagine that Jan truly suffered a horrible back injury and subsequent depression due to a car accident and files the same claim for damages. Due to her inability to do what she once could, Jan becomes depressed and starts to isolate herself. Her friends are concerned and eventually convince her to come to a friend’s birthday party, which is hosted at a rock climbing gym. Despite sitting all afternoon while others climb, she stands for one picture with friends, smiling in front of the rock-climbing wall. The picture is then posted online (whether by Jan or her friend). In this scenario, even though Jan wasn’t engaging in any activities in conflict with her claimed injury, the photo can be misinterpreted and used against her. The at-fault driver’s insurance company will likely use the picture to support a claim that she isn’t injured as she says.

Even if Jan is simply “tagged” on Facebook at the rock-climbing gym by a friend, it can send the wrong message and be used to bring down Jan’s claim.

Stay Silent

All of this is to say that the best thing that you can do when in the middle of a personal injury claim is to remain off of social media – or at least to avoid posting. It’s also imperative that you tell your friends not to post anything with or about you. Even privacy settings, which could once be used as a line of protection from others seeing your information, aren’t always affective. In some cases judges have gone so far as to ask people to disclose their posts or other information from their social media accounts.

So what else can you do to protect yourself – and your personal injury case?

Change Your Privacy Settings

While they certainly aren’t foolproof, you should still make sure that your privacy settings are set to private. You should also implement any available tools that allow you to have to review and confirm anything that you are tagged in before it can be posted on your timeline.

Only Connect with Those You Know

Another way to help restrict information from your social media is to ensure that you personally know all of the individuals who you allow to connect with you on social media (e.g. friends, followers, etc.). If you allow people you don’t know to have access to your account, there’s no telling if they are involved with your case.

Do Not Delete Any Posts

Believe it or not, the things that you post online can be considered evidence, so when you go back and delete them, in certain cases it can actually be considered tampering with evidence. Therefore it’s most important that you don’t post anything harmful in the first place.

Do Not Post About Your Case

Aside from staying silent on social media while your case is ongoing, the next best thing that you can be sure to do is to refrain from posting anything about your case. Again, whatever you say can always be taken out of context and misinterpreted to your disadvantage.

Robert BatesRobert is a Kingsport trial lawyer who handles car, truck and motorcycle wreck cases across the Tri-Cities. Every client gets his cell number.