These days, it seems like we post everything: what we ate for breakfast, our triumphs, funny moments, our workouts, our complaints, our frustrations – even anger. According to an article by FastCompany.com, posts displaying anger or outrage are shared more than posts expressing joy or sadness. And that’s where the trouble lies. Especially, if you’re in the middle of a personal injury case. One post could swing your case one way or the other. So, ask yourself, “Is the risk worth it?” We don’t think it is.
1) Nothing ever dies in social media.
It doesn’t matter if you deleted the post or your account, nothing ever dies on the Internet. A good rule of thumb is to post things you wouldn’t mind a potential employer or business client to read. Translation: stop posting pics of that time you did a keg stand back in college. Posts like that can damage your credibility. Another tip: if you’re involved in an accident and need to speak with a personal injury attorney, like us, put yourself on a social media hiatus until your case has reached a final verdict or settlement. Also, talk to your friends, make sure they don’t post things about you without your consent.
2) Insurance companies use social media to find out about you and your injury.
Insurance companies have a job to do – to make sure you’re not lying when you say you’re injured. To find proof, they’ll do everything from background checks and hiring a private investigator to reviewing all your posts on social media and any posts in which you’re tagged. By posting things about your case, you risk giving the insurance company fodder for denying your claim.
3) Attorney-client privileged communications aren’t always so private.
We all text, email and many of us use apps like Facebook Messenger to quickly talk to our friends and business acquaintances. The thing to remember is that those conversations aren’t as private as you think. In fact, you may be inadvertently waiving your right to keep those conversations private just by using those types of communication platforms. When talking with your attorney, use the phone, correspond with letters or ask your attorney to send email messages through an encrypted site.
4) Social media can spoil the evidence in your case.
When an incident happens, a knee-jerk reaction is to jump onto social media to vent. You may be tempted to share all the details online, but don’t. After all, you could be accidentally creating damaging evidence, which could hurt you at the time of settlement or trial. And trust us, that’s the last thing you want to do, especially when your case may involve hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
Moral of this post: Share at your own risk. And when in doubt, ask your attorney.
