Social media plays a huge role in our lives today, be it sharing your vacation photos on Instagram, chatting with friends on Facebook, or posting updates on Twitter. As an active social media user myself for my business, I understand how important it is. These platforms allow us to stay in touch and share moments of our day-to-day experiences and reach people don’t normally reach. While these platforms are great for staying in touch, they also have unintended consequences when it comes to personal injury cases.
As an injury attorney in Florida, I always advise my clients on the significant difference social media can have regarding their case outcome. The majority of insurance companies, attorneys for the defense, and private investigators use social media as a timely and affordable method to determine if there are any positive or negative facts pertaining to your case. The material you post on the internet while your lawsuit is pending may provide proof to corroborate or diminish your claim.
In this article, we’ll be discussing how social media can affect personal injury claims, ways in which you can protect yourself, and the usage of this digital landscape so that you will not give your case away by posting something on these websites.
How Social Media Becomes Evidence in Personal Injury Claims
Social media is a double-edged sword in personal injury cases. While it may be used to collect evidence that helps your claim, on the other hand, it can provide the evidence used against you. Your digital footprint-a photo, video, or even a simple status update-can be used by the defense or an insurance company.
If you, for instance, claim to be in constant discomfort from the back after some accident, and then you put up your photos doing a hike on a mountain path or doing an extreme workout, it may question the extent of your injury. Even innocent postings, such as putting up your vacation photos or having fun with friends, can also be used against you by a defense attorney who will try to claim that you aren’t injured as you declare.
The defense often utilizes various means to collect evidence from your social media accounts and has become accustomed to combing through your pages in search of any evidence that might contradict your injuries. This is sad, but even posts from several months prior to your injury can be used to impeach your credibility.
Privacy Settings: Do They Protect You?
The first thing most people do when they realize that social media may pose a potential problem in their case is to adjust their privacy settings. The thing is, while this is a step in the right direction, one ought to understand that even the privacy settings are not entirely foolproof.
Many social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, have options to make posts private. Defense attorneys can only access public posts, but it is also possible in the legal discovery process to subpoena private posts. Remember, just because something is “private” doesn’t mean it’s necessarily “safe.” Anything you post, even in a small group, can be forwarded by someone else.
While adjusting your privacy settings is helpful, the safest strategy is to avoid posting anything related to the accident, your injuries, or anything that could be seen as contradicting your claims. Simply put: do not post anything that you would not want an insurance adjuster or opposing attorney to see.
The Dangers of Over-sharing Online
Social media encourages us to share personal moments, but in the context of a personal injury claim, oversharing can be damaging. Many individuals feel comfortable sharing updates about their lives, including their health, daily activities, and emotional well-being. However, oversharing can complicate your personal injury case.
For example, if you are involved in a car accident and then later claim to have suffered from emotional injury, including anxiety or depression, and then post pictures of you smiling and enjoying a weekend excursion with friends, then that could serve as evidence that your emotional injury claim is dubious. In fact, the defendant may even try to say that you are lying about your injuries or exaggerating the pain and suffering.
Something that you may post as an update, which seems harmless at the time of posting, will later present itself as being completely against your case. Anything, even a post showing you going to a social gathering, will turn and twist to attempt to challenge the veracity of your injury or emotional state. Remember, anything posted on social media can be used to contradict your testimony or create an alternative view of recovery.
The Impact of Social Media on Claims for Emotional Distress
Emotional damages can be as serious as physical ones in a personal injury case. Emotional distress claims may include anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder arising from an accident. However, if you put up postings indicating that you’re not suffering these emotional difficulties-such as pictures of good times or regular social activities-defense attorneys might show these posts as evidence to weaken your emotional distress claim.
For example, if you claim to have depression due to an accident, but you post a great deal of happy or upbeat posts on your social media sites, the defense may point out that, based on your online persona, there is a lack of merit in your emotional distress claim. In a case of emotional distress, how you present yourself on social media could directly affect how your claim is perceived in court.
It’s important to remember that the perception of your appearance online can become distorted from that which you placed it in. Even posts with innocent-seeming small updates could damage the validity of your claim to emotional distress if they tend to indicate that you are not as troubled about the incident as you profess.
How Social Media Impacts a Jury’s View
While jurors are only to base their verdicts on evidence from the courtroom, it would be impossible not to have social media influence some juries. Scholars indicate that the trend of jurors independently researching information on social media related to a case is increasing. In doing so, if a juror searches for the plaintiff’s social media pages, the views and perceptions that develop regarding the person will no doubt alter the case perception.
A juror who stumbles upon posts that show you engaging in activities that are inconsistent with your claims might question the validity of your injuries. This is especially damaging if jurors view you as deceitful or faking your pain. Because the online world is often one of the first places jurors turn for information, it’s important to recognize that your social media presence could impact how they perceive your case before they ever set foot in the courtroom.
How to Protect Your Personal Injury Case on Social Media
To protect your case from the possible negative impacts of social media, do the following:
- Cease Posting Anything About Your Injuries: The best way to avoid social media complications is simply not to post anything on social media. Avoid posting photos, videos, or status updates that might be used against you. However, if social media is that important to you, at the very least cease to post anything regarding your case, injuries, or any activity that could be used to argue against your claim.
- Make Accounts Private: If you haven’t done so, make your social media accounts private. This will limit who can see what you post. Of course, such settings are not failsafe, so it’s better not to post anything case-related at all.
- Consult Your Attorney: You will want to run most things through your personal injury attorney before posting on social media. Your attorney can advise you as to what is safe to post and what to avoid while your case is in litigation.
- Pay Attention to What Others Post About You: Monitor what friends and family post about you. Just because you do not share something does not mean no one else will post pictures or updates of you that could hurt your case. The insurance companies and a good defense lawyer will comb the social media accounts of your close friends and relatives. Creepy, I know!
Conclusion: Protecting Your Claim in the Digital World
Social media is a powerful tool; however, it can be remarkably damaging when a person is dealing with a personal injury case. If you do not want to damage your claim, you have to be very cautious on social media. Make sure that everything you post will match up with what you testify to in court, and also pay attention to what others are posting about you. By taking these precautions and consulting an experienced personal injury lawyer, you can help protect your case and ensure that social media does not get in the way of receiving the compensation you deserve.
If you are currently involved in an accident, remember this: a little caution online goes a long way to protect your rights and the success of your claim.
And if you need help, call Jaime “Mr. 786 Abogado” Suarez today to Get You Paid!