Your posts on social media could be used against you if you’re involved in a personal injury lawsuit.
Social media is part of our everyday lives. Many people get their news primarily from Facebook and Twitter, and others can’t start (or end!) there days without checking in with their favorite social media app. But if you’re involved in a personal injury lawsuit, your posts could come back to haunt you.
That’s because nothing that you post online is ever truly private; far too many cases have been built or destroyed based on evidence from a person’s internet activities. This is true for plaintiffs in personal injury cases as well — which is why most seasoned personal injury attorneys warn their clients against using social media while their case is pending.
How Your Pictures and Posts Can Be Used Against You
For most people, social media offers a chance to present your best self to the world. You only post nice pictures and tell good stories, keeping the hard parts of your life private. It’s natural and normal to paint a rosy picture of your life. But in a personal injury case, only showing the good parts of your life can tank your case.
That’s because defense attorneys may utilize these posts against you to claim that you couldn’t have been that hurt because you were out and about doing something (never mind that you needed to take medicine to do it, or that you spent the next day or two in bed to recover from a short outing). Or perhaps they will claim that pictures of you smiling and laughing must mean that you aren’t truly experiencing pain and suffering. Pictures only tell part of the story — this might have been the first time you smiled in months, or maybe you forced the smile for the camera — but it can be hard to convince a judge or jury that you were seriously injured in an accident. Beyond pictures, posts about being happy or doing something fun could be used against you by a defense lawyer. We know that most people don’t want to post about how depressed they are, how much pain they’re in, or how awful things have been since their accident — but a lack of these posts could be twisted by the insurance companies and their attorneys to minimize your claim.
Of course, your personal injury attorney can and will argue against these claims. He or she will make sure that the judge or jury understands that a picture or a post doesn’t mean much compared to what you have suffered — but it may be an uphill battle once that evidence has been introduced. The end result is that your recovery could be significantly reduced because of an offhand post on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, or elsewhere. Even with the most stringent privacy settings, what you say online is never really secret — which is why most personal injury attorneys advise their clients to be very cautious when using social media while their case is still ongoing.
If you’ve been hurt in any type of accident, contact a personal injury attorney immediately. He or she will help you protect your ability to recover for your injuries — including through limiting your use of social media. Being smart and avoiding social media can help your lawyer make the best possible case for compensation.
At the Law Offices of Larry H. Parker, our attorneys are highly skilled at crafting personal injury claims to maximize recovery. We have decades of experience, and we’ll fight for you. Contact our office today at 800-333-0000 or info@larryhparker.com today to schedule a free consultation. We never charge a fee unless we get money for you!
