Avoid these 3 social media mistakes to protect your position in your case
Social media has become incredibly influential in today’s world. In addition to influencing purchasing decisions, political opinions, personal relationships, and more, social media can also have a big impact on the outcome of personal injury cases. This makes it very important for injured individuals to be careful about the information they choose to share on social media.
Top 3 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
Hiding Your Injuries and Suffering: In order to win a personal injury case, you must prove that your life was negatively impacted by someone else’s actions. If you keep up a happy front on your social media accounts, the defendant’s attorneys may try to use this as evidence that you are faking or exaggerating your injuries and/or suffering. For example, if you suffered a back injury in a slip and fall accident, you wouldn’t want to post a picture of yourself smiling on a local hiking trail. Maybe you were only able to hike the trail with the aid of a cane and some serious pain medication, but the photo wouldn’t show that and could easily be used to create doubt regarding the severity of your injury and the extent of your pain and suffering.
Talking About your Injuries: If hiding your injuries is unwise, you might assume discussing your injuries and symptoms in detail would be a smart move. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case. In order to establish the nature and extent of your injuries and suffering, your attorney will probably involve many different experts including doctors, medical personnel, insurance adjusters, and more. Anything you post on social media about your injuries, symptoms, diagnosis, or prognosis for recovery must match up exactly with these experts’ statements. Otherwise, any inconsistencies can be exploited by the defense to weaken your position in your case.
Bashing the At-Fault Party: It’s understandable to be angry at the person or company who caused your injuries. However, you shouldn’t take your anger public on social media. If you do, you risk being characterized as someone who has a vendetta against the defendant. This kind of bitterness can be used to plant seeds of doubt regarding the truthfulness of your claims. In other words, the defense might argue that you aren’t actually seriously injured, but instead simply out for revenge against a party you perceive to have wronged you.
As you can see, there are many risks to posting on social media during a personal injury case. Rather than obsessing over all the possible implications of every post you make, it would be safer and easier to simply take a break from social media altogether until your case has been resolved.
Get Expert Advice at The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker
At The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker, we have over 40 years of experience helping injured victims just like you secure the compensation they deserve. As your personal injury attorney, we can guide you through the issues raised by social media use and more. We will do everything in our power to make sure you are in the strongest possible position to win your case and secure maximum compensation. To learn more, call us at 800-333-0000 for a free initial consultation.
