Too much social media can have a negative impact on your mental health. It can also negatively affect your Georgia personal injury case if you are not careful. Attorneys and insurance adjusters routinely check the social media accounts of opposing parties to search for any information that could help their case.
How Social Media Impacts Your Personal Injury Case
It’s not just comments you make about your accident that can impact your Georgia personal injury case. Seemingly innocent and unrelated posts can jeopardize the success of your case.
Let’s say for example, that after a car accident, you post a photograph of yourself enjoying a family reunion at a park. No big deal right? Unfortunately, wrong. An opposing attorney could spin that photograph to try to show that you have not suffered damages or that you aren’t hurt as bad as you claim. They may use it as evidence that you have returned to fully enjoying your life and are no longer experiencing pain from the injuries, even if you were smiling through pain at the picnic.
Prevent Your Social Media from Ruining Your Personal Injury Case
The best practice is to refrain from posting anything on social media while your case is pending. You should also check your account settings and make sure than nobody else can tag you in a post.
However, we understand that may be difficult to do if you use social media to run a small business or keep in touch with family members. If you decide that you will maintain your social media accounts, take these steps to minimize the likelihood that your social media accounts can be used against you:
- Tighten Up Privacy Settings. Check to make sure your social media accounts are all set to private so only people that you accept as your friends or followers can see your account.
- Remove Outdated or Unknown Connections. Go through the lists of who is your friend or follower on each of your social media accounts. If you do not know someone or know them well enough to trust, remove them. This can help prevent the opposing attorney from gaining access to your account through a third-party.
- Do Not Talk About Your Lawsuit. Do not talk about or allude to your lawsuit or the underlying incident on social media. For example, if you were in a car accident and are suing, you should not talk about the lawsuit or the car accident.
- Tell Your Friends and Family to Stay Silent. If you have talked to close friends and family about your Georgia personal injury lawsuit, make sure they do not post anything about it on social media or talk to anyone about it in real life. Discourage them from posting photographs of you or tagging you in photographs.
- Have Your Attorney Audit Your Accounts. If you keep your social media accounts, you should tell your attorney and ask the attorney to review your accounts and ensure they follow best practices.
- Never Delete Content that is Already Posted. If you post something that could be considered evidence and later delete it, a court could sanction you for destroying evidence.
The experienced personal injury attorneys at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter are committed to helping you obtain full compensation for your injuries. Ensuring that your social media accounts aren’t a hindrance is just one part of that. Check out this short video of other things you should not do after a car accident:
Even if your injuries are from something other than a car accident, the attorneys at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter can help you understand what you should and should not do in order to preserve your injury claim.
To discuss your injuries from any type of accident and whether you may have a legal case, contact Williams Elleby Howard & Easter today and schedule a free consultation by calling 833-LEGALGA (833-534-2542).
