Do Social Media Posts Affect a Personal Injury Case?

Social media permeates every aspect of our lives. But, if you're in the middle of a personal injury case, you might want to refrain from posting and tweeting for a while. The fact of the matter is that your social media activity genuinely can impact your personal injury lawsuit and result in a lower settlement—or even no settlement at all. Here's how.

Updates on Recovery

It's totally natural for you to want to keep your friends and family up to date on your injuries and recovery efforts. But even the most benign of updates can be taken out of context and used against you during a personal injury case.

For example, let's say you're having a good day, and your injury isn't bothering you as much as it usually is. Feeling upbeat, you post, "Feeling really good today! Think I might even do some yardwork this morning!" While you may be trying to remain positive by highlighting a good moment amidst all of the bad ones you've experienced lately, the defense can take such a post out of context and use it to show that your claims of pain and suffering are false.

For this reason, it's best to keep updates on your recovery, treatments, and general physical condition off of social media. Instead, consider providing updates to those closest to you via text or email. Just be sure to ask them to keep it off social media as well.

Your Daily Activities

We're so accustomed to sharing our day-to-day activities online that you probably wouldn't think twice about posting a picture or status update about something you're doing. But such a post can still negatively impact your personal injury case.

For example, let's say your family has been planning a trip to Disneyland for over a year. Despite your recent injury and ongoing lawsuit, you've decided you just can't miss this trip. You manage your pain well enough for smiling photos, and you post those photos to social media. Suddenly, it looks like you're out living life to its fullest, despite claims of a life-altering injury. Those photos can easily be used against you, even though they don't show all the activities you missed out on and the medications you're forced to manage your pain well enough to smile.

Details of Your Case

Finally, it can be tempting to post matters related to your case on your social media accounts. This can be seriously problematic. What you might view as a vent session can be a major legal complication down the line, and you should never publicly share information regarding litigation, discussions with your insurance company, and so on.

When it comes to personal injury claims, even the simplest of posts online can turn into a problem for your case. This is why we strongly recommend refraining from posting to social media at all while litigation is ongoing. If you're ever in doubt, simply don't post.

If you're looking for an attorney to handle your personal injury case, contact George Stein Steelhorse Law today to schedule a consultation.