The Impact of Social Media on a Personal Injury Case
At BC Law, our goal is to keep our clients and community informed. Social Media is growing with the increasing popularity of different online platforms. Each day there’s some new sort of social mingling application being launched. And people from all over the world are finding new and easy ways to connect with one another using the internet facilities. Posting their routine lives as online stories, telling the world about their whereabouts as location status has become the new norms of today.
The availability of the internet is what caused a major turnout in the social media industry. But too much of anything is bad for society. Unaware of who might be keeping tabs on you, the teenage generation gladly welcomes attention from the strange world. Most teens have multiple social media accounts that are interlinked showing exactly what you are up to and what your plans are for the day. Not safe at all!
Ways Your Social Media Affects Your Personal Injury Case
You may not even be aware of who is reading your daily posts and what are their intentions? Updating your accounts with hourly stories, telling everyone about your life events is not the best way to make friends. If you have been into an accident or suffering from any major injuries, there are countless reasons why you shouldn’t be uploading your injury status online.
That’s because once your information goes online, there’s no coming back even if you delete the update. Plus, the information you upload can be used against you affecting your personal injury case negatively.
If you are someone who loves uploading your life stories every hour, here’s why you shouldn’t update your social media status concerning how it can have a negative impact on your personal injury case.
Cause of Contradictory Claims
Uploading your status means informing the world about yourself. Especially if you already have a personal injury case going on, your status and stories would give the opposite party an easy means to pry into your life. They can simply monitor your status and figure out how your personal injury claims are contradictory to your actions.
The insurance defense attorneys are a pro at finding any minor specific details that can easily change the whole case against your favor. This makes your social media accounts the cause of contradictory claims.
1. False and Fake Accusations
Being habitual in updating your social media profiles with whatever you are going through is never good for your injury claims. Once you file a claim in court, all your actions and whereabouts account for inquiring the causes of your injury and social media play a significant part in this situation.
Any of your social media status updates can be used to prove your personal injury statement as a false or fake accusation by comparing the time and your actions.
2. Alternative Interventions
Filing a personal injury lawsuit claim is not a joke but a complete systematic process that proves all your injuries are accidental and you deserve compensation for them. But uploading any video or picture on social media poses a threat of alternative interventions to the causes of your injuries.
Your opposite party can use your social media content to prove that your injuries are caused by different factors that are not included in the compensation claim. This way the insurers will not be responsible to pay you your injury claims.
3. Multiple Testimonies
Besides uploading social media content, all your statements and verbal chit-chat are also monitored during the lawsuit period. If you make a social media statement that contradicts your personal injury claims, it provides the at-fault party a reason to prove you wrong in court. This means you’ll be facing a claim against your multiple testimonies and the defensive party can easily use your own words or actions against you to win the case.
4. Bad Public Reputation
Using social media as a means to connect with the world is good but not when you’re in the middle of a personal injury claim. If any of your social media status in some way proves you wrong, you will have to face a lifetime of bad public reputation – both in person as well as online on multiple social media sites. You will be trolled by a massive population since you were already famous among the people, everyone will be aware of everything.
5. Check-Ins Ensure Well-being
Another reason why you should avoid social media during the time of your personal injury claim is that it confirms your well-being. Checking your Facebook or Instagram accounts, replying to people, making comments, reacting to posts, everything ensures that you are living a normal happy life. This may be used against you as it contradicts the painful injuries that you should be enduring during a personal injury claim.
Social Media Practices That You Should Avoid During Your Personal Injury Case
Since we have established how social media is bad for your personal injury case, it can also be used to make your case stronger. For example, if you have been in some accident or going through major injuries, let your friends know that you won’t be using your social media accounts for the time being.
You can also contact your insurance attorney fighting your personal injury case and ask to manage your social media accounts for you. They would have a much better idea about how you should be handling your social media accounts to make your personal injury case stronger.
Other than that, you should simply avoid posting anything related to your accidental injuries. Don’t update your accounts on your routine life activities and avoid posting any photos or videos of yourself or your injuries that may be used against you in the future. Also, avoid posting anything that signifies that you are enjoying your life or having a good time. It puts your case in a contradictory condition. Increase the privacy of your account and monitor who is trying to establish new connections with you through requests.
Conclusion
Minimizing your social media activities is the best thing that you can do to reduce the impact of social media on your Personal Injury Case. Taking a professional’s advice is always better than making assumptions so make sure to consult with your lawyer before saying or doing anything.