Social media has positives and negatives. It gives people the opportunity to stay connected and to reach out to others. It’s easy and fast to chat with someone you care about or someone you want to get in touch with.
That lightning-speed pace is great for casual conversations and business interactions, but it can be harmful. Anything you post on your social media is permanent. Even if you delete your posts, there is a risk that those won’t be gone forever. Someone may have taken a screen shot. Someone might have copied what you said. Even these platforms sometimes back up the input users add, so that they can pull it out of archives.
Why is social media a risk to people after they’ve been involved in collisions?
The problem with using social media after a crash is twofold. First, you’re giving out a lot of information about your condition just by using the internet and keeping people updated. If you’re trying to claim you have a brain injury, for example, using the computer regularly could be harmful to your case.
Another issue is that there could be images or comments made that make you look like you’re not telling the whole truth or that you’re healthier than you are. For example, posting a photograph of yourself out to dinner might make it look like you’re healthy and able to get around when the reality was that you could only manage to stay at the restaurant for a few minutes or were in extreme pain at the time. Pictures don’t tell the whole story, but they can hurt your case by giving off the wrong impression.
What should you do about your social media after a crash?
If you have social media, it’s best not to post anything about your case. If you must, you could write a post stating that you were involved in a crash, but you shouldn’t give out any information or have a conversation online about your health or what happened. Keep your situation private, at least until your attorney has a chance to speak with you and get your claim settled.