How Social Media Impacts Personal Injury Cases

Social media is now playing a role in university acceptances, in the conviction of those who have committed crimes and, as you will see, personal injury cases.

Here is a more in-depth look at how social media can impact such cases.

1. Defence Lawyers Can Use Social Media To Disprove Your Claims
   Defence lawyers collect evidence through several different ways and investigating social media platforms is one of them.

   Remember, it is their responsibility to prove that your injury has not impacted you in any negative way. Again, defence lawyers can go about leveraging social media in many different ways, from hiring a private investigator to searching your own social media accounts for evidence that might disprove your claims.

   Keep in mind that even something as seemingly innocuous as posting about mowing the lawn can contradict your claim that you are suffering from a back injury. At the trial, all the jury will see is that you have engaged in certain activities. Performing these activities may result in pain in the following hours or days, but the jury will not see this.

2. To Contradict Claims of Mental/Emotional Trauma
   Personal injury claims can also include claims of mental or emotional trauma.

   The problem with social media is that people tend to post the highlight reel of their lives; posting positive images where they are happy, or trying to present a positive image. However, just as defence lawyers seek to refute physical claims, they also seek to disprove claims regarding mental/emotional trauma.

   In short, any social media posts that would suggest you are not suffering emotionally can also be used to dispute your personal injury case.

3. Posting About Your Injury Can Create Discrepancies
   While posting about your injury on social media may seem harmless, the reality is that it can create discrepancies between your claims and what you posted on social media – even unintentionally. The defence lawyer will try to call into question your credibility, based on even the slightest discrepancy between the evidence you give at trial and what you have posted on social media.

   This is especially true because personal injury cases can take time to play out.

The Bottom Line

If you currently have a personal injury case, it is best to avoid posting on social media or to at least exercise extreme caution about what you post. In short, social media will do little to help your personal injury case. More often than not, it will be used to refute your claims entirely.

You should also change your privacy settings, but, then again, the best step is to simply take some time off of social media.

Sean Giovannetti is a personal injury lawyer with extensive experience working not only for injured victims, but past experience working directly for insurance companies. He will get you the compensation that you are rightfully owed. To schedule a free consultation or for more information, please contact us here.