How Social Media Can Hurt Your Personal Injury Case

If you get hurt and file a lawsuit, you are likely to gain more social media followers. Investigators and lawyers for the parties you are suing will search your social media presence for evidence they can use against you. 

The experienced attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright can counsel you on how social media can hurt your personal injury case and how to limit the risks.

Do Not Describe the Event on Social Media

When you are injured in an accident, you should cooperate with a police investigation and report all of your injuries to medical personnel. You should not talk about how the incident happened with anyone except your injury attorney, and definitely do not post about your case or accident on social media.

The responsible parties will analyze any posts you make and look for inaccuracies, errors, or exaggerations about the incident. They will take what you say out of context and use it to question your credibility or blame the incident on you. Do not give them ammunition.

Inconsistencies Can Raise Concerns

When you are injured and bringing a lawsuit, make sure your posts on social media and the assertions you make in your lawsuit match up. Think about the perception that a post creates before you share it.

If your Instagram feed is full of pictures of you socializing and having fun, you undercut any claim that the accident negatively affected your mental health. Similarly, if your lawsuit says that you have chronic knee pain, you weaken your position if you are dancing in TikTok videos. While a personal injury attorney at The Florida Firm could explain the context of the social media post to lessen the impact, the best strategy is not to post in the first place.

How Do You Carefully Curate Your Social Media? 

Review the privacy settings on all your accounts and apply the strictest settings across all platforms. Our experienced legal team at The Florida Firm could review your social media profiles and feeds to identify old posts that could be potentially problematic for your lawsuit. 

You should delete any post that might reflect badly on your maturity or honesty. Ask friends not to tag you in their posts, remove tags if they appear, and be careful about your likes, follows, and comments on others’ posts.

Seek Guidance About Social Media Activity From Our Injury Attorneys

Do not let your online persona ruin your chance of fair compensation. Speak with a lawyer at The Florida Firm about how social media can hurt your personal injury case and what you can do to prevent it. Reach out today.