Could Your Facebook Account Hurt Your Charleston Personal Injury Case?

Jay Baer, a digital marketing advisor over at Convince and Convert recently unveiled some staggering statistics about how people spend their time online. Around 56% of us have at least one social media account and 22%, or roughly 12 million of us, use it several times a day. While Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others are great for keeping people in the loop, you just might want to make your data private if you're considering a personal injury lawsuit. Your Social Network Activity May Be Admissible as Evidence If you're like most people, you probably use at least one social media account regularly. In fact, the latest stats say the average American spends 40 minutes every day on Facebook. A Pew research study shows that 79% of Facebook users are there because they want to share info with a large number of people at once. Because of this, courts generally have no issue using data gathered from social media profiles. Data Can Be Misconstrued By Opposing Council Regardless of what's happening in your life, you're quite likely to smile for a camera. It's instinctual, whether you're in a hospital bed or in the company of friends. A single photo taken when family came to visit and you instinctively smiled though your discomfort can be presented to a jury. You may be bedridden and in pain 99% of the time, but this one photo is going to make it look like you're doing just fine. Even if you're not posting photos, comments you make can sound as if you've resumed normal activities. It's also problematic if information exists in the account history. Perhaps you mentioned a sore back one day five years ago and your back is severely damaged as a result of your injuries now. This alone can make it appear as if you have a preexisting condition and, therefore, do not deserve reparations. Making Your Data Private May Not Be Enough There have been a couple of cases in which privacy settings did not protect a personal injury plaintiff well enough. In the case of Offenback v. Bowman, the plaintiff was asked to hand over his Myspace and Facebook credentials so that the court could view his accounts. In Barnes v. CUS Nashville, a judge offered to make a Facebook account so he could "friend" the witnesses and see if any images and comments on their profiles were relevant to the case. Interestingly, a message from the injured woman to one of her friends was uncovered. In it, she requested that a post-accident photo of her on a stretcher be removed from the friend's timeline.

Charleston Personal Injury Attorney

Honesty is always best and sometimes deleting an entire account can do more harm than good. If you've been hurt as a result of another party's negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. Don't let your social media activity disqualify you. Seek information from a knowledgeable and reputable attorney before taking any action. For a no-obligation consultation, contact us online or speak with one of our attorneys right away by calling 1(800)610-2546.