More and more people are using social media every day as these platforms quickly evolve in order to meet consumer demand.
However, social media can have a powerful impact on your personal injury claim if you’re not careful.
Read on to learn how to handle social media while dealing with a personal injury claim.
Everything is Used Against You
While it may be tempting to post about what happened to you on social media, it’s best to resist this urge. You see, anything you post can (and will) be used against you in a court of law.
Physical Harm
It’s likely that you’ve filed a personal injury claim because you’ve suffered some form of a physical injury. You’re probably hoping to recover the following two expenses out of your claim:
- Costs tied to the injury - medical bills, prescription medications, physical therapy, loss of income, etc.
- Noneconomic damages - pain and suffering that you endured due to your injury
The party you intend to sue—the defendant—will use every tool at their disposal to prove you wrong, which includes social media.
Let’s say that you’re seeking damages for chronic pain, loss of some mobility, and an inability to perform certain physical activities that were very important to you, like hiking. Now, let’s also say that you posted a photo two weeks after the accident in which you’re in the hills hiking with friends. The judge will likely look at this evidence and determine that you don’t deserve the damages you seek because you are, in fact, able to continue hiking as you always had.
Emotional Harm
When you open a personal injury claim, it’s likely that you’ve suffered emotional harm as a result of your injury that you intend to seek damages for. You may claim that you’ve endured any of the following forms of emotional harm:
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Withdrawal
- Isolation
If your social media profiles show images and text of you happy and having fun, this goes directly against the claims you’re making in your lawsuit. If you use social media, use it to back up the claims you’re making in your case.
Not only that, but the defense can also go so far as to say the birthday wishes you receive from your connections on social media prove that you’re not as socially isolated and friendless as your claim would lead on. Even though there’s a very weak link between birthday wishes on social media and the depression you endure, you can count on the defense to use anything they have at their disposal against you.
Let Us Help
If you’ve suffered an injury due to the careless actions of someone else, you may be able to recover compensation for your losses. Here at Dore Law Group, PLLC, we’ve helped hundreds of people secure the compensation they needed when they needed it most. Let us see if we can help you, too. Don’t wait—contact us with your case right away.
Give our Kent personal injury attorney a call today at (253) 236-3888 to discuss your case.
