Social Media and Personal Injury Claims: Do’s and Don’ts You Need to Know

Legally Reviewed and Edited by: Terry Cochran

When you made the innocent Facebook post, did you ever think about the potential impact on your personal injury lawsuit? Over 68% of personal injury cases are directly impacted by information obtained on social media platforms. This startling statistic indicates the hidden danger of online use in court.

In our hyper-connected age, the initial response we make to learning about any life event—a car accident, for example—is to share it on the internet. Your fender-bender status update, Instagram post about your recovery, or physical therapy visit can be harmless. But harmless-sounding posts can completely alter the trajectory of your personal injury claim.

Insurance companies and defense attorneys are also getting more savvy at leveraging social media posts to contest the validity of injury claims. A single post that conflicts with the reported injury or limitations can be the deciding factor for achieving a fair settlement or having the claim denied outright.

This is a comprehensive guide on the complicated relationship between social media and personal injury claims, providing essential tips to assist in protecting your legal interests while using social media sites during your case.

How Social Media Can Affect a Personal Injury Case

The role that social media plays in personal injury cases has increased tremendously in recent years. It is vital that such implications be kept in view by anyone seeking redress for an injury or accident.

Evidence Collection and Discovery

Insurance companies hire certain investigators with the sole intent to follow the claimants’ social media profiles. They go through the posts, pictures, comments, and even the friend tags on your friends’ pages for anything that can deny your injury claims.

Through the process of discovery in the lawsuit, lawyers for the defense can legally obtain permission to review your social media profiles. Judges commonly grant the request, ruling that the information on social media is fair game for gathering evidence. This could expose everything you’ve ever posted, including what you consider to be personal, to the other side.

Consistent Injury Claims

One way in which social media is used in personal injury claims is to refute alleged injuries from an accident. For instance, if you are filing a claim for an injury to your back that incapacitated you but are shown in social media photos gardening or playing with the kids, these can be utilized to indicate that the supposed injuries are not as serious as claimed.

Even older posts that were made before your accident can be removed from context. A defense lawyer can take an old picture of you hiking without checking when the photo was taken, suggesting that you are more physically able than you represent yourself to be in your lawsuit.

Emotional Distress Challenges

Most personal injury cases bring about physical and emotional distress. However, proof that you smiled, socialized, or participated in fun activities can be used to imply that your emotional injury is minor.

An insurance adjuster can take your seemingly upbeat social media activity as evidence that the psychological distress you have asserted is exaggerated, reducing the value of this part of your claim by a significant amount.

Credibility Damage

Most damaging is the effect on your credibility. If what you post on social media is inconsistent with any part of your testifying or medical history, it calls into question your overall truthfulness.

Once people doubt your credibility, it becomes extremely difficult to convince a jury or judge that the things you’re alleging are true. Losing credibility can shape the entire outcome of your lawsuit, even if the injury is legitimate.

Chronology Complications

Social media timelines can also pose timeline problems for you. For instance, if you claim to have been bedridden for so many hours, but on social media, it shows you were somewhere else active. Your whole story can be contradicted by the defense for this discrepancy.

Even if the explanation is innocent—say, somebody else wrote under your signature, for example, or you were in temporary remission—these discrepancies are hard to account for when they are made part of the record in court.

Personal Injury Social Media Guidelines: What Not to Do

Given the manner in which social media can affect an injury claim, it is vital to know what to avoid doing to protect your claim. What to avoid doing when claiming for an injury is explained below:

Avoid Posting About Your Accident or Injuries

The temptation to post information about your accident or injury is understandable—most people reach for their online contacts when things go wrong. Whatever you post, however, is potential evidence.

Avoid expressing anything like “I’m feeling better today” or “The accident wasn’t so bad.” Such optimistic-sounding assertions can be interpreted as minimizing the injury. Positively worded assertions like “I’m hoping to be back to normal soon” can suggest that the recovery is occurring at an accelerated rate compared to what was claimed.

Do not talk about medical diagnoses, treatment courses, or conversations with doctors. Such information can conflict with official medical records or disclose information that can be used against you.

Recall that social media and personal injury claims don’t mix—the less information you share about the accident, the better protected your case will be.

Refrain from Posting Pictures or Videos That Could Harm Your Case

Images speak louder than words when it comes to personal injury cases. Images or footage of any physical activity would be contradictory to the supposed limitation, even if temporary or so painful afterward.

Be especially cautious with:

• Holiday photos suggesting mobility and recreation
• Family gatherings where you seem to be behaving normally
• Any type of physical activity, even therapeutic
• Pictures with you dancing, lifting objects, or engaging in sporting events

Keep in mind that context is typically stripped away when social media proof is provided. A photo of you struggling to make it to an important family gathering could be used to offer proof that you were operating normally.

Even seemingly innocent photos can be harmful. Your photo, which seems harmless, can suggest that you were somewhere else when you said you were in bed, or a photo where you’re pictured without some necessary medical device like a sling or neck support.

Do Not Discuss Legal Matters Online

Posting details about your personal injury claim on the internet is never advisable. This includes:

• Updates about settlement negotiations
• Attitude toward insurance adjusters or defense attorneys
• Displeasure with the legal process
• Expectations about compensation amounts

See your attorney

Even favorable or seemingly innocuous comments can be troublesome. Boastful talk about being confident about your case can be read as greed, and discussing your attorney’s strategy gives valuable information to the adversary.

Bear in mind that the attorney-client privilege can be waived if you make the information that you’ve shared with your attorney publicly available. After this, formerly privileged information can be used in court.

Social media policies explicitly declare that all legally related talk needs to be kept offline. Leave such talk for offline, face-to-face, individual consultations with your attorneys.

Be careful with Check-ins and Location Tags

Checked-in and tagged post locations can both be a significant factor in your personal injury case. They provide checkable evidence of what you’ve been up to, which may conflict with the restrictions you’ve stated.

For example, checking in at:

• A sports or fitness center can suggest physical capabilities contrary to your supposed wounds
• Multiple locations in one day can indicate increased mobility or stamina than reported
• Recreation can counter-arguments about being socially isolated or not having enjoyed recreation
• Distant destinations may be inconsistent with reported limits on travel

Even the most casual monitoring, such as locations, can be problematic. Most social network sites geotag by default unless you’ve specifically disabled this feature. Check your privacy settings to avoid unwittingly mapping every step you make.

Don’t forget that friends will tag you at locations, too, which can also be troublesome. Request that friends tag you on location posts only when the issue is resolved.

Smart Social Media Practices During a Personal Injury Case

While the above explains the things you shouldn’t do, proactive measures can also protect your claim. Here are the social media steps for handling your personal injury claim.

Adjust Privacy Settings but Stay Cautious

Securing the privacy settings is the first step, but only the first step. For ultimate security:

• Make all accounts private and not public
• Preview and approve each tag prior to adding it to your timeline
• Disable location tracking and geotags on all platforms
• Restrict who can see older posts and pictures
• Limit the view to the friends list to prevent cross-questioning of contacts

However, remember that privacy settings are no guarantee. Judges can require you to make the accounts available if they’re deemed to be relevant to your lawsuit. And, of course, friends who’ve been given permission to view your “private” content can accidentally make it available to more people.

Manage every social media account with the belief that anything you post, regardless of privacy settings, can be used during your trial. It’s the most conservative method to ensure maximum protection for your legal interests.

Limit Social Media Activity Until the Case Is Resolved

The most secure method for social media use when seeking to make a personal injury claim is an extreme restriction or temporary suspension. Consider:

• Totally avoiding all the websites until the lawsuit is completed
• Limiting use to passive consumption rather than active posting
• Avoid commenting on other people’s posts because the comments can be discoverable

Refraining from placing new friend requests when lawsuits are ongoing, since they can be investigated.

If taking a complete social media break is uncomfortable, adopt strict personal policies about what is acceptable to post. Limit yourself to sharing other people’s work without comments, or limit posts to specific uncontroversial topics that bear no relation to your physical or psychological health.

Keep in mind that the ways social media may be used against your injury claim extend beyond your own postings. Your responses, comments, and activities on another user’s postings can also generate unwanted evidence.

Inform Close Friends and Family About Social Media Risks

Your social network plays a critical role in protecting your case integrity. Tell close friends:

• The likelihood of getting tagged in posts or pictures
• The requirement to be cautious about discussing your injury or case online
• Why seemingly helpful posts can harm your claim
• The importance of being cautious when discussing common activities or gatherings

Attempt to message family and close friends privately and inform them you’re limiting the use of social media due to your legal proceedings and request them to cooperate. Most will do so willingly if they’re informed about the potential outcome.

Use special care with relatives who will post about you or the state of your recovery. While kindly intended, such posts are the equivalent of personally posted updates.

For family gatherings that are likely to be photographed and shared,

consider:

• Requesting to have no social media at the event
• Requesting photographers to stop taking photos of you
• Having a trusted person review your photos before they’re posted to ensure none could compromise your case

Document Review and Sanitization

Although it is never advisable to remove social media posts after an accident (since this can be construed as evidence tampering), it can be helpful to review the current online presence before making a claim.

Follow these instructions

• Review all your social media accounts for potentially offensive material
• Modify share settings for older posts, which can be misinterpreted
• If your case is yet to be filed, speak with your attorney about how to deal with the older problematic content
• Record your privacy settings and account status for every website

Remember that the information you delete can typically be legally obtained, so it’s best to be honest with your attorney about social media information. They can advise you on the correct options for maintaining your online presence without doing anything unethical or illegal.

Consider Alternative Communication Methods

To stay in touch with family and friends throughout your case, utilize less obvious methods of communication:

• Direct messaging platforms with enhanced privacy settings
• Private group chat for updating close family members
• Conventional calls on public digital media
• Direct interaction with people physically present

These technologies enable you to remain connected with your network without leaving potentially harmful activity and state artifacts.

How a Personal Injury Lawyer in Michigan Can Help Protect Your Case

It’s hard to navigate the complications of social media with an active claim for personal injury. A seasoned Michigan Personal Injury Lawyer can provide valuable guidance along the way.

Professional Social Media Management

An experienced attorney will:

• Conduct a thorough review of your current social media presence
• Provide customized guidance for dealing with online platforms during your case
• Help you to act accordingly to friend requests that can either be investigation groups
• Consult on the management of available content without breaching evidence preservation standards

Your lawyer can also draft proper correspondence to family and friends explaining the need for restraint on social media during your lawsuit.

Context and Evidence Preservation

If you have social media proof, your attorney will:

• Provide proper context for any posts used against you
• Verify timestamps and timelines for online content
• Be against unsubstantiated calls for excessive monitoring of social media
• Prepare you to respond to and correct potentially problematic posts under the testimonial

This context is necessary because posts on social media without context can be misleading about your affairs and state.

Full Case Coverage

In addition to social media guidance, a Michigan personal injury attorney provides:

• Detailed inquiry into your accident and injuries
• Detailed documentation for all damages
• Negotiating with insurance companies
• Fair court representation in case the settlement is not satisfactory
• Avoiding common protective measures used to reduce payment

With appropriate legal representation, you can focus on healing while having your attorney deal with the complex interaction between your online life and your case.

The Importance of Early Consultation

The perfect social media strategy comes into play the moment after your accident, preferably before any possibly damaging posts. Consulting with the right attorney early enables you to be proactive about protection and not reactive about damage control.

Our experienced professionals know the delicate balance that exists when it comes to social media and personal injury cases. We provide thorough direction to protect your online reputation while seeking the most compelling claim for maximum reimbursement.

Conclusion

The intersection of social media and personal injury cases is an injury victim’s potential minefield. What seems harmless online posting can be used to craft the strongest arguments against your claim, diminishing or demolishing the recovery to which you’re entitled.

By adhering to the rules for social media use for personal injury claims presented here avoiding posts, modifying privacy settings, never discussing cases, and handling geographic information with care—you greatly improve your standing. Consider the ideal method to take one step back entirely for the duration of the case.

The internet continues to evolve, with the courts increasingly allowing social media to be used as evidence in personal injury cases. More than ever, this makes expert legal advice an indispensable asset for navigating this maze.

If you’ve been injured and are thinking about making a personal injury claim, consult with an experienced attorney immediately for individualized guidance on safeguarding your claim and your online reputation. With proper guidance, you can avoid the pitfalls that often result when social media and personal injury cases cross paths, and you’ll have the best chance for fair and full recompense.

Seek Guidance for Your Personal Injury Claim

If you or someone you love is pursuing a personal injury claim and needs advice on social media usage, get the legal representation you need. Speak with our compassionate, knowledgeable Cochran, Kroll, & Associates, P.C. attorneys.

We can review your case, guide you through the essential dos and don’ts of social media during your claim, and help protect your personal injury case from common pitfalls. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Our contingency fee basis means we only get paid if we win your case, so there is no financial risk to you to get started. Call our law firm today at 1-866-MICH-LAW and schedule your no-obligation, free case evaluation.

Disclaimer : The information provided is general and not for legal advice. The blogs are not intended to provide legal counsel and no attorney-client relationship is created nor intended.