How Social Media Behavior & Data Can Affect Your Personal Injury Claim
Social Media tools allow us to connect with our family and friends and pretty much have fun! According to research carried out in 2019 by Research Center Data, 73% of people use the popular social media platform, Facebook, and 50% of these people check their Facebook account more than one time in a day. That is why social media data is now used in legal cases! Yes, social media can hurt or help your case. For example, if you get injured in a road accident, you may be tempted to use your online platforms to assure your family that you are doing well. This is okay, but some posts can hurt your case if you are pursuing a personal injury claim. Well, let us delve deeper and tell you how social media data can help or hurt your personal injury claim.
How to use Social Media to help your personal injury claim
Use social media to showcase your character
Your credibility is essential in a personal injury claim. How trustworthy, hardworking, reliable, and honest you are will define how your insurance company treats your claim. It will also affect how a judge will assess your incurred damages. These days a private investigator can follow you on social media to mine some data about you after the injury. In this case, you can use your social media platform to show you are forthright and honest about the injuries you sustained. You can discuss what you should and should not post with your car accident attorney costa mesa (or whichever one you went for), so that they can guide you on what can happen to your case if you are not being honest about what’s happened/happening.
Showcase your values
Social media can showcase your morality. For example, it can be used to assess your relations with family, friends, and even strangers. Well, you want to give investigators a clear picture of your family values and how the injury is compromising them.
Document appreciation
It is also smart to use social media platforms to express gratitude to people who have been with you through your recovery journey. For example, if you were involved in a car accident, you can use social media to thank your friends and family for helping you with meal preparation and other chores that you wouldn’t do. According to a firm full of skilled car accident lawyers, you can use this as journaled evidence of how an auto accident is affecting your life. It can help reflect the struggles you are undergoing as you recuperate. In this case, you can back your compensation claim for pain, suffering, lost wages, medical expenses, etc.Â
Showcase your recovery progress
Talk about your recovery progress on social media. Yes, celebrate little improvement like moving from using crutches to walking on your own. You can talk about your struggles at every stage of recovery. You can grow your account and expand reach on social channels such as Facebook likes and real Instagram followers. This will give an insight into what you are going through should the defense team try to use social media against you.Â
That said, there are mistakes to avoid social media being used against you. Let us look at some of them:
How social media can hurt your personal injury claim
Posting things that contradict your testimony
Contradicting social media posts can hurt your injury case. For instance, if you post a live video of you bowling and yet you stated that you have broken arms, this can be used against you. Likewise, if you file a claim on loss of enjoyment due to pain and suffering and post photos while on vacation, it will make your claim false. So, try to maintain your credibility; always be honest about your injuries and losses. Another valuable step you can take when looking at your claim as a whole is to ask a reputable lawyer from a firm such as Pittman, Roberts & Welsh, PLLC about the kinds of things you should avoid posting about in order to preserve the strength of your legal case. They will be well versed in the kinds of arguments an opposing party might make against you based on your social media activity, thus they will be able to advise what you should and shouldn’t post.
Behavioral tendencies
The behavioral tendencies you showcase on your social media accounts can hurt your case. For instance, if you have photos of you consuming alcohol or taking pictures while driving, it might not be good for you. The defendant or your insurance company can spin things around and showcase it as evidence you might have played a role in causing the accident.
Tags and mentions
Tags and mentions from your friends and social media on social media can ruin your case. Thus, make sure that your friends and family know that they should be careful with what they post about you.
Tip: Again, it is better staying off social media as you fight for your claim.
Accepting friend requests
In most personal injury claims, insurance companies and defendants tend to hire private investigators who are always on watch searching for any contradicting information. The investigators can try to survey you physically and online. They may even create a fake account and request to ‘follow you’ or send you a ‘friend request ‘so that they can have access to your profile and posts. It is thus advisable to avoid accepting any new request on social media platforms during your case
Posting confidential information
Be careful with what you post on social media, as posting confidential information involving your case can hurt it. For example, if your settlement was supposed to be confidential, do not parade it on social media.
Wrap up
We all love using social media, but you should know that they leave data trails that can hurt your personal injury claim. Don’t make the mistakes that will deny you the compensation you deserve. Speak to a personal injury attorney to help guide you on the dos and don’ts in the quest for your rights.Â