Posting on social media can have a serious impact on your bodily injury claim. Nearly everyone has a social media account these days. We post about our lives constantly. However, posting on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat about your personal injury accident can cause problems for your bodily injury claim in the long run.
Here are three ways your social media posts may affect your bodily injury claim:
1) Defense lawyers may find conflicting information on your posts.
When you make a personal injury claim, you typically provide evidence that your life has been negatively impacted by harm caused by the recklessness or negligence of another party. You may claim that you are in severe physical pain and have mental anguish as a result of your injuries.
However, if your Facebook posts reflect you living a normal life, engaging in physical activity, defense lawyers may refute the extent of your injuries. Pictures of you mowing the lawn or swimming at the beach may lead others to believe you were not injured as badly as you claim. This can greatly impact the amount of compensation you are able to recover.
Even if you don’t post information online, your friends may post pictures and tag you. You cannot control who views your friends’ pictures and posts. A defense lawyer or another party to the bodily injury claim may be able to see those posts. It may benefit you to deactivate your social media accounts if you are dealing with a personal injury.
2) Making negative statements online about the defendant can backfire.
It’s understandable that you will be angry if another person or company causes you personal injuries. However, making negative statements about the other party on social media can reflect badly on you. People are often seen as being “sue happy” or assumed to be exaggerating claims to make more money. You don’t want to be seen as exploiting the system or out to get money.
It’s best to just stay quiet about your bodily injury claim. You don’t want to sound bitter and unhinged by making sweeping negative statements. Instead, remain calm on social media and don’t discuss your claim. You may even consider deactivating your accounts for a short period of time to prevent others from commenting on your situation publicly.
3) Social media platforms can track your physical location.
Many social media platforms, such as Facebook, have location tracking tools. You may be dealing with a bodily injury claim where you state that you are unable to function normally. However, if Facebook tracks your posts all over town and even on vacation during a time when you claim that you are unable to move around easily, defense lawyers may use this evidence against you.
It is possible to remove location tracking from your social media accounts, but you should still be careful making posts with pictures attached. If you post about going to professional football games, trampoline parks, and a beach vacation, you may be providing evidence against the seriousness of your bodily injury claim.
Contact a Bodily Injury Claim Attorney If You’ve Suffered an Injury
If you sustained an injury due to someone else’s recklessness or negligence, you should immediately find a lawyer to walk you through the legal process. The Strong Law Firm has extensive experience helping clients who have been hurt at no fault of their own. We can evaluate your social media accounts and help you make the best decisions for your bodily injury claim. Call us today at (703) 204-2040.
