Social media platforms are a big hit in today’s generation. With this much popularity and a big user base, it has been in the limelight since always. It has various good and bad aspects to it. Just like any other thing that exists on this planet, social media also has some good and bad sides associated with it.
Social media is all about sharing things online. Whether it’s a photo, a video, or a status about how you are living and what you are doing in your daily life. It has no limits on the number of posts that you can make in a day. What you are drinking, and eating, when are you sleeping or waking up, there are no restrictions or policies on the content (until it’s something mature or offensive in nature).
Some portion of the population might not be able to recognize this boundary of privacy and will have no idea when they are crossing it. This can cause serious harm to them and can sometimes hinder their daily life especially if there is any legal case undergoing the process.
Just for this sake, we are here with a special piece of writing that can tell and inform you about the harm and impact that social media can cause in your case. Follow the article till the end to enlighten you about the mistakes you might be doing in the near future.
The Power of Social Media Evidence
If you are claiming personal injury in your case, you must take care of the things you are posting online. Since gradually insurance companies are also realizing the importance of social media, they are getting more active online with the purpose of investigating their targetted people.
Things you post online can be dangerous for you as they can be easily used against you while you fight for your right. Therefore it is crucial to understand and respect the boundaries that should be created while sharing your daily life online.
Preservation of Evidence
Preservation of evidence means preserving or keeping those things safe and private that can be used as evidence. Since using social media is made it so much easy to access it and interaction with friends and followers is so simple, anyone, if your profile is private, from the followers or friends list can look at the photos, videos, statuses, or activities you have posted online.
However, this is not the case for those accounts that are publicly open. Public accounts can be accessed by anyone. Even if he or she is not in your followers or friends list.
For instance, let’s follow a case here, you decided to travel by train, but in an unfortunate circumstance, you fall in front of it but somehow you were able to survive it. You post something about it on Instagram and due to this small world, the driver driving this train encountered your post and messages you about the incident.
In this case, you can immediately take screenshots of the messages so that even if the driver deletes the message later in the future, you still have the evidence near you. Now you can consult the best of the best and top-rated train accident law firms in NYC in search of justice.
This is how you can use social media to help yourself instead of making it a threat to your personal injury case. You have to work with your brain and play smart in the game.
Think Before You Post
It is one of the most common senses that you must have. The fact is that life is not a part of social media, instead, it is vice versa in reality. There are some things in your life that should be kept personal to you. You cannot post everything on the internet just for the sake of popularity or some likes.
Respect your personal space and determine the boundaries that must be there for you and your personal life.
The Challenges of Deleted and Altered Content
You might have already understood the point that is going to be discussed in this section. Deleting or altering the content that is already on the internet in your favor is a common practice that is done whenever someone feels like it. This practice is called the spoliation of evidence. Although, you should have perfect timing and if caught involved in this practice, your point might get weaker.
Your content should be removed prior to someone in the opposition noticing it. This is not to be taken lightly as if this alteration is caught by the authority, it may cause trouble for you. Therefore, if you have some kind of doubt in your mind that your content is already out, contact your legal authority as soon as possible.
Your attorney might be able to identify the degree of damage and will know the further legal steps that need to be taken.
Privacy Settings and Digital Footprint
Everything that you post on the internet, you should be aware of the consequences it might get. In case you decided to post something that is bold in nature or might offend someone’s beliefs, you must confirm the privacy settings of your personal account.
All social media platforms are equipped with privacy settings that are highly customizable according to one’s needs. You can hide your post or stories from individuals or also select the audience who can access your content.
You must regularly verify the privacy settings of your account. This way you can eliminate the possibilities that can affect your personal injury case and of course, eliminate the misunderstanding with the people who are not supposed to access the content.
Surveillance and Online Investigations
There is no doubt of this fact. We all know that insurance companies can get to any limits to contradict the cause of injury that has been covered by them. In order to be able to do so, they might hire a personal investigation team.
This way you can show yourself as someone under surveillance by private detectives so that you can stay aware of your case and attempt to keep it away from the failure.
The Perils of Overexaggerations
You might have heard of the saying that goes like “Everything is fair in love and war”. You can take this statement into use for your personal injury case. And this is a very common thing that is done in the court. Portray yourself as someone extremely vulnerable and poor to gain sympathy.
However, you must have to live your life on social media the same way you show yourself. As it can also directly affect your credibility and can also cause harm instead of any benefit to your personal injury case.
The Long-Term Impact on Reputation
This means that your personal injury case might have a long-term impact on your daily life. Even once it is resolved and the decision comes out in your favor, you should still be cautious about everything that you post online.
Even after your case, some elements from society might be tracking your online activities for some time. Moreover, your digital footprints stay on the internet for years and months to come once they are posted, which is why stay aware of the content that you are posting on the internet.
Make sure that your stories or your posts do not cause any harm to the positive impression that you have maintained throughout the case.
The Pitfall of Social Media Communication in Legal Matters
There is no doubt that social media are easy to use and it provides instant connectivity with the audience you want to connect with. The platforms offer various options for connectivity, but it should also be considered that it is not at all a safe option or an appropriate place where sensitive matters should not be discussed.
Anyone, from your lawyer to the insurance companies, should only connect with them face to face instead of on an internet platform. Your chats or statements might get leaked or used in court to harm you.
Moreover, these platforms are not formal at all and are a very casual mode to communicate with others which can lead to misunderstandings and the spread of misinformation. While on the other hand, legal practices must be done in formal meetings and are very sensitive parts to discuss. Therefore, you must avoid online platforms as much as you can to communicate sensitive subjects like your personal injury case.
Professional Advice and Guidance
As discussed in the previous section, legal things and practices might get difficult and feel like a burden for you. Moreover, understanding these aspects and legalities might get frustrating when discussed online.
For this, you should get professional advice and guidance from a highly able and capable professional who can get you out of your misery through the right path.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we all can conclude that social media might be a boom for our daily social life, but it can also act as a bane for some serious and highly vulnerable matters. From a legal perspective, it gets really tense to decide what to post or what should not be posted online so that you cannot get into trouble just because of the things you posted online.
You must identify the personal space and verify the privacy settings of your account once in a while.
