How To Limit Social Media's Influence On Your Personal Injury Case

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Social media offers a great way to share your most treasured experiences with friends, family, and even random strangers with common interests. Unfortunately, social media turns into a double-edged sword during personal injury cases. 

It only takes a few innocent tweets or an Instagram photo taken out-of-context to invalidate your personal injury claim. The following shows what you can do to protect yourself during your personal injury case.

1. Don't Share Anything About Your Case

As much as you want to share intimate details about your accident and injuries on social media, it's the last thing you should do. It can take days or even months for the true extent of your injuries to manifest. Until then, any post you make in the meantime could undermine your personal injury claim.

For example, posting on your social media account that you've only suffered a few bruises and some soreness can come back to haunt you after your doctor discovers more serious injuries. An insurance adjuster can use your previous social media post as evidence that your personal injury claim should be denied.

2. Watch Where You Check In

If you regularly check into places using your social media apps, be mindful of where you check in and how it could be used against you. If you're claiming an injury that affects your mobility, checking into a skating rink or rock-climbing facility can easily undermine your case, even if you're only there to spectate. If you have an emotional distress claim, checking into a restaurant or any other social venue can put that claim into question.

3. Consider Limiting Your Account Access

By default, most social media accounts can be viewed by just about anyone, including investigators in search of damning evidence against your personal injury claim. Instead of leaving your social media pages open for everyone to see, restrict access to family members and trusted friends.

4. Don't Delete What You've Already Posted

If you've accidentally posted something that could hurt your personal injury case, resist the urge to delete it. Deleting a post you've previously made about your personal injury case can land you in legal hot water. That's because in most states, removing a picture or text post from your social media account may constitute spoliation of evidence -- an act that could entirely derail your personal injury case.

However, the above only applies if your personal injury claim is already in litigation. If your claim hasn't reached the litigation stage just yet, you're free to remove anything that would otherwise hinder your case. For more information, contact your local personal injury lawyer.

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9 July 2018

Talking About Car Accident Cases

Hello everyone, my name is Nina Zoulon. On this site, I am going to share information about hiring a personal injury attorney. I will also talk about my journey to procuring those services for myself. When I was a beginning driver, I was on the road constantly. During one of those excursions, a driver going the opposite direction crossed the centerline and plowed straight into my vehicle. I was trapped by the dashboard for hours while firefighters helped me escape. After the accident, the other driver tried to blame my inexperience on the accident. I hired a lawyer to help me fight the case and I won. I would like to discuss personal injury attorney services in more detail to help other people win their cases in court. Thanks.