How Social Media Can Cripple Your Injury Case

Social media has become an everyday thing for most people. Even if you don’t share an update each day, odds are you take some time to check Facebook, send a Snapchat, scroll through Instagram or watch a few Tik Toks. Social media has become so ingrained in our culture that oftentimes we don’t really think about what we’re posting and how it could affect us down the road. If you’re not careful about what you post following a work injury, it can sink your compensation claim. In today’s blog, we explain how to navigate social media after a work or personal injury so it doesn’t hurt your compensation case.

Social Media And Your Injury Claim

We’ll start at the most obvious and work our way back to some of the more subtle ways that social media can negatively affect your injury claim. So with that said, the single best thing you can do is to not talk about your case on social media. We understand that friends and family members may want updates on your health or see that you’re progressing after an injury, but keep that all offline. Anything you post can be used against you, and if anything you say on social media contradicts your story or your official claim, it can tank your case. You can give in-person updates or talk with your loved ones on the phone, but avoid sharing pictures or retellings of the accident online. There’s just nothing good that can come out of it.

If you really feel the need to provide an update, be as non-specific as possible. Don’t talk about specifics and let others know that you can’t talk about the case while it’s pending. It will stop them from asking, and it will cover your end so that you don’t share something you shouldn’t. But again, we just recommend that you say nothing at all.

Another reason why you shouldn’t share anything on social media is because it can actually put some financial strain on some of your relationships. If you suffer a personal injury, you could be in line for a financial windfall. Now, this money is to help offset your medical expenses, lost income and future expenses you may incur as a result of your injuries, but friends or family may just assume you have a large sum of money coming and want you to share the wealth. Even if you don’t think anybody will come out of the woodwork looking for money, you can help avoid that scenario by keeping all the details of your case off social media.

Now, you might assume that as long as you don’t directly talk about your case on social media that you’re in the clear. That’s not true. If anything you post or share could hurt your injury case, you want to keep it offline. If you’re collecting compensation for a back injury and you share photos downhill skiing, or you have a knee injury but you post about hiking three miles, the insurance company may seek to end your payouts on the basis that you are not as injured as you say you are.

You may not think what you’re posting is causing trouble, but there’s two things you’ll want to always consider before sharing anything on social media while your injury case is playing out:

Would I want the insurance company seeing what I’m posting?
Could this in any possible way hurt my case?

We’ve touched on the second point, but for the first point, a good rule of thumb is to consider that everything you post can and will be seen by the insurance company. You may think your settings are set to private, but it just takes one friend request or a screen capture from a co-worker to cause huge problems for your injury case. Assume everything you post will be seen by the other side, and nothing you post should ever cause problems, because you’ll never post anything that could hurt your case.

If you need help pursuing injury compensation following a work or personal injury, or you want to maximize your award and avoid some pitfalls that sink cases, reach out to the team at Margolis Law Office. We’ll do all the heavy lifting for your case and explain what you can do to help keep everything on track. For more information, or for help with your case, give Dean at his team a call today at (952) 230-2700.