Social media is an important networking tool in this day and age of technology and one or more forms of social media are used by many individuals. However, there can also be a downside to over sharing on social media, particularly when a claim or litigation is involved.
Suppose, for example, that you are involved in a motor vehicle accident and you suffer injuries and submit a claim to an insurance company. You might want to keep this in the back of your mind and consider the following: Are any of your social media accounts private, meaning only your approved friends can review your page? Do you know all of the friends on your friends list, and do you only accept requests from people that you actually know? Have you posted anything about the motor vehicle accident and/or your injuries on your respective social media page(s)? Do you frequently post about your extracurricular activities? Now you might ask why any of this would even be relevant to a pending claim for injuries or damages from a motor vehicle accident or workers’ compensation claim.
Just as you might be using social media, keep in mind that insurance adjusters and attorneys are also using social media as a tool to discover information about you, and some might even perform detailed searches about you as a claimant of injuries or damage from a motor vehicle accident or work place injury. They might review your page if it is not otherwise kept private, they might try to obtain access to your page through other channels, or they may inquire about any social media posts during a deposition or during the discovery process in litigation. Specifically, they might be looking for posts or comments about the accident itself, whether you made any admissions about liability, or perhaps looking for items such as posts, photographs or videos about extracurricular activities which they then may use to argue that your injuries or damages are not as severe as they are otherwise being presented. While social media is a great tool for networking, it can also be used for many purposes in the world of litigation and, therefore, you should always think before you post and the better practice is to refrain from posting anything that could be related to a claim or litigation.
Gesmonde, Pietrosimone & Sgrignari, L.L.C. is located in Hamden, CT and serves clients in and around North Haven, Hamden, Waterbury, Bethany, Milford, Wallingford, Prospect, Woodbridge, Northford, Madison, Beacon Falls, Branford, Cheshire, North Branford, East Haven, Naugatuck, Meriden, Ansonia and New Haven County.
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