Personal Injury in the Era of Social Media

Written by Kenneth B. Crawford

Over the last decade, a significant development in car, truck and motorcycle accident cases is the rise of online social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For those of you who have a social media account, it is fun to share notable life events such as an interesting vacation, running a race or just hanging out with friends. Oftentimes, social media portrays the best aspects of our lives, and not the mundane or painful. For example, posting a selfie with the caption, “Ow! My back is aching when I sit for more twenty minutes at work” or “waiting in the doctor’s office again!” would not be very interesting for your family and friends. Your close family and friends likely know the “other” side of your life, as close friends and family rely on each other for support. But this is not something you share with the world at large online.

As a result, insurance companies and personal injury defense lawyers will attempt to unfairly use this against you when negotiating your accident or injury claim. They will argue that what you portray on social media is a complete picture of your life, when in fact it is only a very small fraction of the very best times. This is something to keep in mind if you have been the unfortunate victim of car accident, truck wreck, dog bite or slip and fall accident. Our lawyers and staff at Hartley, Rowe and Fowler, P.C., will ask you about and sometimes review your public social media to make sure it is not portraying an unrealistic portion of your life. In addition, if your personal injury case goes into litigation, defense lawyers will ask you to print your “private” social media that you only share with your family and friends!

That said, the goal of your medical care and your legal team is to get you back as closely medically and financially to where you were pre-accident, which includes having fun and taking vactions. Feel free to discuss this with your legal team if you have any questions or concerns about your use of social media following an accident.

Kenneth Crawford is a lawyer practicing in Douglasville, Villa Rica, Carrollton Hiram, West Cobb, Marietta and Atlanta. He handles car accidents, truck wrecks, tractor-trailer accidents, dog bites, products liability and other personal injury cases. Call for a free consultation today!

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