Social media is generally harmless, but it can have a significant impact on your life, especially when dealing with a Michigan personal injury claim. Your social media posts can influence the outcome of your case, often in ways people only realize when it’s too late. This guide explains how social media can affect personal injury claims and what you should and shouldn’t share.

How Social Media Works

You probably already know how social media operates: after creating an account, you can share text, photos, and videos based on the platform's features. These digital spaces can be visible to your followers, friends, or even the general public, depending on your privacy settings. Social media also encourages interaction, allowing users to like, comment, and share posts.

The content you share acts as an open window into your life, offering others insight into who you are and what’s happening—even if they’ve never met you. During a personal injury claim, this information is accessible to nearly everyone, including the at-fault party's lawyer. Even without social media, oversharing details about your accident can be harmful to your case. Posting about it online only makes matters worse.

How Social Media Posts Can Affect Your Case

Posting about your accident or injuries on social media often leads to contradictions, even if unintended. For instance, you might report severe injuries in your claim but mention feeling fine in a post to a friend. The defense could use this contradiction to undermine your case and reduce the claim’s value.

Even photos or posts that seem unrelated can imply contradictions. If you’re out of work due to injuries but share a picture of yourself at a social event, it could be used to argue your injuries aren't as severe as you claim. Posts from friends tagging you can also negatively impact your case.

It's Best to Stay Off

The safest approach is to avoid social media entirely while your claim is ongoing. However, if that’s too difficult, consider having your lawyer review any content before posting. Adjusting your privacy settings to limit who can see your posts is another step, but keep in mind that the opposing side can seek a court order to access your content if needed.

What If You Have Shared Too Much

If you’ve already shared too much, your first instinct may be to delete the posts—but that can backfire. The opposing side can still recover deleted content and may argue that the removal suggests dishonesty, which could hurt your credibility in court.

While oversharing can affect your case, it doesn’t mean all is lost. A personal injury lawyer can help mitigate the damage and work to secure fair compensation.