In today’s society, publishing our lives on social media has become the new norm. Thirty years ago, an individual’s life was private and family “drama” was kept in the family. However, in today’s fast paced world a person put everything, and I mean everything, on his or her social media page. I cannot tell you the number of times I have been scrolling through a social media page and think to myself, “why would someone put this out there for the whole world to see?” In fact, just the other day I saw a post where a mom was bragging that her son did a number two on his potty, and to make it worst there was an accompanying photograph.
We constantly warn our children not to put things on the internet because they will always be out there for the world to see; yet when we, as the adults, are posting things to social media we do not heed our own warnings. This can become a real issue, especially when the individual is involved in some sort of litigation or dispute.
My first warning to all of my clients when they retain my services is to stay away from all forms of social media. With the internet now being literally at our finger tips, few can pass up the urge to post that photo, message, or statement to their page. However, what you may not know is that attorneys, including myself, go straight to social media and look at the parties pages and posts to get potentially incriminating evidence, which can be used in court proceedings.
I always tell my clients the following: 1) That everything he or she has posted now has the potential of becoming evidence in the case and 2) That if he or she now removes the posts then he or she is destroying evidence, which is a punishable crime.
That’s when my client usually looks panicked because he or she remember that Spring Break photo that was posted a couple months ago, then I’m asked, “what do I do then if I cannot remove incriminating post and evidence?” And I respond, you cannot remove the post, but you can do the following: 1) unfriend or delete people from your page, 2) limit who can view your page or heighten your security, 3) just shut down your page until the litigation is over, and 4) limit and watch what you post going forward.
Here’s a little tip, if you are going through a divorce it may not be a good idea to “friend” your spouse, his or her family, or friends who have chosen sides.
My advise to my clients, potential clients, and everyone in general: be conscious about what you post on social media, this also goes for texts, emails, letters, and even carrier pigeons.
A good rule of thumb is if you’re going to post something on a social media site or send a message to someone that is relevant to litigation: first take a step back and consider what you are posting, typing or writing and then ask yourself “would I want my Pastor and Mother to see this?” and if the answer is no, then hit delete. Basically, use your Mother’s Rule, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”