In trying and challenging times, it’s a normal human instinct to turn to our friends, families, and communities for support. After all, humans are social creatures, and we depend on these kinds of communal connections. But social life has become complicated in many new ways thanks to the advent of the internet and social media.
Worse, social media tends to play off of and reward some of our most volatile instincts and emotions. It’s easy for anger to take control and lead to posting comments that you regret later. Remember, nothing’s ever truly deleted online.
It can be tempting and very easy to make a poor decision on social media in the best of times, and the stress of legal separation can only increase the stakes of such a mistake. In this article, we’ll explore how lawyers and judges use social media in the courtroom and how the clients themselves should use social media during and leading up to proceedings.
Social Media Dos and Don’ts
Let’s start with some concrete rules for using social media. Many of these tips hold true regardless of the specific type of legal action you’re involved in, while others are more relevant to divorce cases in particular.
Do’s
Stop Using Social Media During Your Divorce
The first and arguably most important advice is to consider suspending all social media use until the proceedings are entirely concluded. The surest, most dependable way to avoid making a serious mistake online is to refrain from posting anything in the first place. In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.
Be Extremely Mindful of Usage
It’s possible you can’t leave social media behind altogether for personal or professional reasons, or you simply don’t want to go as far as complete abstinence. In that case, keeping your posting to a strict minimum is vital—only post what’s necessary. Additionally, you should be thoroughly conscientious about what you post and ensure that nothing you say could ever be used to damage your case.
Tighten Security Measures
If you use social media during your legal case, take extra steps to protect your privacy. This includes changing the security settings in all accounts to maximum strength, changing your passwords, and screening who has access to your profiles. You may be friends with someone on a social media platform who is on your ex’s side of the situation and will actively dig through your accounts to find things to use against you.
Don’ts
Don’t Make Disparaging Comments
We’ll start with some easy basics. Posting a criticism or negative comment about the judge, lawyers, your ex, or anyone else involved in the case can easily be used to make you look bad and discredit you in court. If you need to vent, a therapist or trustworthy friend is your best bet.
Don’t Accept New Friend Requests
It’s a common tactic for lawyers involved on the opposing side to create fake accounts and attempt to follow you as a way to gather discrediting or damning evidence against you. Don’t accept new requests until the case is concluded.
Social Media in the Courtroom
Trials and verdicts run on observable evidence presented in court, and in situations as personal as divorce, social media a potential gold mine for either side of the case. Social media posts can be used as evidence in a wide variety of ways depending on the nature of the post and who is making use of them:
- Disparaging comments about any involved party can be used to argue against a person’s character.
- Evidence that you’ve started a new relationship before the divorce is finalized can easily be spun to make a person seem unserious or uncommitted to the marriage in the first place.
- Posting pictures of new expenses such as vacations, home renovations, or even medium-sized purchases can easily be used as evidence of firm financial stability and grounds for you to lose more financially in the separation.
- Posts or comments about the difficulties of parenthood can be used as proof that you are uninvested in or unable to meet the demanding responsibilities of having custody of your child.
This is hardly an exhaustive list, but you can see that it’s easy for even innocent social media usage to have serious impacts on divorce proceedings.
Impact Outside of the Courtroom
Social media usage during a divorce can also have unintended consequences outside the courtroom. Remember, just because someone is not connected to your online accounts doesn’t mean they won’t find out what you’ve said there.
Divorce is a challenging process for everyone involved, but it’s often especially hard and confusing for children. If you make a damaging comment or let slip some information about your ex that you really shouldn’t have, it’s much easier than you think for that message to reach the ears of your child or children. The kids of the splitting couple are often the most prone to suffer from this kind of social media cross-fire, but it can easily affect other family members and friends as well.
Turn to The Gorski Firm For Reliable Legal Advice During Your Divorce
While this is a good introduction to the most important ideas surrounding social media use while involved in divorce proceedings, it’s hardly an exhaustive list. When the stakes for seemingly small decisions can be so high, you should never leave yourself open to committing a social media mistake you can’t undo.
Your best bet in this situation is to seek professional advice and opinions from a trained, trustworthy family law firm. At The Gorski Firm, we always prioritize our clients’ interests and have proven experience getting results for them.
Find out how some of the best divorce experts in the Bakersfield area can help you! Contact us today for a consultation.