Using Social Media During a Divorce – How It Can Hurt You

 Posted on December 22, 2014 in Divorce

Social media currently plays a major role in our society. More and more people of all ages are signing up for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media websites. Many people increasingly turn to social media during their divorce to voice their feelings, meet new people, or in hopes of gaining support from loved ones. As much as you may enjoy using Facebook or another preferred social media platform, it is important to understand that certain actions on social media websites may be used against you during your divorce.

The Reality

As strange as it may seem, there may be people actively searching your social media accounts in an attempt to dig up information to use against you in your divorce case. A study a few years back stated that Facebook was the biggest source of social media evidence to use during divorce cases at the time. Although your spouse’s attorney may not be actively searching the web for your accounts, mutual friends, your ex’s family members, or often times your ex may be doing just that.

What Type Of Information Could Actually Hurt Me?

Although the vast majority of information you post on social media likely is not relevant to your divorce proceeding, information about how you parent and how you spend your money can easily relate to an important issue in your case. Common examples of posts that relate to these issues include pictures of you attending a wild party, vacation posts of you with a new boyfriend or girlfriend, and posts showing off a new car or other big purchase.

How to Protect Yourself

One key rule to remember is not to write anything down (on paper or on the internet) that you would not want your judge to see. This applies to nasty notes to your ex, text messages to him or her, and any other form of communication that can exist long enough to be gathered and provided to your judge.

Along the same lines, try to avoid going on social media websites when you are upset about the divorce case or your ex in general – it is easy to write something in the heat of the moment that you may not be able to take back.

Another thing to remember is to be aware of the people around you taking pictures that you know may later be posted onto social media. Pictures can easily be misconstrued, so consider talking with friends about not posting pictures of you in situations where it could easily look like you were out partying or not properly supervising your children.

It is important to understand you may not be able to simply delete a post that you realize may be used against you later on. Generally, parties involved in litigation have a duty to preserve evidence that they know or should know will likely be requested later in the litigation.

Reach Out to an Attorney for Help