After an accident, your online activity can become part of the evidence reviewed by insurance adjusters and defense attorneys. They may use your posts, photos, comments, tags and check-ins to question what happened or how severely your injuries affected your daily life.
Maryland uses contributory negligence. If you did something careless that helped cause the accident, you may be unable to recover damages.
How posts can affect your case
Insurance adjusters look for any activity that contradicts your reported injuries or your account of the accident. For example, they may use a “check-in” at a gym or a photo of you smiling at a social event to question your pain levels and physical limitations, even if the post does not tell the whole story.
Similarly, casual comments about the crash or jokes about your recovery can be taken out of context to undermine your credibility. Even content you did not share yourself, such as being tagged in a friend’s video, can be used to argue that your daily life is less impacted than your medical records suggest.
Steps that may help protect your claim
You do not have to stop communicating with people, but you should be careful about what you share while a case is pending. Consider these steps:
- Avoid discussing the accident, your injuries or your treatment online.
- Do not share photos or videos of physical activities, travel or social events.
- Ask friends and family not to tag you in posts or photos.
- Review your privacy settings, but do not assume they make your posts safe.
- Save messages, photos or other online content that may relate to the accident.
You should also avoid deleting, editing or hiding old posts without understanding whether you should preserve them. Removing content after a legal action begins can create separate problems if the defense argues that you destroyed relevant evidence.
Protecting the focus of your case
While social media activity alone may not determine the outcome of your personal injury claim, it can influence the defense’s strategy. To keep the focus on your medical records and the facts of the accident, limit your online activity during your claim. If you have questions about how your digital footprint affects your case, consider speaking with an experienced legal professional.