Social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have many advantages. They connect and reconnect us to people in our lives, provide us with platforms to share what’s on our minds, and can be particularly useful in conveying information quickly. However, they can also be detrimental when a person is going through a divorce or post-decree matter. Many people going through a family law matter do not consider how social media can affect their case.
You probably have not considered that your social media posts can be used against you in Court by your spouse or ex-spouse. Your posts, uploaded photos, and even other posts you “like” or comment on can be entered into evidence. Even when you are not scheduled to be in Court, you should consider that anything you post on the internet or social media is never really private. Contrary to popular belief, this is true no matter your privacy settings. It is crucially important to consider what content you publish or post to the internet and how it could be received by the Court. It may be better to ease your involvement on social media for a period of time.
The same is true for your e-mail, phone records, instant messages, and in more limited cases, text messages. Your spouse could gain access to all of these methods of communication via subpoena and enter them as evidence in front of the Court. Talk to your lawyer about how your internet and social media presence could affect your case.