Personal injury lawsuits, like any other type of legal procedure, rely on facts. Facts come directly from evidence.
There are many different kinds of evidence that you might use to support your claim. Conversely, the defense might use a variety of types of evidence to undercut your arguments and attempt to prove that they do not need to pay as much as you deserve.
The role of social media in a court case
As you can read on FindLaw, one of the main goals of a personal injury trial is to let a judge decide whether the defendant is responsible for the injuries you claim. In other words, what you claim matters. In terms of social media, this might be very important if you are claiming that the defendant is responsible for non-economic damages, such as psychological distress.
It is common practice among personal injury defense lawyers to look up your social media accounts and scour them for evidence that you might not be in great pain or suffering. It does not always matter what you post. The opposite might simply argue that having the time and energy to post on social media at all indicates that you are not in overwhelming pain.
What you might do to protect your interests
Of course, you might be able to meet such categorical arguments with persuasive rebuttals. However, you might also choose to simply avoid social media, internet chat, email and other types of written communication beyond what is strictly necessary to manage your case and access the care you need.
In the event that your case goes to trial, there could conceivably be an in-depth investigation of all of your communications after your injury. The defense might pick out a seemingly innocuous detail and turn it into a compelling argument against your case.
There is no single winning strategy when it comes to managing social media during a personal injury lawsuit. You might choose to do many things: Modify privacy settings, reduce the frequency of your posts or refrain from posting about the accident or injury, for example. The potential benefit of each course of action would depend on your unique situation.