[fusion_dropcap boxed=”no” boxed_radius=”” class=”” id=”” color=”” text_color=””]S[/fusion_dropcap]ocial media is intertwined in our lives in ways we would not have believed even ten years ago.
During this pandemic, social media is a great way to stay in touch with your friends and people that you are forced to be separate from.
In many ways, however, social media can be a source of trouble if you have a worker’s compensation claim.
Most of us have a Facebook page. Some people post a lot of things to it; some people post very few things to it. Most people have their privacy settings relatively low, allowing friends of friends to view their page.
When I have my initial interview with potential clients, I tell them I am going to send them a Social Media Agreement. Signing the agreement means that they will not post anything about their injury on social media. I also instruct them to set their privacy settings as high as possible and to instruct their friends and relatives to do the same. It is possible to let only your friends observe your page. The reason you want to do this is because some people like to get as many followers as possible. If your privacy settings allow friends of friends to view your page, then anything you post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. can be seen by virtually anyone.
Insurance companies exist to take in premiums and not to pay out benefits and if they can catch an injured person exceeding their limitations or doing something that is incompatible with their injury, they will use that to deprive that person of benefits.
Approximately ten years ago I represented a client whose friend or family member posted a video on his Facebook page that was inconsistent with condition he
had suffered as a consequence of the injury he had experienced. In the context of a low back herniated disc injury, a video was posted of him driving his quad on the dunes at the coast. The value of the case when down dramatically once the insurance company found out.
Some people advertise a business on Facebook, and if you are going to do that you need to set up a separate page that is different from who you are on Facebook. Otherwise you are going to have to make your entire page public and anything inappropriate that is posted on your page by you or someone else will now be discoverable by the insurance company.
