Social Media Blunders That Will Affect Your Divorce

Think before you speak is a common saying. Not so common is the saying think before you type. Little surprise then that Social media continues to land people in the middle of a divorce battle in hot water. One deliberate slip of the index finger could cost you a lot of money, or affect your life in other negative ways. Here’s how, and the steps you should take to avoid them.

Who’s Even Looking?

The majority of lawyers use social media evidence in divorce cases. And while you may assume wild swipes at your soon to be ex spouse, the judiciary system, or issues related to your divorce may be the prime target for interested observers, your overall demeanour may be scrutinised. For example, if your posts are usually of a certain nature (historically) and then begin to take a more sinister tone, to suggest that you are not in a stable frame of mind – even something that appears so trivial could make a difference if a divorce becomes difficult. It could affect how your divorce proceeds and how any assets are divvied up. Depending on the severity of such evidence, it could have an impact on how reliable you are to provide a trustworthy account of events.

Check Your Privacy Settings

First thing to check is who can actually see the information you are posting on social media, before attending to what you actually post. Facebook in particular, has an advanced set of privacy settings for you to control who can and cannot see your posts among other things. It makes sense to check these settings periodically, but if you’re in the middle of a divorce then it’s even more important to stay on top of them. The stricter these controls, the better. However, it’s not a foolproof way of stopping social media evidence from reaching the courtroom. Those 500 friends you have? They may not all be on your side and most of them know how to take a screenshot…

Think Before You Click

It’s all too easy to click ‘share’ or ‘retweet’ on social media. You may not give it a second thought and have merely shared the content because it represents your current state of mind or resonates with you in some other way. Although sharing something doesn’t necessarily mean an endorsement, it could cause upset to any children or other family involved in your divorce. Divorce can affect people in a lot of ways, so handling yourself with dignity and leading by example (although easier said than done) will help reduce tensions at this extremely emotional time. Think before you click.

Writer’s Bio: Lewis Murawski is the Marketing Director at Kahootz Media. He has been ranking websites on the first page of Google for more than 10 years. Connect with Lewis on LinkedIn.