Social Media – What a Tangled Web We Weave

Social media has become the fabric of our lives. Many people identify themselves through their social media. Users share things on social edia without thinking through the possible consequences. 

Not every “friend” is a friend, and “private” no longer means private. 

Social media and electronic devices are a family lawyer’s most valuable place to gain evidence, especially in a divorce or custody case. All electronic devices such as cell phones, iPads, and computers, and their content is evidence, as is offsite data storage. Some social media, such as Facebook, can produce an entire Facebook page (expanded and archived), that can be  downloaded. 

Valuable financial and asset information can be obtained on social media because people often boast about raises, promotions, vacations, and their assets. Valuable information about a person’s social life can be constructed. Social media can prove behavior patterns that cannot be denied.  

Deleting information on social media and electronic devices can yield severe consequences. In Texas, “spoliation” is defined as the improper destruction of evidence relevant to a case. 

If there is information which reveals facts or information relevant to a case, the deletion of that evidence could be spoliation.  If an attorney believes the other party has destroyed evidence, the attorney can ask for sanctions and for the court to assume that the evidence was detrimental to the spoliator.

Users should not put anything on social media, including messaging, that they would not want seen by others or a court. Users should not delete anything from social media or electronic devices if a lawsuit is anticipated, unless they have received specific advice from an attorney and understand the potential consequences in doing so.

Social media activity is not only public, it is permanent. Everything in social media can be used as evidence. And with the explosion of social media, detrimental and irresponsible behavior is now easier to discover than ever before. “Privacy” is a thing of the past.  

“Our bravest and best lessons are not learned through success, but through misadventures.”  — Amos Bronson Alcott