Social media has taken over the lives of many people. It is sometimes the only way two people are able to communicate. Distance can be a factor and this is why many people use social media as a means to communicate like Facebook to keep in touch with their friends and family. Social media can be an effective tool for some, while others may see it as a waste of time. There has been an increase of cases about plaintiffs who grossly exaggerate their personal injury claim and are later discovered to have been lying because they said too much through their social media page. They unwisely posted something they should have thought twice about before doing so.
There have been many cases of people who have exaggerated their injuries and were later found guilty of contempt of the court. Many people state that their injuries made them a miserable being by changing their whole life for the worst. As insurance companies will investigate the plaintiffs claim to the last detail, they can find that this person has posted pictures of themselves going out to party’s or updating their status to “having a great time at the movies”. So, how are they miserable? Would the courts view these plaintiffs as credible? Not at all.
This is considered fraud and can be criminally punished. A plaintiff is better off being honest about their injuries, instead of trying to exaggerate them to receive more compensation. Committing this deceitful act can land a person in a worse situation than having gone through their initial accident. The defense would have enough evidence to wreck the plaintiff’s credibility. To this day, social media has been an advantage for many personal injury defendants.
Putting Yourself Under the Bus
In other words, many victims believe that exaggerating the severity of their injuries will land them more money, while this may be true, getting caught can land them in jail. Is it worth it? Just imagine suing a plastic surgeon because of a mistake they did on a nose job and the victim states that they will never be able to be seen in public again. This situation is certainly sad for both parties because the victim might not want to have a social life anymore. What if the defense found pictures of the victim posted on their social media page visibly displaying the surgical error they had as they posed and smiled for the camera?
What would the jury think of the plaintiff after they said they could never be seen in public? They would be viewed as a fraudulent person. It would make the defense have the upper-hand in the case and most likely, the plaintiff would not win the claim.
Sure, using pictures from an online profile can be debatable because the plaintiff can state that they do not want that defect in their face to take over their lives; they want to impersonate themselves as happy when in reality they are dying inside. Although people’s public and private life can be two complete opposites, a person’s alter-ego can be their worst enemy within social media.
