People need to be careful about what they put online. This is something I advise my personal injury clients all the time. If you've been seriously injured in a semi accident, for example, you need to think twice before you publish something on Twitter or update your Facebook status. Even if you think you have all your setting set to private, the trucking company's investigators might still be able to keep tabs on you. It's important that you don't say anything which could be misconstrued or used against you to make your injuries appear any less serious than they really are.
It seems that it's not just individuals who have been hurt in a traffic wreck that need to be careful about their use of social media either. Jonathan Hudson, 22, was a juror sitting on a Fort Worth car crash trial last month when he attempted to friend the defendant, Courtney Downing, on Facebook. Downing informed her lawyer who promptly notified the Tarrant County judge in charge of the civil case, Wade Birdwell. Hudson was thrown off a car crash trial and has been sentenced to two days of community service for his actions.
As a Fort Worth accident and injury attorney, I have a love/hate relationship with social media sites. On the one hand, I think they provide a great opportunity for sharing ideas and communicating with all sorts of people from all around the world. On the other hand, lots of people forget that what they put online can affect them in real life too. That's what happened with Hudson, and it's exactly what can happen if you're an accident victim with a pending case.
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