Social media is more than just an entertaining distraction for the young. Pew Research Center reports that 68 percent of adults in the U.S. use Facebook, most on a regular basis. This is the highest rate among all social media platforms, but others are still popular and thriving. These outlets allow you to keep in touch with friends and family, share your memories and opinions, discover new information, and connect with people all over the world.
However, like everything in life, social media has a downside. It can provide incriminating evidence in all sorts of cases: criminal, divorce and even Social Security disability.
Why does social media use matter?
You may not think twice before posting a photo of yourself spending time with loved ones. To you, it may seem innocent, but to those deciding your case, it can reveal a reason why they should deny your application for Social Security disability benefits.
For example, if you claim you are in too much pain to leave the house but post a photo of yourself having a good time in public, this will not look good. Even if that happened to be a good day, a milestone event you had to attend or an old post you reshared, it can be challenging to disprove the incrimination.
What are good tips for smart social media use?
The best thing you can do during the SSDI application process is to stay off social media altogether. Do not fall for the deception that privacy settings will protect you. The court can access your accounts to see what you have posted. Friends can also share your posts, and their privacy settings may not be as secure as yours. The bottom line is that nothing is truly private.
Likewise, nothing is truly erasable either. Deleting status updates and photos does not make them irretrievable. Anything that goes online leaves a permanent record, so be careful what you post, no matter how harmless it seems.