FAMILY LAW ARTICLES

How social media could hurt your child custody case

Social media has become a place for everyone to talk about the goings on in their life and the lives of others. Without considering consequence, we ‘like’ certain pages, engage with articles that peak an interest, give into discussions with people we don’t know, upload photos of our kids, post statues about parenting woes or anything else that comes to mind. The freedom of social media is overwhelming and can sometimes cause a lot of trouble during a child custody case.

Here are a few things to consider about your social media use while fighting a child custody case:

The internet it permanent

First and foremost, anything you share on social media can be used against you, even if the post or comment is immediately deleted after the fact. People spend much of their time engaging with social media, which means there’s always a chance that someone saw it and snapped a screen shot of it. The only way to keep something completely private is to keep it off the internet.

Alcohol related posts

You might be thinking, “But my ex knows I go out every other Saturday with my girlfriends and it’s never been a problem before!” You’ve also never been in a custody battle before, so anything to lessen your character could be used to make you look bad. Your ex might not have the intention of using nights out with your friends against you but their lawyer isn’t concerned with your character and will look for any opportunity to weaken your case.

Dating site profiles

Your marriage is over and you want to get back out into the dating world. If your divorce hasn’t been finalized, it might be a good idea to wait before signing up for any online dating sites. If you are already a user of an online dating site or app, be very cautious about your behavior and any descriptions you might have written about yourself. If your profile signifies that you’re looking for a ‘hookup.’ The courts might say you’re putting the welfare of your child at risk by ‘hooking up’ with random strangers in your house.

Also, having a profile that says, “Single, with no kids,” is a definite no-no. Why would you want to date someone who doesn’t want your kids in their life anyway?

Venting about an active court case

Under no circumstance should you talk about an active court case online. Using social media to vent about issues surrounding the case or people involved with the case will look negatively on you. If you need to vent, call a friend or family member. Stay off your computer.

Selfies

We live in a selfie world; you can’t skim Instagram or Facebook without scrolling past a plethora of selfies. Most of these seflies don’t have much to do with the background surroundings or their actual location; they have more to do with the person it features, how they look, what they’re wearing or what cause they might be supporting.

If you are a gal who indulges in the selfie game, be mindful that you’re not being provocative or otherwise assuming.

Angry updates

The accessibility of social media makes it the go-to place for dealing with your frustrations. If you have bad service, you may write a negative review. If you don’t agree with something posted in your news feed, you might choose to comment and engage in a heated discussion. However, you need to practice your best patience and refrain from writing anything that makes you seem angry, especially if you’ve been known to have anger management issues. If you can easily fly off the handle on Facebook, who’s to say that you won’t fly off the handle when one of your kids acts out?