Social Networking sites such as Facebook are extremely popular with folks these days. They are also extremely dangerous.
On the criminal side, it’s amazing to see that people who are on probation, where they agree that they will not do an activity such as consuming alcohol, will readily put up photos of them having a good time with their friends and often times holding a beer. It’s a direct violation and the probation officer doesn’t really have to do any work to find a reason to violate someone’s probation.
On the civil side, it is not unusual for insurance companies to conduct investigations of people’s internet activities in order to find evidence that they can use to their advantage. Even innocent photos depicting daily activities or family events can be used to say that a person is lying about their conditions following a work or auto related injury.
This is always a MAJOR point of evidence in Domestic Law. Facebook photos and status updates are used constantly to catch a party lying or engaging in bad behavior with children. You can always guarantee that someone is looking at your updates and photos, and then printing them out to give to the judge.
For these reasons, people should be cautious with regard to what information they place into the public arena. Too often people think that their online activities are private since they are just talking to their friends. They are not. I suggest that if you have an online presence, you should always keep one thing in mind: Never put anything online that you don’t want a juror, your mother, a Judge, or your baby’s mama/daddy to see. It’s really that simple.