There was an order last week from an Indiana Federal Court ruling that information posted on social networking sites (SNS) is discoverable over privacy objections.
Here is a link to an article discussing the topic of using SNS in divorce cases specifically.
A portion of the article:
Elizabeth K. Englander, professor of psychology at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, says people divulge information on social media because they believe no one will ever see the information they post.
"The sense online is sort of like the mob effect," Englander said. "You feel like you're one in a million, and so who will ever notice you?"
But when someone does notice, that's when some divorce attorneys pounce. Information copied from social media sites can sway the outcome of alimony payment disputes and custody fights, attorneys say. Some parents have even lost a child because of the behavior they exhibited online, the lawyers say.
The ultimate goal, after all, is to catch a spouse in a lie. Sometimes it's a wife claiming she can't afford child support payments but subsequently purchased expensive jewelry and posted photos of the items on Facebook. Or if a husband who claims he doesn't have anger problems while his social media profile is loaded with expletives. Once there is evidence of a person caught in an obvious lie, attorneys say, it undermines the rest of their credibility with the judge.
Consider how much of your information is findable and how/why you are using SNS. The article suggests learning and using the privacy controls, or getting off of SNS entirely. Here is a link and discussion of the Facebook privacy controls.
For more on this topic see an earlier post.
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