If you’re like most people, you have at least a Facebook account. But the chances are high that you also have an Instagram account. You may even have a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Snapchat account among others.
It’s no secret, social media is now deeply woven into the fabric of our lives. We use Facebook to connect with friends and family. We use LinkedIn to build our business network and find new income opportunities. We use Instagram to share pictures and follow our favorite athletes, fitness models, and celebrities. The list goes on and on.
If you’re like most people and you scroll and post on your social media accounts daily, a divorce can throw a wrench in things. And, if you don’t think social media can have an impact on your divorce, we beg to differ. Unfortunately, what you do on social media can hurt your divorce and vice versa, so should you conduct a social media fast during the divorce process?
Should You Stay Off Social Media?
Here’s the deal: Even though divorce is technically about dividing marital assets, it’s also a volatile and highly-emotional process for a lot of people. If you aren’t careful on social media, you can infuriate your spouse, and that is the last thing you want to have happened while you’re trying to reach a fair divorce settlement.
Where people tend to make mistakes is in three departments: 1) posting pictures of them spending money, 2) posting pictures of them partying, and 3) posting pictures with romantic partners – all of these can cause an amicable divorce to quickly turn into a litigated divorce. Or at least, they can impact spousal support and child custody.
What NOT to post on social media during divorce:
- Anything discussing the divorce
- Anything that paints your spouse in a bad light
- Pictures of you spending money
- Pictures of you drinking alcohol
- Pictures of you in revealing clothing
- Pictures of you partying
- Pictures of you on dates or with romantic partners
Should you stay off social media during your divorce? In many divorce attorneys’ opinion, it is wise to stay off social media until one’s divorce is over, or at least people should avoid posting anything or commenting on anything that could be linked to their divorce case. It is safe to scroll through your news feed but not comment, but ideally, you would stay off social media altogether until your divorce is final.
If that is too challenging, our advice is to always ask yourself before you comment or post, “Would I mind if my spouse, their attorney, or the judge saw this post?” If you are confident the post could not be used against you, go ahead and post. But if you want to err on the side of caution take our advice, stay off social media until the divorce is finalized.