How to Use Social Media Properly During the Florida Divorce Process

There are many things divorcees should do during divorce proceedings to protect their best interests when they use social media.

Many people in Florida use social media sites to connect with new people and to stay in touch with their friends and family members. Although these sites can be used as helpful networking tools, those in the midst of ending their marriage should be careful about how they use them during divorce proceedings.

Often, information collected from social media sites is used as evidence during proceedings related to child custody, alimony and property division, states Forbes. For example, if a spouse claims that he or she cannot pay alimony, but his or her profile has pictures of a new car or an expensive vacation on it, this assertion may not be upheld by the court. Or, if a spouse posts negative comments about his or her former spouse on the Internet, the court may not award this spouse sole custody during child custody proceedings.

To ensure that information collected online does not negatively impact the outcome of divorce proceedings, there are several things that divorcees can do to protect themselves on the Internet. According to The Huffington Post, these include some of the following:

• Use social media to coordinate offline activities – during the divorce process, former spouses should use social media sites to connect with their friends and family members in order to maintain a strong support system.
• Refrain from posting about their former spouse – those in the midst of the divorce process should avoid posting negative or accusatory statuses about their ex-spouse on social media sites. Divorcees may also want to avoid posting anything about their former spouse online, regardless of whether it is negative or not.
• Change their passwords – in many marriages, spouses share the passwords to their social media accounts with each other. As divorce proceedings commence, former spouses should change these passwords to ones that their ex-spouse would not be able to guess.
• Remove old photos from their profiles – during divorce proceedings, spouses may find that they constantly go back and look through old photographs of their marriage online. To help themselves heal emotionally, divorcees should consider removing some of these pictures from their social media profiles.

Additionally, in many cases, former spouses may benefit from staying off of social media entirely until their divorce is finalized.

As divorce proceedings begin, divorcees in Florida may worry about how their online activities could have an impact on their life now and in the future. If you have similar concerns, turn to an attorney in your area to determine what you can do to protect your best interests both online and offline.