Just about everyone nowadays has a cell phone. More
specifically, most have "smart phones" such as an iphone, Droid, or
Blackberry. With these recent “can't live without” pieces of technology comes
the ability to communicate in numerous forms with virtually anyone, anywhere,
at any time. Because of this recent technological trend, people are more prone
to open themselves up to a greater degree of liability as it pertains to their
communications. In other words, we as a society need to really watch what we
say within the realm of texts, emails, and social networking sites as said
communication could be held against us in a court of law.
Practically everyone, including their mothers (and
grandmothers) are on Facebook. Facebook is currently the holy grail of the
social networking sites and people post everything on there from how tired they
are to how much they enjoy chocolate. Due to its public nature, people don't
often realize that when they post their dirty laundry on other peoples
"wall," said communication can be taken and interpreted out of
context. When parties, such as bickering spouses enter litigation in Family
Court, these prior communications can come into play and may prove to be at the
detriment of the deponent. More often than not, what people post on sites such
as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace is meant to be taken in jest. However, on its
face, the posts could be interpreted differently and the deponent often has an
uphill battle in demonstrating the appropriate context in which it was meant to
be taken.
Within the last few years, the concept of text messaging has
really become popular within the world of communications, so much so that
people often text one another when they are in the same room! This is another
area where the information provided within the confines of a text could be
drastically misleading and misinterpreted. If one goes through the right
channels, a transcript of text chats can be obtained and are often submitted in
court as evidence during trial. These types of transcripts do not always hold
up under scrutiny, but one should be careful when posting on Facebook and
similar sites in order to avoid such hassle.
So the next time you text a friend, co-worker, or family
member, be sure that it is appropriate and within the boundaries of the law.
Some texts can come back to haunt you. Just ask Brett Favre and Tiger Woods.
