Posts tagged "social media"

Many people in New Jersey have developed an online presence through social media websites and platforms. Between Facebook, Twitter, Friendster and others, there are a multitude of ways a person can interact with existing friends and even make new ones.

But when marriages turn sour and lead to divorce, social media can take an ill-fated turn toward becoming a liability for those who use it. With so much personal information divulged on these sites, more and more divorce attorneys are turning to social media to dig up information and build cases against their clients' ex-spouses.

Several years ago, if divorce attorneys wanted to dig up dirt on their client's spouse, they had to hire a private investigator. But with the advent of social media websites, divorce attorneys are able to take sleuthing into their own hands. In fact, the information gathered on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter can make or break a New Jersey divorce case.

The truth is that your activity on social media websites can say a lot about your mental state, behavior, whereabouts and other telling information. For example, if your kids are spending the night in your care and you "check-in" on Facebook at a local bar, it will not look good for your custody case.

For many people, text messaging is now their primary form of communicating. But what this also means is that everything that's said is documented, unlike phone conversations. This is why people involved in family law proceedings should be careful what they say to exes via text message and email.

In fact, a survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers revealed that 92 percent of family law attorneys saw a dramatic increase in the number of cases that use evidence taken from cellphones over the past three years. In particular, 94 percent reported seeing an increase in text messages being used as evidence.