Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Social media accounts offer others a fun and interesting window into your world. But if you’re going through a divorce, social media posts can have serious implications and consequences, doing more harm than good.

They can adversely affect a wide range of issues: custody disputes, division of property, and spousal or child support decisions. Suddenly, what was once an enjoyable way to pass the time becomes a challenge to be overcome in court.

Keeping secrets in the information age is no easy task. California law allows for the discovery of information that is “not privileged” and is “reasonably calculated” to lead to discoverable evidence. What that means is that, even if you have restricted the privacy settings on your social media accounts, the court may still allow certain posts to be used for or against you. Here’s how you can be affected:

• Child Custody and Support Proceedings. If your divorce involves issues of child custody and support, you should take extreme care in what you post. Even if they are otherwise innocent, posts referencing alcohol or drug use, brand new cars or homes, trips, dating stories, and new relationships can all affect custodial and support awards. Think twice or thrice before you post to a social media site. If there’s a chance a post could have a negative impact, it’s probably best to not post.
• Divorce Proceedings. More than 80% of divorce attorneys nationwide have used social media as a valuable tool for collecting evidence to present to the court. And as long as requests can be argued to appear reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, courts have allowed them. What can you do? Act as if every social media post – or any other electronic communication like email – can and will be used against you in court. And keep in mind that friends you and your former spouse shared during the marriage may be alerting him or her to posts (or even private messages) you make or send.
• Restraining and Protective Orders. If you have a restraining or protective order in place, commenting on, liking, or tagging your former spouse may be enough to violate the order. Courts are more frequently viewing social media speech the same way they do “live” conversations. Be incredibly careful in what you post.

Visitation Rights.

Social media and technology is not all bad news for your divorce. For divorced parents living a distance from each other, it can allow children to engage in ordered visitation schedules. Webcams and video chats allow for virtual visits and some states have passed specific laws that allow electronic communication to supplement face-to-face visitations.

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Many spouses going through a divorce freely text, email and update their status without considering the strategic risks and dangers that come along with these types of electronic communications. Before you post your next social media update or hit that send button, stop and think about the effect it might have on your divorce proceedings. An experienced California family law attorney can explain more about the implications of using social media during your divorce. While it may be an important part of your life, you may ultimately decide it’s best to stay off social media while your case is pending.