Social media websites have become a huge part of our daily lives. We post status updates, photos, and videos to update our friends and family about what’s going on in our lives. Communicating through social media is so popular because it doesn’t take a lot of time and it’s pretty easy to learn. While there are dozens of reasons why social networking is great, there is one major downside if you are an injured worker: your online activity may be used against you.

If you’ve been injured in a work accident, your employer may try to find a way to make it seem like your injury is not as serious as you claim. They could find your Facebook and Twitter usernames to see if something you posted can be used to weaken your argument. Insurance agents can also legally set higher premiums and adjust claims simply by skimming your social media profiles.

What can you do to protect yourself?

• Think before you post.
• Make sure you set up privacy settings for your pages.
• Most importantly, be honest. Your social media content shouldn’t affect your case if you don’t post anything that contradicts your injury report.