This remark wasn't made merely to lighten the mood during an otherwise contentious custody battle between two pro se litigants. The Court had just finished hearing about how the defendant posted pictures on Facebook of drinking, drug use and partying. There were Facebook status updates that said "I apologize to my liver in advance" and "I shouldn't be driving #drunk." When these were posted by the defendant there was never a thought that these things would come up in a Court proceeding, which is precisely the problem.
People do not think when they post things on Facebook.
I can tell you that the first thing I do when I've been retained is check the Facebook page of the opposing party. It's a quick, easy and simple way to learn about the other side. If I see pictures of drugs, drinking or other "high risk" behaviors, I make mental notes or better yet I print the offending pages.
You wouldn't believe the things that I've caught people in through their Facebook pages. Here's an example.
John Doe (client) is the father/custodial parent, Jane Doe (opposing party) gave up custody voluntarily two years prior and moved to State X with her boyfriend. Over the course of two years, Jane has no physical contact with the child, and only minimal text message/telephone contact with a then 3 - 5 year old (how effective is text messaging a 4 year old? You tell me). Jane comes to Massachusetts where John and the child reside for a wedding. Jane does not tell John she is in town and does not try to arrange for visitation. During her stay in Massachusetts, Jane is tipped off to a Court Notice in the newspaper that John was charged with A&B on her girlfriend. Jane runs to Court and files Emergency Motion to change custody due to the pending A&B charge.
Now, John comes to me. I jump on Jane's Facebook account and notice that prior to filing the lawsuit Jane has told her friend in State X that she is currently in Massachusetts for a wedding but will be back in State X in a few weeks. At the hearing on her emergency motion Jane tells the Court that she resides in Massachusetts and is capable of caring for the child. Busted. I pull out the Facebook page, and the story about being a Massachusetts resident falls apart. The Court denies the Motion and we proceed with a regular Complaint for Modification (wherein John retains full custody and Jane disappears).
Now, what's the point of that story? Had Jane not posted on her Facebook that she was returning to State X shortly, I would not have had that information prepared so that I could raise the issue to the Court that our concern was of Jane getting temporary custody of the child and disappearing back to State X. Unwittingly Jane provided me with our case.
I've got a number of stories like these. I've seen an opposing party who was prohibited from bringing a child around her ex-boyfriend (and drug dealer) post pictures on her Facebook over the weekend of the drug dealing boyfriend swimming in a hotel pool with the child.
Here's the lesson -- if you're going to have a Facebook profile, make it private. If I can sign on Facebook right now and pull up your entire wall, and photo collection there is a problem (for you). But also, if you're thinking about posting those pictures of you smoking weed with your college roommate during Alumni Weekend maybe you shouldn't do that, maybe it's not a good idea to let the world know on your Facebook page that you drove home "so wasted" last night, or that you're "really hungover" today when you're having visitation with your kids.
Facebook is a nice tool, and I appreciate the significance of social media but please, please, please, do NOT post that on Facebook.
