These days, many of us live our lives online. We all have that friend, relative or old classmate who documents everything about themselves on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. While you don’t go that far, you like to share your major accomplishments and life events, and getting divorced certainly would qualify.
Social media mistakes divorcing Minnesotans make
But be careful. Discussing your divorce or your ex on social media can easily backfire. Here are five things you should never do on social media while going through a divorce.
- Announcing your divorce by yourself. If your breakup is reasonably amicable, you might upset your ex if you announce it on your social media without letting them know first, which can make your divorce more difficult. Consider a joint announcement, if possible.
- Trashing your ex. It can be very tempting to vent your anger and disappointment toward your spouse, but this can hurt you in the long run. This is especially true if you have children together. If you offend your ex, they could make negotiating child custody and child support orders difficult, or violate their terms later. Assume they will read anything you write about them online.
- Oversharing. Similarly, putting all your personal drama online can harm your relationships and career. Few people other than your closest friends want to read the details about what happened, and those posts could come up when a potential employer does a background check on you.
- Posting pictures of big-ticket purchases. Say your ex claims that there is not that much marital property to divide up, but then you see a picture they posted on Instagram of them leaning on their new Mercedes. Don’t put anything on your social media that might contradict your financial claims in your divorce case.
- Having an unhealthy relationship with your ex’s social media. Stalking your ex through their Facebook and Twitter will prevent you from moving on. At the same time, you should resist the urge to block their posts permanently. If you are co-parenting, you might want to use social media as a way of keeping them in the loop.
In modern times, your divorce attorney should be able to give you guidelines for how to discuss your divorce on social media in a way that does not damage your financial or parental interests. More importantly, they will use multiple tools to help you reach a workable settlement or go to court if necessary.
