Hello! My name is Megan Stone and I am a senior at BASIS Scottsdale
Charter School. As a final project for our last trimester of high school, I, along
with many other classmates, have elected to do a senior research project, which
involves working at an internship for a minimum of 15 hours per week. Along
with this internship, we must conduct research about the topic that we have
chosen to investigate over a time period of ten weeks. After the ten week
period of interning and researching data about our selected topic, we will be
presenting our observations and other findings in a final presentation at the
end of the trimester.
I have not always been interested in law; however, my
interest grew significantly upon taking an Introduction to Law course at BASIS
Scottsdale. In my senior research project, I will expose the dangers of the
casual use of social media in family law. The truth is that people lie,
including clients in family law cases, especially if their case is emotionally
charged and family is on the line. Unfortunately for these clients, many of
them may be overlooking what my come back to bite them. In many cases in modern
family law practice, secrets or lies about a case may be revealed upon viewing
their Facebook wall or their Twitter account. The underlying purpose behind my
research will be to uncover what kinds of cases within family law are most
often affected by information shared on social media, and then to examine the
types of social media that most prevalently expose this information.
Here is a link to my Senior Research Project Proposal: http://meganstonemms.blogspot.com/p/seniorproject-proposal-meganstone.html
Here is a website link to my Internship Location Site: http://www.levinelawgroupaz.com/
See you soon!
I'm excited to learn more about how social media has affected legal cases! It's definitely a great example of how social media has caused a field to change rapidly in only the last several years.
ReplyDeleteThanks Navya!
DeleteI love your topic! Was there anything specific that inspired your interest in social law?
ReplyDeleteThanks Sejal! Ever since my foster sisters lived with me, I've had an interest in social issues and family issues. Only recently has that interest spread into the field of law due to my experiences in my intro to law class.
DeleteSocial media and law, now that's interesting! Any theories on which platform of social media affects cases the most yet?
ReplyDeleteThanks Dylan! For the cases I've been reviewing so far, Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace seem to be the most prevalent platforms of social media influencing the cases. It really depends on what time frame the cases occurred in: the earlier ones seem to involve Myspace more obviously, and the newer ones involve Facebook and Twitter more.
DeleteHi Megan,
ReplyDeletePotentially a fascination topic. "...the casual use of social media in family law" -- can you explain more of what you mean by this, or give examples of cases we might read to get a sense of this problem?
Best,
Mr. Bloom
Thanks Mr. Bloom! What I mean by the "casual use of social media" is that it is actually very common for parties in a law case not to think twice about posting something about their case or about the other party in the case. Some clients are prone to using Facebook or Twitter as a means of venting or expressing emotions. However, some of these emotions or some of the information divulged online may be used against said clients. The use of Facebook and Twitter by clients is often too casual. Many lawyers simply recommend to clients that they delete their social media accounts temporarily -- at least for as long as the case carries on -- to avoid this problem.
DeleteSince social media is such a current phenomenon, I was wondering if there is much case law on this subject. Is it a right to privacy issue?
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael! The problem with the use of social media in family law is not as much a privacy issue as it is an issue with admissible evidence. As for the admissible evidence issue, many people believe that what they post online is private and cannot be used against them in a court of law. However, in recent cases, it is common for judges to admit evidence from sources such as Facebook or other forms of social media. The issue is not with right to privacy itself, but rather with the belief of clients that they have a right to privacy when it comes to social networking, when the fact is that they do not.
DeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteThis is Braden Bloom from Lutheran High School in Parker CO. I find your topic of research rather interesting. I can certainly see how posts on social media can end up hurting someone in court later. So many people in this era of social media will post something without thinking twice about it, even if it is inappropriate, rude, or even just unflattering to their character. What people post can say so much about their personality, values, and desires, but contrary to being able to use social media posts to persecute someone in court, could posts from an individual be used to defend them, if their posts portray them in a positive manner? Or would positive posts just not be used in court to gain leverage of some sort?
Thanks Braden! Yes, posts on Facebook can be used in a positive manner, but more weight is given to the negatives in general. It's a bigger deal in a court of law if someone posts abusive things on Facebook than if one posts nice things on Facebook - the negatives are more likely to make or break a decision.
Delete