Tips for Using Social Media to Perform Due Diligence

Social media platforms are a great place to interact and share information about your life, business, education, career, and even photos. Some people share bad and good experiences with mixed reactions and emotions without minding the consequences of the posts. Most attorneys look for evidence on social media concerning offenders. In short, social media are a platform where people can draw a lot of information to make informed decisions.

It is a valuable tool with a wealth of data used to analyze situations and provide answers to multiple issues or questions. Here are tips for using social media platforms to perform due diligence.

Social Media Help in Monitoring Clients and Crime Offenders

Sometimes, social media make things easier for lawyers looking for evidence against offenders. If someone posts misleading or emotional information on their social media accounts, a lawyer can use it as evidence in court.

For instance, if an accident occurs, the at-fault party may rush to their social media accounts giving information that shows they got involved in an accident. Unfortunately, some people do not realize that the information can be used against them.

A lawyer will go through the social media account of the offender and extract factual information to use against them when seeking compensation for the victim. Even if the poster denies the allegation, it might be too late for them because their social media posts clearly show that they were involved in the act.

Using Social Media as Evidence

Once a lawyer finds the information posted on social media, they will have concrete evidence to present the data to the court or insurance company of the offender. This gives the poster slim chances of denying the allegations because there is clear evidence that they were involved in a crime or an accident. It makes a lawyer’s work easier and quickens the case, giving the victim a higher chance of winning the case.

The New York Times reported that Morgan Roof was arrested in March 2018 because she made a post on Snapchat supporting the shooting of people protesting gun violence. While this was a post on her account, other students saw it and reported it to the school authorities.

During her arrest, police discovered marijuana and a knife in her possession, giving enough evidence that supports her social media post about advocating for the shooting of people protesting gun violence and other crimes.

Verification of Business Contacts and Information

Some people often want to find out the kind of business they are about to transact with. Social media are the best place to verify if the business is legit or get contact information.

Most organizations have quality information on their social media accounts that can guide you in making informed decisions. Here are several ways that social media help you to confirm business information.

• It enables you to confirm verified phone numbers before you make a call.
• You can confirm verified email addresses to send your email to.
• The views and testimonials can help you determine the kind of organization you want to transact with.
• Use social media to verify the right websites to get more information.
• Social media let you know whether the business is a legally registered entity or not.

This is crucial information to help you make informed decisions when purchasing goods or services. It will also help you avoid contacting businesses with a bad reputation that do not care about the quality of service they provide to their customers.

The Bottom Line

From the above information, it is clear that social media are a great tool that can help you learn new things and make quality decisions. There is so much more that social media can offer when performing due diligence. If you want to learn more about that, contact us for more quality information.