You’re going through a tough divorce. You’re upset, angry and frustrated by your ex’s recent actions, so you grab your phone and fire off a quick tweet to your measly 87 followers to vent. No big deal, right?

Wrong.

What may seem like a teeny, tiny action could have huge consequences in your divorce — both legally and financially. And it’s understandable if you don’t already know that; divorce may be your first experience with the legal system and the intricacies of what you can and cannot do are often buried in legal jargon.

Social media is never private.

Believe it or not, Facebook posts, tweets, Instagram photos and the like can all be used against you in a divorce case. People think they can get around that reality by simply blocking their ex and all of his or her friends — but that won’t help.

Posting anything on social media is like standing on your front lawn with a megaphone, in other words, everyone can hear you.

Don’t think that blocking an ex is effective; it isn’t. He or she can still log in under a friend’s account, make a fake account or get their friends to take screenshots of your posts. And it’s unrealistic for someone to un-friend every person their ex knows. The Internet is written in pen not pencil.

Deleting a post won’t help and may make things worse.

Let’s say you’ve posted photos of you on holidays spending money you say you don’t have, or you’ve written negative, defamatory comments about your ex. Whatever you do, don’t delete those posts.

Deleting things can cause issues as its deleting evidence. Once it’s out there, it’s out there.

Social media can be used against you, even if you’re not the one doing the posting.

Just because you personally don’t post something does not mean it can’t be held against you in a court of law. It comes up in child custody cases a lot. For example, if parents are sharing custody and their 15-year-old posts a picture drinking alcohol at a party on his or her own Facebook page, that photo can be used against the parent who was technically “on the clock” as evidence of unfit parenting.

Even a video that is meant to be cute — like a child bouncing on a trampoline — can be viewed as showcasing a “dangerous” activity. So it’s important to be mindful of what others around you are doing and posting in connection with you.

Appearance is everything, and social media may tell the wrong story.

The problem with social media is that posts are taken out of context and, when strung together, may tell a story that paints you in a negative light.

A Twitter rant could be the result of a 30-second delay in judgment and filled with words you would never use in real life — but if threats are made or swear words used or it’s filled with defamatory language, it could be problematic, even if said in jest.

But it’s not just out-of-context or one-off remarks that are the problem.

Say you’re trying to sort out your financial settlement and saying you don’t have enough money to live — but then you’re posting pictures of yourself going on lavish holidays, your ex could print it off and show the judge.

Actions on social media can put you in a position of having to explain yourself and your actions. Although you’re going through a difficult time you need to look at the big picture and be very careful. Think before you press that send button.

Get in touch today so I can help you navigate the difficulties of your divorce and avoid these mistakes.