The New Smoking Gun...Social Networking Sites

As I was getting the kids ready for their camps this morning, I was watching an interesting interview with a psychologist on our local news station.  They psychologist quoted numerous studies about human emotions and said that overwhelmingly the studies proved that people make decisions based on two of the seven emotions: pleasure and fear.  That is not surprising, but if you take a moment to truly think about it, it is eye opening in our world of e-discovery.  I believe the new e-discovery frontier is upon us...social networking sites where pleasure and fear are logged instantaneously and honestly.  In the world we live in today, everyone is linked instantaneously through numerous technologies.  Some even tweet their every minute, every emotion and every feeling.  I was visiting an acquaintance's facebook last week and she put on there "I am sick of this and I am leaving him." 

She did not leave him, but instead is embarrassed now that she shared her emotions with all who had access to her facebook account.  This was not the first time.  Another young woman (who will remain nameless) tweeted of how much she hated her job and her friends commented how they hated their jobs also.  Unfortunately (and fortunately in some cases), what is in writing on these social networking sites cannot be deleted without an act from the almighty.  So if you want to see the true emotions behind what a person has done in a case, you might look to the custodian's social networking site(s).  When pleasure or fear are put to a test, people get bold as they either have everything to gain or everything to loose.

Comments

[Dave Hale]

There's new social networking sites like every 6 months these days. They make so many now. Is that bad or good?

Keep the good info coming.

Chris Moniz
VP Marketing, Internet Marketing Professor
http://www.drdavehaleonline.com

[Andy Hussong JV Attraction Formula]

Well social networking sites are one of the most visited pages these days. Usually the main goal is to be get friends, be accepted and let the people know what's on your mind. SOmehow some people use it as an emotional tool to cope with life and other stuff.