Social media has brought an extraordinary new dimension into our worlds, and your Vienna law firm is here to help navigate it. TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and all of the other social networking platforms have expanded our interactions considerably. Sometimes, this has come with some serious consequences: couples have gotten divorced, for example, over what one person said in a Facebook post, or who was talking to a particular person on Snapchat. All in all, we’d like to think the world of social media has done more good than harm, but there are ways of mitigating the harm, and TATE BYWATER is here to help.
Is a Social Media Clause Necessary In Our Prenup?
Regardless of its effects being on the whole positive or negative, couples are realizing that their social media worlds can have an effect on their families. To this end, many couples create specific boundaries and guidelines on their own for their posts. Some couples will only post about their activities as a couple from a designated account for the two of them that they both can access. In fact, the importance of these guidelines has become so important that many couples decide to include a social media clause in their prenuptial agreement, which TATE BYWATER can help with.
Why a Social Media Clause?
This has a number of helpful benefits, especially in the following circumstances:
- If one or both parties are from a prominent or well-known family, it can be quite important to protect the reputation of the family name.
- Subject matter that is inappropriate to one or both parties can be discussed and decided upon.
- If one or both spouses are business owners, high-level employees, employees entrusted with security and privacy concerns for their employer, or is a partner in their business, then a clause may be necessary. For example, a restaurant owner wouldn’t want her husband posting negative or overly critical comments about other restaurants in their community.
- In situations where posts may interfere with privacy concerns to either spouse, their family, or their children.
- Mediating photographs or other materials that may end up on the Internet. Your local law firm can help address this in a proactive way.
There are plenty of other reasons couples may decide on a social media clause; these are just some of the more common ones.
What Kind of Clause?
Some of the clauses that couples decide to include in a prenuptial agreement that addresses social media concerns may include:
- Limiting the amount of social media platforms used, and the amount of time spent on each platform. With so many social media platforms in use today, it can be easy to get caught up in their use. This clause puts limitations on how many social media platforms are used and how frequently.
- What topics are okay to address on social media, such as political posts or posts related to specific family members. This is often done simply to respect one another’s family, especially if they have a reputation to protect.
- Tagging locations, including actually GPS tagging and/or tagging a business or city within the post itself.
- Posting or pictures related to other family members. You may have family members who prefer to be left out of social media posts and pictures, and our Vienna law firm understands how important it is to honor those requests.
- Accepting friend/follower requests and requesting to friend/follow others. Privacy is a big concern for many couples, and our local law firm wants to help keep that prioritized in a big way.
- Pictures and posts related to either spouse’s current and/or future children. A social media clause defining these terms may limit the privacy settings for these pictures and posts, what types of photos may be shared, and how the children are referred to (using just first names, etc.)
- Access to one another’s accounts and the use of joint accounts. Two heads are often better than one, and getting your partner to weigh in on something before you post it can mean the difference between a considerate conversation and a divorce. For this reason, our law firm recommends this type of clause on any accounts used by either one or both parties.
This is of course not a completely exhaustive list, and one of our Virginia attorneys can outline more possibilities specific to your circumstances when you meet to discuss your prenuptial agreement. At TATE BYWATER, we excel in providing our clients with the family law counsel that they need to get the best start on their new union possible. And may we extend our congratulations to the happy couple.