BE CAREFUL what you post.

That’s the lesson a leading law firm, and a climbing number of its clients, have learnt as social media posts have now contributed to almost half its of defamation inquiries.

Former Orange High School student Andrew Farley was one of those Facebook users caught up in a defamation case.

The 20-year-old had a grudge against one of his former teachers. It was to do with his father, also a teacher who had left the NSW school.

Like an increasing number of Australians, Mr Farley might have naively thought his Facebook and Twitter profiles would be a safe place to air his grievances about the music teacher, Christine Mickle.

What he had posted, a judge decided, was “false allegations” about the 58-year-old, and the effect on her “was devastating”, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Mr Farley was forced to pay Ms Mickle $105,000 in damages in what is believed to be Australia’s first Twitter defamation case to go to trial.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/facebook-and-defamation-when-a-post-costs-you-dearly/story-fnjwnhzf-1227498531873