Social Media and Car Insurance

Racing on public roads is dumb. Posting it to YouTube is dumber.

A majority of Americans adults have embraced social media, even if that just means they’ve opened a Facebook account to keep up with family and friends. In fact, that pretty much sums up why 66 percent of U.S. adults use social social media, according to the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project study.

Another study, conducted by Experian Simmons, estimates that roughly 129 million people, or 41 percent of the U.S. population, uses social media for the same reason. Some demographics, such as those aged 18-24, utilize social media at an astounding rate of 98 percent.

No matter how significant a presence social media has in someone’s life, many commonly forget the most important rule: the internet isn’t a private place.

Even if you think something is protected and only visible to those you give appropriate permissions to view, it’s important to keep in mind that anything you post can be found by someone who’s willing to look hard enough.

Anything you post online is up for grabs. Anything.

We’ll look at just how things you post can be used by others, including your car insurance company and law enforcement. But let’s first take a look at how auto insurers are using social media in a public way.

How Do Insurers Use Social Media?

Almost every car insurance company is using social media in one way or the other. We’ve identified social media as an area where most car insurance companies have failed, at least thus far. That’s not to say some companies aren’t doing it right, however.

New companies, such as iMingle, use social media as their primary marketing platform. Veteran online companies such as Esurance, which has focused on online sales for years, recently expander their claims services to Facebook. The company even lets you see your car being repaired online, through a web app, Facebook or even a smart phone.

But for every shining star, there are plenty of duds. We’ve been impressed with some of the social media efforts of automakers, but we’ve yet to see a single insurer get everything “exactly” right.  We’re not the only ones who think so, either.

Enter NetProspex, a business-to-business analytics and intelligence firm. They conducted a study of the effectiveness of vertical industries in their use of social media, which ranked insurers as a whole at 42nd overall out of 50 industries. Insurers have a lot of work to do.

But we’re not really worried about how car insurance companies are using social media for their marketing and customer service areas.

But Is My Car Insurance Company Actually Looking?

We’d peg insurance companies as just getting started with checking on social media activities. Notable examples include those denied disability benefits because of posts to Facebook, but insurance companies have indicated that they’ve saved considerable amounts by checking up on those filing claims via the internet.

In the image above, young males are providing video evidence of racing on public roads. They not only open themselves up to questions from their insurers, but also from the police as well.

Law Enforcement, Others Do the Same Thing

While we’re quite certain the majority of our readers would never upload road racing videos to YouTube or Facebook, keep in mind even something as innocuous as a photograph or status update can come back to haunt you in ways that don’t involve car insurance.

Employees have been known to lose their jobs over things they’ve posted on Facebook. And in some cases, employers have even sued past employees over ownership of individual Twitter accounts.

However, beyond employers don’t forget law enforcement. Posting things such as how you eluded police in a chase? Let’s just say that your post certainly won’t elude law enforcement.

Times We Wish Someone Would Have Paid Attention

Sometimes, social media seems like a cry for help. And we don’t just mean the Facebook friends who continually complain of how horrible their lives are, either.

We can’t help but be reminded of the death of Ryan Dunn and his passenger Zachary Hartwell, a production assistant in Jackass Number Two. Dunn had a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit in Pennsylvania.

Just a short time before their deaths in a horrific one car crash, Dunn tweeted a picture of himself drinking with friends.

We’re certain he’s by far the only person who has done this. And just based on the law of averages, we suspect he and his passenger aren’t the only ones that have experienced a similar fate.

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