Yeah, it's in grandma's forgetful brain, and to be fair she probably (a) has usually learned the value of discretion, (b) will pass away in a few years and (c) can sometimes be dismissed as a fibber.

The computer on the other hand, is an eternal record and can be dumped into the open by any hacker or wannabe-hacker for ill intent or just for fun.

I guess, there's no appropriate reputation scale for what we see on the internet (it's either perfectly trustworthy or a total sham), there's no forgetfulness in terms of minor misdeeds, and there's no way to argue with the public consensus once they've made up their hivemind...

"No really, I've changed in the 10 years since I wrote that post!"