Good points. I especially like #2. I also had this concern, but actually in the context of pen-and-paper vs digital journaling. I was worried that a physical notebook may more easily fall into the wrong hands than digital but in this day and age it might well be the opposite.

What really bothers me about society in the context of personal notes being made public is that I feel like we don't recognize that people can change their opinions on things. Writing can be a way of thinking through and playing with ideas and beliefs that one doesn't end up holding long term. But people are routinely judged harshly for things they wrote/said/tweeted years ago even if they no longer feel the same way. Or at least that's my cynical view.

I appreciate both of these points.

Maybe a more optimistic look is that if more people were that open publicly, then maybe we would judge less, recognize the uncertainty and ebb and flow of thoughts and feelings, and see ourselves and each other more humanely.

I try and remind myself that "they" are in the same position as well. I may feel some type of way about something written, but everyone's human, so do they've got something similar, I just don't know it exactly.

I appreciate this reminder, even just thinking about them having a similar dilemma can help me remember they may share similar fears.

I appreciate these and have some follow up questions/comments.

1. What about when these things revealed may show that you broke the law, intentionally or even accidentally?

2. Amen. I've been reading more papers lately about the emotional burden of keeping secrets and not expressing ourselves and have been personally dancing with it for years. Thank you for saying this.

I wonder if my worry is not so much if people were to gain access to what I wrote in the journal, but by being the creator of the journal, someone gaining access to what someone else wrote and either the legal repercussions of that, or more likely, the physical and emotional ramifications of such.