Public is Private

People like to know that you are the person they think you are. If you do something they consider to be 'out of character' it unsettles them and confuses them. People don't like being confused. This is where the judgement comes in, because you are not conforming to their idea of 'you'. It is therefore so much easier to be open and truthful to people who have no idea who you are. They are judging you soley on what they read. They do not have any presuppositions or presumptions; they will not discriminate against you as they have no foundation for their prejudices. They have no 'previous experience' with you. Unfortunately they too form a person in their minds, this time based on the words you write, and if chance should decide to bring you together they are then subject to an unrestricted compulsion to compare their image of you to the 'you' they meet. Again if these do not match, you are in trouble. Until the two meet, however, you are safe. Until this happens, you can write what you want and they'll either love it or hate it. Until then, public is private.