Public Communities vs. Private Communities

Do you like to use public communities where your opinion can be seen by anyone or do you like to use private communities where your opinion can be seen only by the members and it is protected from general view?

Well, I like to use public communities because I can reach a lot of people. Since I do not share opinions that might offend people, I do not have any privacy concerns while sharing my opinions.

If it's Facebook I want it private and the reason is that my husband's family as well as some of my Democrat friends get too uptight/offended easily. It's best to hold back to avoid drama with them.

If it's forums, I'm somewhat anonymous since my friends/family don't visit the forums I do, so I don't care if it's public.

I would prefer public forums unless I set up one specific area for members. As for Facebook I have my profile locked so no one can really see anything of mine if they're not a friend of mine.

When it comes to forums I prefer to join public forums, because I like to lurk on forums before joining them. If it's locked up then I wouldn't know what I'm getting myself into, I know private communities also require a registration fee too and I don't have the money for that. When it comes to Facebook my profile is locked to only my friends can see my information, I don't want random people seeing my posts unless it's related to my websites or Youtube channel.