A lot of what we talk about is "public" in the sense that anybody could come on by and join the conversation, but it's subcultural enough that this doesn't happen. That gives it something of a private feel, and people may think it's private like a private club.

Seems to me that a lot of Internet tempests are when subcultures collide. Rachel Moss is an example -- an outsider visited a subculture and Did Not Approve. Outsider then complained in another subcultural spot. Two cultures collide and whammo.

On Livejournal I just assume what I say is public unless it's friends-locked. I have a buddy who says he doesn't even trust friends-locked and assumes everything he says is public.