Pros and Cons of Sharing Your Journal With Others

There are some groups on social media, and in community groups, that discuss sharing your journal with others. This may mean sharing one entry or sharing several entries. Regardless of the sharing method, you may be wondering how in the world this could benefit you. Here are some pros and cons to consider about sharing your journal with others, especially sharing it online. 

Increased Support

When you share you share your journal, you may find that you get more emotional support from others. This is especially true if you are sharing your journal online and in social media groups of others like you. For example, if you are sharing your journal entries regarding your life as a parent of an autistic child, you may find others like you. These other people will read your journal and reach out letting you know that they are going through the same thing. This eventually forms a support system that spans out and gives you what you need emotionally on the harder days.

Increased Ideas

You may find that you are journaling because you are trying to work through issues in your life. You may be so close to the situation that you can't move away enough to figure out how to handle it. By sharing your entry you may find that people have ideas you have not thought about or ways of handling the situation that will work for you because they worked for someone else. 

Negative Reactions

Negative reactions are everywhere. It is just a fact of life. A con of sharing your journal entries is when you run into this negativity. All too often your entries will likely be about issues in your life. You may be upset about those issues and some negative people will feed on that and can make you even more upset. Just remember, if you can't deal with that at that time, consider not sharing that particular entry until you are ready. 

Negative Exposure

If you are sharing your journal online then you may find your entries are being shared, even without your permission. This may lead to things you thought were being kept private or amongst a small group are being shared with others. This is a huge privacy issue for many people and may be a big enough con to make you stay away from sharing your journal entry,

Though you can always choose what you share and with whom you share it with, the pros and cons may still apply across the board. Make sure you consider all the options, your type of journal writing, and the content before you make your final choice. 
