If it's the internet is it snooping? If you're a Mom is snooping wrong?

When I was about 13 or 14 I kept a diary. Like many things I did at 13 or 14 I did it mainly because I thought it was the thing I was spposse to do. I am pretty sure Marcia on the Brady Bunch had a diary and that's what cool, teen girls did.

It was really more of a notebook than a diary, there was no lock on it. I did  take to hiding in my room, under some pillows or in boots I never wore. I wrote the heck out of the diary. 

I told that diary everything for a while. I told that diary things I never dared tell my friends or, God forbide, my mother.

And I will admit now having a daughter who is two years away from being a legal adult if I found a diary where she wrote many, ok any, of the same things I wrote when I was 13 or 14 I would  be concerned.

So.....my Mom found my diary all those  years ago. That's the way I remember it. She didn't even come right out and say "I read about your escapades and, boy, you are in deep trouble." No, she alluded to and tried to get me into counseling. 

Looking back it was a reasonable, measured response focused on my well-being. Then the reading of the diary was a massive invasion of my privacy.
I was furious. In fact, I was so mad that, employing the logic of a teen girl, that I burned the damn thing. 

Yes, if you are going to read my deepest, darkest thoughts and replace it in my room and try to get me to talk to someone I am going to show you...... 

And, here's the other thing, I rarely after that kept any kind of diary. I rarely wrote something like this blog that talked about how I looked at things or what I was doing. What I felt was a betrayal at that age colored my behavior for a long time. 

Anyway, so here I am a Menopausal Mom who once had a diary I tucked under my pillow and in my boots and my daughter has the diary-equivilent of a Twitter account or Instagram or Facebook. (If you are a Menopausal Mom you laughed at the last part because no teen is really still on Facebook,)

So if I seek out the words and pictures she shares with the world am I snooping unnecessarily? Hypothetically, say, I happened mostly by accident on an unlocked version of those account that she thinks she's sharing with 249 of her closet friends would that make it a worse kind of snooping?
Fundamentally, is it wrong for a mom to snoop or is it a job requirement?
Over the summer at a family gathering my daughter broke the news to me in front of a crowd that she and her friends and then boyfriend had plans to go camping. Adults I trust were going to be along and there would be separate tents for boys and girls. Still, I was hesitant. My family joined in and I got a very unexpected piece of advice from my 84-year-old Mom. "What are you afraid of?" she said, "Are you afraid they are going to have sex? If they wanted to have sex they can do it your drive way. At some point you have to trust you raise them to make good decisions." This was my internal response mostly to the thought of anyone, especially my daughter, having sex in my driveway.

But when I thought it about my Mom had a point.
I feel like that logic extends to snooping. I should just say no to snooping unless there is a real reason for concern about her health and safety. Even then probably the right thing to do is  try to talk with her first You know, act like a mature responsible adult and create channels for meaningful, supportive communication.
Still, snooping seems a lot easier.
What do you think? Is it snooping and is it wrong?
Shout out to France. Yes, France. We have a reader or readers who have checked out Menopausal Moms. It just goes to show that Menopause and Moms are Universal.