I know a really similar question has been asked aqui (and I have been trying to convince myself with half-baked answers to avoid creating a duplicate) but please do note, my question isn't about why an ordinary diary served as proof of Voldemort's lineage when it could have been any other item. I understand that Voldemort considered it important and thus, it was turned into a Horcrux.
"Well, he didn't want his hard work to be wasted," said Harry. "He wanted people to know he was Slytherin's heir, because he couldn't take credit at the time."
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Who are these "people"? The Wizarding World in general? What steps did Horcrux Riddle intend to take to let the Wizarding World know that Voldemort was the Heir of Slytherin? Or from Harry's words, how did he plan to go about taking credit for his hard work of 50 years ago and let the world know about the Heir who opened the Chamber of Secrets?
I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin’s noble work.”
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The above two quotes clearly suggest that teenage Voldemort's main intention was to purge Hogwarts of everyone but pure-bloods using the diary along with making sure the world knew who the Heir of Slytherin was.
But how exactly was the diary going to prove the latter? The answer in the above link states that it is possible that Riddle had written in the diary. There is indeed sufficient proof of that.
“It was this diary,” said Harry quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. “Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen. . . .
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
So one might assume that anyone who read/saw the contents of the diary would know the truth - in the case that they decided to believe the contents of the diary, which would most likely be possible if they had additional knowledge that Tom Riddle was Voldemort. But I doubt Riddle meant for the diary to be read and for word to spread about his lineage. He planned for his soul to possess someone and to gain a corporeal form - which would then control the Basilisk to carry on Salazar Slytherin's work - which is actually what starts to happen in the second book before Riddle learns about Harry through Ginny and changes his plan.
Also, Riddle mentions this:
He waited eagerly for Riddle's reply.
"Lucky that I recorded my memories in some more lasting way than ink."
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
"Are you a ghost?" Harry said uncertainly.
"A memory," said Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
This seems to suggest that Riddle hadn't written anything in the diary but had enchanted it with his memories which were capable of conversing with the reader to get them to open up to him and then possess them. Harry might have only said Riddle wrote in the diary because that is what people generally do with diaries and Harry couldn't have known how exactly the teenage Riddle tampered with the diary.
Either way, whether the diary had any written content or not, ultimately Riddle would have possessed a person and would have gained a body. Following that, he would have obviously gone forward with what he thought was the cleansing of the castle's impure occupants. What next?
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He would have revealed himself to Hogwarts folk as the Heir of Slytherin
The same argument that held true for people reading the diary for proof applies here. Would people take his word for it? Or would he let the snake loose on someone in front of an audience for solid proof?
He would still have to tell them Tom Riddle was Voldemort. I simply can't think he wanted them to know Tom Riddle was the Heir. He wanted the world to know Lord Voldemort was the Heir.
But, wouldn't that be counter-productive? Voldemort's revulsion to his Muggle connections were the reason he hid his Half-blood past in the first place. So what would be the point of coming forth and disclosing that?
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He would have gone to Voldemort Prime after completing his mission in secret
JKR did say that Riddle's success would have strengthened the present-day Voldemort considerably. In what way this would have happened has been speculated upon pretty accurately.
This seems like the most plausible solution but the horcrux would have to complete Slytherin's work before it left because Riddle was the only one who could instruct the Basilisk of its targets and without him, the Basilisk doesn't seem to know how to differentiate between Pure-bloods and others. Hell, it couldn't differentiate between humans, animals and ghosts.
But assuming Riddle did start on his work with the Basilisk, wouldn't the school have shut down? It doesn't seem that the authorities would have waited for the population of Hogwarts to shrink. (On two of the instances that the Chamber of Secrets was opened in the books, the school was on the verge of shutting down.) Did Riddle want the school to be closed? I doubt so, because he considered Hogwarts his home and his goal was only to get rid of the non-Pure-blood stock of the school.
I've been hitting dead ends trying to think of how Riddle would have convinced people that he was Voldemort and the Heir of Slytherin and an answer that sheds light of this is highly appreciated.
All bold emphasizing in the quoted text is my doing, it isn't part of JKR's work.