Most people think of a diary as a little book into which you can pour your innermost thoughts  a safe place to write things that you’d never say aloud to anybody.

Get real. That’s so Victorian.

Diaries kept by today’s hip teen-agers are composed online where, for the most part, they’re available for just about anybody to read.

In fact, that’s the whole idea.

Yesterday’s diary was about privacy, while today’s online version is an electronic communication tool  a way to stay in touch with friends while giving others a window into your life.

More and more Lawrence youths are flocking to a popular Web site that takes this digital concept of a diary and runs with it.

It’s called freeopendiary.com.

The site features thousands of diaries, posted by people throughout the world, just waiting to be read and discussed.

Chelsea Chaffin, a 15-year-old Free State High School sophomore, is a big fan of the site.

“I’ve met a whole bunch of people who have (online) diaries. You can have them be public or private,” she said.

Diary owners use passwords to access their file, she said, and others who know the diary’s title can read the entries and comment on them.

“I like it because, if all your friends have diaries, it’s an easy way to see what’s up or what everybody’s plans are for the weekend,” Chelsea said. “I know about 10 people who have diaries.”

It’s a lot like having your own Web site. And online diarists who are willing to pay a fee can jazz up their entries by posting pictures and sound files  virtually anything they want.

By typing in a user name and a password, it’s possible to search the Web site and read the most recent entries in the diary of a person you’ve never met and leave them notes.

Diarists can specify, while they’re writing, whether they want to make a particular entry private or available for others to read.

Matt Cook has been writing entries in his online diary for about two months now.

“I like it. It lets me express the way I feel at certain times,” said the 16-year-old Free State sophomore. “Something really awesome will come up, and I have to write about it. You can get opinions from other people, too.”

He appreciates the site’s flexibility.

“If you didn’t see a friend that day or catch them in the hallway, you can read what they wrote about (online),” he said. “But your whole diary can be private  you don’t have to share it with anyone if you don’t want to.”

Kate Naramore thinks online diaries are much more convenient and fun than the old way of keeping a journal of one’s daily thoughts and activities.

“I get to be a little more crazy with what I write,” said the 16-year-old Free State sophomore. “My favorite part is the delete key. I can write something down and change it, and you can’t do that when you’re talking.

“It’s just fun. I can start writing random words or song lyrics, and then change the subject.”

A big part of the appeal of freeopendiary.com is reading entries in the diaries of strangers and commenting on them.

“Sometimes I’ll leave notes, if they’ve written something I agree with, and I want to tell them that,” Kate said. “No one knows who you are. You can be almost whoever you want to be. You can sound mean, nice or weird.”

Online diaries have become just a regular part of her life. And handy, too.

“I’ll be talking to my friend about something I did, and she’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, I read about that on your diary.’ Then we can just skip that and talk about something else.”