“i feel ... invisible.”

It’s impossible to determine how many young people keep online diaries, but companies that operate major blogging and networking sites — such as Xanga, LiveJournal and MySpace — say the numbers of teenagers and young adults that use them are in the millions.

Young people point out that posting private thoughts in a public forum has become more acceptable with the rise of cultural phenomena such as PostSecret, a popular website that displays postcards emblazoned with senders’ secrets. Xanga, LiveJournal and MySpace all give users the option of making their blogs accessible only to approved readers.

Many young bloggers say they don’t think people other than friends are reading their journals. Some contend that the Internet is a safer place for their inner thoughts than a book that can be found by parents or siblings.

Parents are less sure.

The O’Connors’ mother, Karen, said she was appalled when her four children started keeping online journals. “I just thought it was terrible, horrible. I just couldn’t imagine why you would put your feelings and personal comments on something that just went out there.” She now sees good and bad in it. “You probably know your friends better because they put everything on LiveJournal.”

Gerald Goodman, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles, said young bloggers are following a deep human impulse. “This is practically genetic, this need to be known by another human,” he said. But Goodman said he worries there is a downside for those who rely too much on such communication.

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