Who is a person who writes an online diary?

Before "blog" became a word, people called them online diaries. The distinction mattered, at least to the people writing them. A diary felt personal, introspective. A blog could be anything – tech reviews, political commentary, recipes. Online diarists were specifically the ones writing about their lives.

The early days were weird and wonderful

In the late 90s, sites like Open Diary (1998) and LiveJournal (1999) let anyone publish their thoughts online. And people did – everything from mundane daily updates to raw, unfiltered emotional processing. It was before social media taught everyone to curate their image. People were genuinely candid in a way that feels almost naive now.

Why do people keep online diaries?

The reasons haven't changed much in 25 years:

• Processing out loud. Writing helps you think. Writing where someone might read it makes you articulate things more clearly.
• Connection. There's something powerful about putting your experience into words and having a stranger say "me too."
• Recording it before you forget. Memory is unreliable. Written records aren't.

Online diary vs. blog vs. social media

These days the lines are blurry. Some people consider their Instagram stories a kind of diary. Others write long personal essays on Substack. The "online diarist" as a distinct thing has mostly merged into broader content creation.

But there's still a difference between writing for an audience and writing for yourself (even if others can read it). True online diaries tend to be messier, less polished, more stream-of-consciousness. That's what makes them valuable – they're honest in a way that performative content isn't.

Who keeps one today?

Honestly? More people than you'd think. They're just quieter about it. Private blogs, password-protected journals, simple web apps that don't have a social component. Not everyone wants likes and comments. Some people just want to write.