Clem Collins started the barnwellweb.com site in 1996 with a friend. It has become popular throughout the county as a place to post lost-and-found messages, report crimes and relay event schedules. RON COCKERILLE/STAFF

They update friends about family and swap recipes with their neighbors.

But surprisingly, more and more people have moved their chats to the World Wide Web.

At the site barnwellweb.com, people are posting everything from a Valentine's Day greeting for departed loved ones to a message about lost keys found at the Shrine Club.

They thank other people for their prayers, ask for help in finding missing pets and report crimes.

John McClary, the president of the El Bab Shrine Club in Barnwell County, posts his club's events schedule on the site. A few weeks ago, someone dropped a set of keys in the club's parking lot, so he posted a message looking for the owner.

"I think (the site) is pretty popular," Mr. McClary said. "I think people look at it a good bit."

The Nichols family of Barnwell posted a thank-you to all who helped restore the town's electricity after the snow in January.

"I didn't know where they came from so I put it on the (site)," Lisa Nichols said. "I was hoping one of them would tune in."

The man behind barnwellweb.com is a Savannah River Site employee who runs the Web site from his home in Barnwell.

Clem Collins started the site in 1996 with a friend. Now he builds Web sites for churches and businesses that link to barnwellweb.com.

Mr. Collins said many people in Barnwell know about the site, but some don't realize his connection to it.

"My neighbor next door ... he was out in his front yard talking to me about barnwellweb.com and he didn't know I was the man behind it," Mr. Collins said.

He said the site has had many face-lifts and he plans another in a month or so. He spends about 10 to 15 hours a week on the site, posting people's messages and updating links.

"I got into it in '96, had 150 hits a month," he said. "Now I register 40,000 hits a month."

The site has had more than 1.3 million visitors since it started, and although he can't be sure, Mr. Collins suspects most of the visitors are from Barnwell.

Reach Matthew Boedy at (803) 648-1395 or matthew.boedy@augustachronicle.com.