From Dial-Up to Digital Strategy: My Internet Origin Story

Updated July 20, 2026: I wrote this article in 2013 complete with em dashes and I will not be removing them just because AI uses it now!!! Edited to update the timeline.

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The first computer I ever used was in 1996. I was ten years old, and my family was still living in the Philippines. Like many Asian parents, mine were ahead of their time — they believed computers were the future, so they enrolled me in a beginner’s computer class.

There were two sections at the school: one for kids, where we mostly used a Paint-like program and learned how to type, and one for adults, who were learning MS-DOS (yes, that old-school command-line world). But since I had been using a typewriter since I was seven to write short stories, I didn’t need typing lessons. (Sidebar: I still have some of those stories!) After about an hour, my instructor realized I was way too advanced for the kids’ group and invited me to join the adults. And just like that, I was hooked.

That moment would mark the beginning of my lifelong relationship with the internet.

Blogging Before It Was Called Blogging

A year later, we moved to Canada. I didn’t bring my typewriter, so for a while, I had no hobbies and no creative outlet. It was Fall. I remember spending afternoons outside, just smelling the air and adjusting to this new world.

Eventually, I convinced my parents I needed a computer “for school.” (A classic move.) Back then, a home computer could easily cost over $2,000 — a big investment for a newly immigrated family. But my parents, ever the believers in education, went all in. We didn’t just get a computer. We got the full package: colour printer, scanner, and even a webcam.

I was hooked up.

With my trusty IBM and a trial of AOL dial-up, my world exploded. My first screen name was TALK_MASTER_GIRL_8 — a nod to my reputation for talking too much in class. (If only my teachers knew it would turn into a whole career.) I started with forums and chat rooms, tiptoeing into conversations and then exiting halfway through because I felt guilty. “You’re not supposed to talk to strangers,” remember?

But slowly, I got braver. And eventually, I found my people.

Where the Obsession Took Hold

At school, the other kids started talking about the internet too. That’s how I discovered Napster (What?! Free music?), Hotmail (so much cooler than AOL), and Yahoo! Games. But nothing compared to the moment I found Geocities, Angelfire, and AsianAvenue.

AsianAvenue changed everything for me.

Having a webpage that reflected who I was — or at least who I wanted to be — was game-changing. Maybe it was the identity crisis that comes with being a 13-year-old immigrant girl….

Maybe it was the magic and freedom of choosing your own fonts and colours. Either way, I was in deep. I learned HTML, a bit of JavaScript, and got obsessed with Photoshop. I started taking photos, creating layouts, and updating my page constantly.

That was the start of my “blogging” life — way before the word even existed.

My Internet Life in Chapters

By 14, I was addicted (no exaggeration) to building online personas. My mom used to hide the dial-up modem so I wouldn’t stay up all night online. I’d do daily “updates” on my page, timestamped like a digital diary. I made online friends. We’d message each other, trade ICQ numbers, and sometimes even meet in real life. (That’s another blog post.)

Then came LiveJournal, which totally changed the game!! Below are some of my LJ icons, do any of them look familiar? Maybe we’ve interacted on each other’s journals!

LJ was where I found community, creativity, and therapy. It made me feel. Later, I saved up to buy my first domain and coded my own website from scratch — no WordPress or Blogger (they didn’t exist yet), just pure HTML.

Over the years, I’ve had several self-hosted blogs:

• 2004: MariaAguilar.com (photography + life updates)
• 2007: appleinacastle.com (photo blog + randomness)
• 2010: MariaAguilar.ca (photo turned lifestyle)
• 2013: BEAUTYANDABITE.COM (lifestyle + food, the “big one” that took off and longest-running blog)
• 2018: Chapter17.com (motherhood + lifestyle, realized I don’t want my kids in my content)
• 2024: MariasNotes.com (I got distracted after I launched)
• 2025: MariaSioson.com (Back to basics)
• 2026 BEAUTYANDABRAIN.com (never launched, was just trying it on)
• 2026: MariaSioson.com (Back to basics, no distractions this time 🙂 )

Some blogs lasted a year, others longer. Each one marked a different chapter in my growth — as a person, as a creator, and eventually, as a marketer.

Why It Still Matters

Now, with over 16 years in digital marketing — running influencer campaigns, launching global brands, and speaking on stages — it’s funny to look back and realize: it all started with Paint and AsianAvenue.

The internet gave me confidence, skills, community, and a career. It gave me a space to explore who I was and who I wanted to be. People laugh when I say the internet is one of my first loves, but it’s true.

And if you’ve ever fallen in love with a digital space, you probably get it too.

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Thanks for reading my little love letter to the internet. If you’re a fellow elder millennial who remembers dial-up tones, Angelfire layouts, or those AOL free trial CDS — I’d love to hear your origin story too.

What’s your first memory of being online? was it MSN Messenger? Neopets? Napster? Let me know in the comments or shoot me a message. The internet changed my life, and I bet it changed yours too.