This chapter locates the origin of the online essay in the era of the pre-commercial Internet, when communication occurred largely over message boards, forums, and listservs. The author then charts the history of the essay, and essays by women in particular, across a variety of platforms and publications, including personal blogs, the Huffington Post, Jezebel, and BuzzFeed, before concluding with an argument for the emancipatory political potential of the personal essay.