Computer engineer Ray Tomlinson implemented the first email system on ARPANET in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, enabling message exchange between different computers. He chose the @ symbol to separate user names from host addresses, creating the addressing format still used today. Though initially limited to text messages among researchers, email gradually transformed personal and professional communication, accelerating information exchange and enabling asynchronous collaboration across time zones.

Email's asynchronous nature influenced contemporary poetry's exploration of delayed response and fragmented conversation. Poets examined how written digital communication differs from speech, incorporating email conventions—subject lines, signatures, forwarding—into poetic form. The medium's casual tone and rapid exchange also affected poetic diction, with some writers adopting conversational immediacy while others critiqued email's contribution to attention fragmentation and superficial connection.