SF-LOVERS

Mailing List
Name:	SF-LOVERS
Date(s):	before 1980
Moderated:
Moderators/List Maintainers:	Saul Jaffe from Rugters
Founder(s):	Roger Duffy from MIT
Type:
Fandom:	science fiction
URL:	sflovers.rutgers.edu (via Wayback)
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SF-LOVERS is a mailing list for science fiction fans.

It was created by Roger Duffy from MIT in 1979. In 1982, Saul Jaffe took over as moderator in October, 1983.

One Description by a Fan in 1993

What? Huh? That was my first impression when introduced to the above gobbledy-gook and the strange new world of Internet. Happily, once I jumped into the "Net" I discovered within its wealth of information a whole world of fellow science fiction lovers.

[email protected] is simply an electronic mail (or E-mail) address where science fiction fans can communicate with each other. This communication takes place via a discussion list. The e-mail address above indicates that SF-LOVERS is the name of the discussion list; RUTGERS is the location of the originator of the discussion list; and EDU is the trailing domain -- it indicates the type of organization where the computer is located. In this case, the SF-LOVERS discussion list originates from Rutgers University, an educational institution.

SF-LOVERS is available through Internet (or The Net), a world-wide web of thousands of computer networks that reaches millions of people. The Net’s original purpose was to give scientists and other researchers a fast and efficient communication tool. The Net spans over forty-five countries on all seven continents. Over 1.7 million computers are now directly linked to the Net.

This powerful research tool for scientists also became a favored mode of communication for people and groups that have common interests. Discussion lists on the Net and other computer networks range from doctors working toward a cure for AIDS (AIDSNEWS) to fans interested in the supernatural (VAMPYRES). No single network owns the Net; to get connected, all you need is a personal computer and a modem.

My boss (bless his little heart) showed me how to subscribe to discussion lists a few weeks ago. The day after I signed up for SF-LOVERS, I received E-mail on my work computer. So far I have read about a small controversy involving the Hugo nomination ballots, laments concerning the cancellation of Quantum Leap, and fan comments about the movie Jurassic Park. There was even a posting from Majel Barrett asking for fan support for the politically endangered Space Station.

SF-LOVERS is a large discussion list. Because science fiction encompasses so many different mediums, this discussion list has separate e-mail addresses for science fiction conventions, movies, TV, writers, and a miscellaneous address for anything else you might want to discuss. Messages to the list are batched and broadcast periodically by the owner or moderator of the list.

Meta/Further Reading

• The Man Behind SF-LOVERS Science Fiction Discussion List by Karen Ann Yost (1993)