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:
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SF-LOVERS is a mailing list for science fiction fans.

It was created by Roger Duffy from MIT sometime before 1980. 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)