Is Mermaiding a "fandom?"

[mermaidchirp]

I've been pondering this for a while now and figured I'd just ask...

Do you consider Mermaiding a "fandom" - like being, "fans" of mermaids? I'm unsure, it's odd.

You look at the Furry Fandom, and they dress up as their own characters - similar to mermaids.

However I also see that this is more of a sport, or community? Can you really be a "fan" of mermaids?

Sorry, just a little pondering :confused:

[Mermaid Kane]

Hmmm. By definition yes, we are a fandom. But people are entitled to labeling it however they want. Community, fandom, sport, etc.

[Mermaid Ankhali]

That's an interesting question. I have always considered Mermaiding to be a subculture or community. But if furries are a fandom... Mermaiding definitely shares similarities with the furry fandom, we have meetups and shows/movies and literature that could be considered part of our domain. We both have our own lingo...However, pods seem unique to Mermaiding. On the other hand, mers generally consider themselves mers, not people dressing up as a mer character (not an absolute). However, a significant portion of our community is made up of people who just consider it to be dressing up... Now that I think about it, why is the Furry fandom a fandom? Maybe that's a misnomer? I definitely wouldn't consider Mermaiding a fandom.


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[mermaidchirp]

That's an interesting question. I have always considered Mermaiding to be a subculture or community. But if furries are a fandom... Mermaiding definitely shares similarities with the furry fandom, we have meetups and shows/movies and literature that could be considered part of our domain. We both have our own lingo...However, pods seem unique to Mermaiding. On the other hand, mers generally consider themselves mers, not people dressing up as a mer character (not an absolute). However, a significant portion of our community is made up of people who just consider it to be dressing up... Now that I think about it, why is the Furry fandom a fandom? Maybe that's a misnomer? I definitely wouldn't consider Mermaiding a fandom.


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That's an interesting way of looking at it, and I can see where you're coming from. In all honesty, I'm just unsure what to call it. It's a community, of course... but it shares so many traits of different communities that it confuses me? Such as fandom drama etc etc

[Ransom]

Way I see it, a fandom needs an objective noun (such as say, Star Wars) to be a fan of. Fans by definition aren't direct creators, just very avid consumers.

The mer community (or the furry one) isn't a fandom in that the object is an activity, not an established body of art.

That's my take anyway -- it really depends on how you define a 'fandom'. Hope this helps!