To me it looks like very little people are doing mermaiding nowadays there is even very little people active on this forum there was way more people on here 5 years ago. i have Stopped doing mermaiding because I am two busy now .
To me it looks like very little people are doing mermaiding nowadays there is even very little people active on this forum there was way more people on here 5 years ago. i have Stopped doing mermaiding because I am two busy now .
Last edited by seaair16; 05-20-2020 at 03:33 PM.
I meant to say Are we a dying tread it won’t let me change the title.
No, mermaiding is not a dying trend. Forums (not just this one but forums in general) are dying. Places like Facebook, Amino and discord are way more active and the go-to places. Locally, many mers who used to be on here are active on FB and not here anymore, or the FB mers haven't even ever made an account here. Some aspects of Mernetwork desperately need to be updated so I wouldn't be surprised if some outdated resources turn people away from coming back or signing up.
I'm also wondering if this is a dying hobby. The So Cal pod Facebook has very little activity, and much of what is there is one member posting "inspirational messages", and even with those the total activity is far less that this forum. I had no gatherings in my area for well over a year. Of course the last few months don't count, but still....
Trade Winds, where exactly is all this activity?
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On Facebook my local groups are active. A bit slow due to the virus but we post about new tails, pics, potential future meet ups. Groups like the Mertailor pod and the Mernation group are both active, discussing new tails, posting new pics, asking questions on what to buy, etc. The mermaid tail sale groups are all super active with lots of people looking to buy/sell, lots of ISO posts for cheap used tails, first time silicone tails, and monofins (especially Mahina). Discord and Amino I am not on any mermaid groups, but those sites are both super popular for chatting. I'd wager instagram is probably another much more active place for mers as well.Originally Posted by Merman Storm
Especially with the virus, it is probably harder for a lot of mers to discuss new meets, getting new pics, and doing the stuff we usually do. So we may be doing something else right now since going mermaiding isn't really easy right now. And the summer season is just beginning.
Mermaiding is not dead. Trust me. It's the art of the internet forum that is dying.
If you ever want to do a meet up let me know from one socal to another I know how dying that SoCal pod group is how it’s mainly just Veronica posting at this point
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I agree with Trade. I see a lot of activity on the main mermaids FB group. Also my local pod is fairly active, although we arn't too large. This forum is definitely not as active as it once was but I think a great part of that is the those who created it and admined it are gone. And yes, a lot of the information and resources are old. A great many of the listed tailmakers are closed down and there are many new ones not listed. As such it may look to anyone new and joining the forum that there is nowhere to get a tail for a reasonable (non-silicone) price. I am not on the Discourd (Although I would love to be!) and I don't use Amino or TikTok or Telegram but I am sure there are many popular and active groups there dedicated to mermaiding. And there are still a fair handful of professional mers out there doing their thing, but they are more on Insta then here.
So I do not think we are a dying breed, I think the focus has just shifted and this site was left behind.
The Magical Mystical MerFanc
A Welsh Lake Monster with control of weather, water and water creatures.
Resident sea monster, best friend of sharks and ducks, lover of the Deep Ocean.
Known on all other social media as theAfanc
It is a great pity, I'm not on facebook and I'm tepid on Discord. I find that this site is still above and beyond the best to find out technical information and advice.
I haven't been posting much, due to all our State's pools (in Australia) being closed due to The 19 and the ocean being a bit cold at the moment, but the pools are just starting up again, so hopefully we can book a swim soon.
Given that we are heading into the colder time of year, I suspect that for Northern Hemisphere people the mer-year might be picking up.
Well, I'm feeling pretty swish!
I don't know if we are a dying hobby. I know plenty of mers who are still active but are not on forums. I feel like the age of forums is just ending. The other thing we may be seeing is that our hobby hit a very large media wave for a few years with TV shows covering folks int he community that sparked a wave of Fad-crashers who chase whatever the new "it" thing to do is. Naturally though with such things they eventually lose interest and move on to the next hobby or internet with the changing of the tides of media.
My friends and I mostly operate in a discord these days for mermaiding as it is easier for us and we all use the app often. And I still lurk in the facebook pods. My thing is that with each year I get busier and busier and making that time for hobbies can be more difficult.
Sometimes Life Just Needs a Bit of Magic
I agree with the points made above. I also thought I'd say that H20: just add water probably helped ignite a lot of interest in merpeople in the general public, which leads them to places like tail-swimming.
So, I think that something that would help the community is the spark of some big merpeople tv show or movie.
The only big one I know of is the upcoming Little Mermaid remake. Although I do not like the live action remakes, it could do some good by drawing people back to tail-swimming.
Because mermaids and mermen are such a basic story element, I think that they're something that we'll never stop seeing in media. It may be a long dry spell between major mer-themed release, but there's still a dedicated fanbase.
I think that we may also be having a perception fallacy. Because our site is seeing less activity, it means that a worldwide community is dying (not to rag on your original point).
It definitely is a concern, but I think that tail-swimming isn't really going anywhere. As long as there are little girls who want to be mermaids, and professional merfolk doing shows, I think there will be people getting into tail-swimming.
All it takes though is for some tail-swimming thing to go viral, and then a bunch of people will want a tail.
We'll just have to see. I hope that the community stays alive and well.
The community here and everywhere will be back when the pandemic is over. You’ll see.
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I think I can confirm about this seeming to be a dying trend simply because people are not on this site specifically with the availability of other social media systems. I only recently signed up here because it was an entire forum based on the one topic that I can talk about with anonymity. I won't even try on Facebook or Twitter because today, those are hot zones for spreading hatred and clueless political opinions.
Did you actually read through any posts on the thread? No one else is saying it is a dying trend, in fact there have been many arguments against it.
The Magical Mystical MerFanc
A Welsh Lake Monster with control of weather, water and water creatures.
Resident sea monster, best friend of sharks and ducks, lover of the Deep Ocean.
Known on all other social media as theAfanc
I wouldn't worry about it being a dying trend. Niche leisure activities tend to wane and wax in popularity as people discover it and as the money flow allows them to get more or less involved. I always get a spike of worry when we do a renaissance festival event or something that no one is really into this kind of thing anymore, but it's almost always about availability of a hobby, not because there aren't people into it. Sure the "trend" may be waning at the moment, but the community doesn't seem to be.
I don't mean to sound rude, but I am going to deflect that question back to you and ask if you actually read my post that you replied to. I NEVER said that it was a dying trend. I was simply agreeing to other posts on this thread (that I did in fact read) that it could seem that way due to inactivity on this one site due to the existence of other social media outlets.
Apologies, the way it was worded I thought you were saying you agreed that it was a dying trend (as in agreeing with the OP).
The Magical Mystical MerFanc
A Welsh Lake Monster with control of weather, water and water creatures.
Resident sea monster, best friend of sharks and ducks, lover of the Deep Ocean.
Known on all other social media as theAfanc
Copy that. Though I've only been on this site for a couple of days, I have had this tingling in my mind about mermaids for a long time. Several times over the years, I've done Google image searches for "mermaid tail" and would see more and more results every time. I feel that if I started years before I did, I might have spent extra money for a lower quality tail. It was only a few years ago that I noticed better pictures starting to appear which is why I decided to make this dive. I could see that more people were gaining interest in this hobby because more "how to" articles were appearing.
My only difficulty about the whole thing so far is finding a community to chat with about it. I'm sure more people are talking about it on Facebook than here, but I come here because I keep this part of my life a secret. My friends and family would definitely think I had a mental disorder if they ever found out. Plus Facebook is overloaded with so much hatred and political arguments for me to even try to find mermaid friends there.
I agree with Trade Winds, you can't really judge based on the activity on this site because forum sites in general are dying out.
We're definitely not a dying trend, in fact in South Africa where I'm from I'd say it's kicking off quite a bit. Where back in the day there was barely anyone and there were no meetups for SA Mers, one or two popped up here occasionally. And if you look at Social media worldwide it's growing exponentially. No sign of it slowing down either since Mermaids have also come back into fashion as far as movies/series are concerned.
Mermaids are classic and have captured the imaginations of multiple cultures across the globe, mermaiding makes that fantasy accessible and gives many people a physical and creative outlet that combines so many beautiful things into one activity. I think it has staying power.
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Ive noticed alot of articles about mers in South Africa lately. But usually when the question of "are we a dying trend" comes up, its local. Here in Southern California, I have not heard of a local meet in about three years. Sure, there is covid, but meets tend to be outdoors. The closest meet was hundreds of miles away in Sacramento. The only time I ever meet another mer is on vacations.
Are we a dying trend? I hope not. It s hard to maintain interest in a hobby when you are alone.
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