A study of mermaids and mermaid wannabes on the internet
Conducted by Ketrino T. Ghoe/Ikkthu Swamptail
Created May '12; Updated March '14 (hopefully for the final time)

Note: I originally wrote this in May 2012, but because I'm still screwing around with the merwannabes, I will occasionally update this with new 'findings' and websites. For example, merwannabes are now focusing on shifting rather than spells, so I will update this accordingly.

May '13- I added a little section on the merwannabes community and interactions with otherkin. Added details on shifting methods, and switched the order of stuff up for somewhat better clarity.

Note 2: If you type in 'mermaid shifting' on Google, this is on the first page. HA!

Note 3: Seems this has pissed off/offended a few people. If you are one: plz to be getting over it. It's the internet, and you left yourself wide open.

I did not troll these wannabes, nor did I try to convince them that their goals will end in failure. I acted purely as a benevolent force, as one of them. There was no intent of trolling or hate in my actions, and none occurred.

As there isn't much action on there, I didn't get many replies. I met a girl I'll call Jane who explained to me that she used to live in Central America but moved to the US about five years ago. She wants to be a mermaid so she can regain the connection to the ocean that she lost when she moved (by being a mermaid, she's part of the ocean). But she was the only one who seems to have a valid reason to want to be a mermaid. Otherwise, I emailed a few curious people back and forth, and went about exploring and learning from websites, and firsthand from merwannabes. After I was initially done with this study, I still replied to emails, but I got the same questions. How did I become a mermaid, was I willing to help, what is it like, etc. I did not run into many people who had legit reasons for wanting to become merfolk, aside from reasons such as liking swimming and the ocean.

This study was done largely as what some would call 'informal'. I did this by observation. I don't note exact sources or exact people. While I intend this to be a 'serious study', this is by no means an official, academic, or whatever-you-want-to-call-it study- but all data was collected in a serious attempt to give information about a little known group of mermaid wannabes, or as some may say, enthusiasts.

A) Sites
The main site that the merwannabes occupy, or initially find each other, is 43things.com. There, one can create goals that they want to achieve, like being a mermaid. There are several goals oriented around mermaids, so if you're curious you can go take a look yourself.

Below are some of the personal sites you might come across if you're curious about merwannabes. There are some that are concerned with more than mermaids, which I didn't include here because mermaids aren't the real focus of the site. Although there is largely the same content in regards to 'side effects' and 'spells', and a lot of copy and paste with mermaid history (such as from here), sightings, and other information, you can get a good look at how media has influenced these teens (pretty sure they're ALL teens). Some of the ideas are interesting, such as with shifting. But you can tell that these sites are made by teens entranced by mermaids, with a lot of info that is made-up or pulled from other sites. This is just a small sampling of the websites, even though I've listed almost fifty. I still find new ones every time I search Google, but I probably won't add any more. This is more than enough to give you a great idea of what merwannabes are like.

These sites can make your head hurt. Read at your own risk.

Note: there aren't many pop-ups but a few of the sites are flashy and annoying. Not giving these kids a free ride, so copy and paste to open the sites. Also, as of March '14, I will no longer be adding and/or updating these sites. If the majority of them begin to fail, resort to your friend Google.

1. http://mermaidsofthefullmoon.webs.com/
2. http://moonlightmermaidsnight.webs.com/
3. http://mermaidrelam.webs.com/
4. http://spellsofthesea.webs.com/
5. https://sites.google.com/site/mermaidshifting/home/
6. http://daughtersofthesea.webs.com/
7. http://moonstruckmermaids.webs.com/
8. http://mysecretsemimermaidlife.webs.com/
9. http://mithica.webs.com/
10. http://mermaidsworld.webs.com/
11. http://www.freewebs.com/mermaidinfocenter/howtobecomeamermaid.htm/
12. http://transmermaid.webs.com/
13. http://www.freewebs.com/merfolk/
14. http://moonstruckedgoddesses.webs.com/
15. http://www.mermaidswishy.webs.com/
16. http://www.freewebs.com/mermaidclub/
17. http://mermaidessence.webs.com/
18. http://believeinmermaids.webs.com/
19. http://myfantasea.webs.com/
20. http://mermaidutopia.webs.com/
21. http://mermology.webs.com/
22. http://reallifemermaids.webs.com/
23. http://themermaidclub.webs.com/
24. http://oceanangelz.webs.com
25. http://mermaidgyrlz.webs.com/
26. http://merspell.webs.com/
27. http://themermaidspell.webs.com/
28. http://mermaidspellsnow.webs.com/
29. http://mysticmermaid.webs.com/
30. http://mermaid10116.webs.com/
31. http://www.secretmerlife.webs.com/
32. http://tailsandgills.webs.com/
33. http://mermaidays.webs.com/
34. http://howtobecomeamermaid.webs.com/
35. http://thesecertwaters.webs.com/
36. http://beliveinmermaids.webs.com/
37. http://3mermaids.webs.com
38. http://mermaidsoftheocean.webs.com/ -This is the site of a 'real' mermaid who was at the time 16 years old. Includes pictures of her. (I still can't believe teens that old would believe they could become mermaids. Oh well.)
39. http://hookedonmermaids.webs.com/
40. http://h2omermaid.webs.com/ -obviously a fan site, but you can tell it's owned by a merwannabe because of the spells.
41. http://kaishin.webs.com/ -This is the only site by a guy that I could find, who claims to be a real merman.
42. http://thelasttruemermaids.webs.com/ -to me, this chick seems like she has some starting signs of psychological problems. The last mermaid? Better watch out.
43. http://truemermaids.webs.com/
44. http://warriorsofthesea321.webs.com/ -another fool who thinks the veil is falling and a war is coming, obviously focused on sea-beings.
45. http://mermaidluvers.webs.com/
46. http://atruemermaid.webs.com/
47. http://magickallyshifted.webs.com/

B) Blogs
The blogs are okay but are not a good representation of merwannabes alone as there are not as many blogs compared to websites. Here the treasure is all the comments wannabes have made, and never get replied back to by the owners of the blogs. So far, I've only found a few blogs.

1. http://becomeamermaid.wordpress.com/
2. http://mermaidspellsthatwork.blogspot.com/
3. http://notebookofamermaid.wordpress.com/ask-a-mermaid/ -Not sure if this is a serious one about being a 'real' mermaid or not, but at that page, you can see how desperate some of these people are.
4. http://merdiarys.blogspot.com/
5. http://lifewithatail.wordpress.com/
6. http://mermaidblog14.blogspot.com/

The wannabes are also on Youtube and Yahoo Answers, but they both have the same thing that the personal sites do- wannabes asking for help and people making up spells. So you're not seeing anything different, but on Youtube you can see the faces, hear the voices, and confirm the age of many wannabes.

Shifting is becoming a common method, borrowed from werewannabes. The concept for pshifting a tail is the same as pshifting into a werewolf. This usually involves concentration and meditation techniques to will the body into a physical change. It takes hard work and dedication, and is not expected to work instantly. However there is a different method, outlined here that brings a few new aspects to shapeshifting- the mental flare and fantasy shift. A fantasy shift is basically acting deliberately as your mer-self, while a mental flare is a continuous mental shift, lasting days at a time. (As these two shifts focus on humanoid beings, it works much better for them than it would for animal-kin. If you're tempted to try either and you're animal-kin: not recommended unless you want to literally be your animalself for a very long time.)

Others use both methods, and believe that they work symbiotically to help push the wannabe into getting a tail.

'Side effects' (or more appropriately 'symptoms', since a side effect denotes a negative effect, like side effects of medicine, and a symptom means you're about to get something, such as a tail or a cold) of spells and shifting occur in the process to gaining a tail. These include 'gill bumps' where gills are expected to form; dry skin; legs locking up or not separating; skin changing color in water; cravings for salt, salt water, and water in general (being in it or thirst); mermaid dreams; and (if applicable) emerging powers.

It's believed that one can get a tail and powers through a spell, but just a tail through shifting. Powers can be learned manually, without having to rely on spells. One method is not preferred over the other, nor is it easy to say which is more effective, faster, safer, or easier for the user.

There has been a few instances of wannabes using the general plot of H2O as explanations to how they became mermaids. Finding moon pools (bodies of water usually in a cave that are enchanted by the full moon) is common. Another method is rather elaborate and convenient for the wannabe/'real' mermaid, involving claims of a grandparent or someone older (usually conveniently dead) having a diary that talks of how she became a mermaid. The wannabe then uses this to become a mermaid herself. I'm not totally certain, but I think this is a plot device in H2O. In their community, most wannabes throw off H2O-related stuff as junk.

Just like with the werewannabes, merwannabes are largely teenagers who have been influenced by media, except with these wannabes, they're mostly girls. I did find some guys, but only one was active and has a website. The age of merwannabes varies from ten (I had a ten yr old contact my fake mer-self via email) to nineteen, with some who have been interested since before teen years. There appear to be a few who claim they're in college, but their typing skills would beg otherwise. There was a single woman in her 30s or later, who became an astral mermaid (in other words her astral body is in a mermaid form). Location is harder to pin down. Although the websites can be accessed by anyone anywhere in the world, the people I talked to were in the USA, but I saw one person from Scotland, and talked with another from Ireland. Due to not being able to find out where most of the wannabes are from, I'm unable to provide accurate demography.

Although wannabes' intentions are good, like wanting to help the ocean or maintain a connection with it, it's still a fantasy for them and a form of escapism. Merwannabes want powers, to be beautiful, and to be able to do incredible things that otherkin of the same persuasion can only dream of. However, there is a small number of merwannabes who have a more legitimate reason to want to be mermaids aside from liking certain media or wanting powers. Jane is the best example, as she once lived in Central America and moved away, and now wishes to regain the connection with the ocean she believes she lost when she moved away. (However, Jane seems to have fallen into believing that she is some sort of 'last true mermaid'.)

The merwannabes accept almost anything as a valid (although not necessarily a GOOD) reason for wanting to become a mermaid, but it's important to remember that there are individual views as well. The majority of wannabes will claim that they have watched and enjoyed H20, and even that the show made them want to be mermaids. Movies like Aquamarine and mermaid fiction are also influences, to a lesser extent. For those who don't support liking H20 as a valid reason, they see liking the ocean, fish, wanting to be beautiful, or enchanting people with singing as valid reasons to become mermaids.

The 'real' mermaids, just like the 'real p-shifting' werewolves are nothing more than people saying they can do things over the internet, just because they can get away with it and no one will know they are lying. However, unlike werewannabes there are fewer merwannabes, and fewer people claiming that they have been turned into mermaids versus the werewannabes who have been able to p-shift. The merwannabes can at least provide proof, in the form of pictures jacked from Google or costuming websites, but the fact remains that none of them have yet proven themselves to be real.

Along with making claims of going from human to a nonhuman being, there are new ideas for the species that are created. Many of which are pulled from media or made up just because they sound cool. Types of mermaids, the meaning of tail colors, mermaid language, and what mermaids can do are a few of these things. There are more extravagant things like the shell phone, a phone made from a conch shell that works only in saltwater ("Always keep your shell phone on hand, in case you need to call someone underwater."), although they're very hard to believe. (The shell phone idea dates back to a 2001 book called The Tail of Emily Windsnap, and possibly before.)

These ideas also include ways of becoming mermaids, which focuses on spells and more recently physically shifting their legs into a tail, which they eventually will be able to do at will, versus becoming a mermaid via a spell and becoming a mermaid when wet and staying human when dry (the primary idea of H20). Spells are everywhere, but it is agreed that they don't work for everyone. Making a personalized spell is supposed to work better, but even then it might not work. While spells allow a potential to personalize (choosing tail color, for example) and obtaining powers, it also means that mermaid powers can be lost because they were gained through magic. On the other hand, shifting a tail means that it won't ever be lost, because it was obtained through their very will and desire for a tail. Shifting allows free power over being a mermaid, versus the constraints of a spell.

These wannabes appear to less immature than werewannabes, which is expressed in the way they handle their websites with good typing and not looking like someone let their ten year old have free reign of the net. That isn't to say it's easy to believe everything they write just because they sound smart (take the 'shell phone', for example, a cute play on words, but a weird idea). However, like all wannabes, they're prone to believing almost anything (the massive amount of spells shows this), and they will also do anything that is said to turn them into a mermaid, and believe anyone, as my experiment with claiming to be a real mermaid proves. Unlike the werewannabes, though, they don't always ask for proof of tails and are less likely to negatively jump on someone who says they're a mermaid. This is more of a downfall than a good thing, since it will only lead them to believing more false claims.

It appears that the merwannabes do grow out of this. I haven't found many active people over the age of eighteen. There was one girl who claimed to have been on the site when she was thirteen, and is now in college. She says she grew out of that time of her life, and that nothing ever happened to her, but good luck to everyone anyway. This is much different from the werewannabes, where a few people I've known since 2005 can still be found, and are now in their twenties. Perhaps the media involved could be to blame for this. Werewolf movies are violent and for (one could argue) a more mature audience, while mermaids are a young girl's fantasy, which can more easily be grown out of than violent and more exciting werewolves.

The mermaids that these wannabes wish to become are largely based on the mermaid concept from H20. In H20, three teen girls become mermaids at the slightest hint of being touched by water. Condensation from a drink, a stray drop from a sprinkler, anything. Not all the mermaids (online) experience such a drastic threat from water, however. Some change when seriously wet, like when swimming, in a bath, or in the rain, and rarely, they have control over when they change. But mostly, if they use a spell to become mermaids, they follow a loose concept of mermaid when wet, human when dry. If they use shifting, they have control over gaining their tails.

The powers displayed by the mermaids are also like those in H20. Most commonly listed on websites are the powers of freezing, heating up, or being able to move water, along with more Airbender (a smaller influence but obvious) style abilities like controlling the earth, fire, air, and similar kinetic abilities. The way to get these abilities varies. Some mermaids have to work towards these goals, and others simply get the powers by spells. If they become mermaids through shifting, they are unlikely to get any powers at all. (How to become a mermaid is listed in the next section.) Other mermaids claim that they don't have H20 powers, and neither do real mermaids.

Their lives appear to be normal, at least. Most mermaids and wannabes acknowledge that they are still human, and live human lives. The mermaids still live on land and go to the sea to swim, although there are a few who claim to live in the sea and have a mermaid family (I guess they have the internet). As lots of these people are teens, many want to move to the sea when they get older, or go live there entirely as a mermaid and never go back to land. However, the majority do stay on land, and wish to use their abilities for peaceful things, like help the ocean or aid themselves in their desired career, like biology.

The mermaids are careful in what they do, and know very well that they can't be seen by normal people. Although it isn't cautioned everywhere, the mermaids know that it's very important not to get caught, although if they do get seen, there are few tips what to do in that case (mostly hide or deny). Luckily, the mermaids have no true enemies like hunters or other species (such as werewolves and vampires). I didn't many people who say they've been caught or have MiB-like people after them.

Being a mermaid is not always permanent. Although I didn't see it often, there are mermaids who lost their abilities and they don't know why. Some spells will be broken if one removes an amulet or charm that was enchanted to make the wearer become a mermaid, while others can be broken by strange things like shaving legs (supposedly shaving one hair is like shaving off ten scales). It is unclear whether or not it is possible to become a mermaid again. On the other hand, it isn't believed that you can lose your tail and powers if you got them via shifting.

Not spreading across the net has kept down the numbers of trolls, 'hunters' and other badies. I saw only one guy who constantly annoyed the merwannabes, but they're so used to him that they ignore him. The were- wannabes experience a much higher rate of 'hunters', people wanting proof, and 'hostile' species like vampires wanting to create a scene. This is likely because the merwannabes are a much more peaceful bunch, since mermaids are hardly seen as violent, and the wannabes don't wish to appear in such a light, unlike the werewannabes.

In the sense of community, it's very loose. There are some popular merwannabes, and there ones who aren't to be trusted. There is no hierarchy, no right or wrong answers (unless its H2O), and different ideas are usually taken in stride- mostly because the wannabes are so desperate to become mermaids they'll try anything. Some have attempted to form 'pods', but they usually stick to a group of friends or a website. While merwannabes do have interactions with other wannabes, they tend to stick to merwannabes and don't often linger with others.

Few merwannabes use the term otherkin. More often it is the werewannabes, who use therianthropy and otherkin in a different since than otherkin do. Therianthropy is largely focused on shifting instead of simply a state of being animal. Otherkin are seen as every nonhuman ever, instead of just nonhuman people in human bodies for whatever their reason. It's unclear whether merwannabes see themselves in the category of otherkin, whether it's the 'original' definition used by 'real' otherkin, or 'their' definition.

While a few merwannabes appeared to me that they could possibly be otherkin, it is very rare to experience anyone who feels like they should have been mermaid instead of human. I encountered only a couple people who felt this way, after I made a vague post asking if anyone believed they might be merfolk in some spiritual way (without mentioning otherkin).

It is likely the otherkin community will never run into these wannabes, nor ever have to be concerned about them. Unlike the influx of werewannbes and the confusion new 'werewolves' sometimes present in the therian community, I haven't seen merwannabes come into otherkin forums asking if anyone knows how to shift. This, however, could be attributed to the popularity of wolf-kin, and the low population of merfolk. Should a wannabe google 'mermaid otherkin' they aren't going to find much.

However, this 'study' shows very well the horrors of media, the connectability of the internet, and the effects of the teenage identity crisis- three things that should never be allowed to come together.

~Ketrino
May '12