5 Fluencies of Information

There are five fluencies related to digital citizenship:

• Information fluency
• Solution fluency
• Creativity fluency
• Media fluency
• Collaboration fluency

Applying information fluency skills to the Animal Planet mermaid documentaries, I concluded the following:

1.    Purpose of the site and series:

 Despite the appearance of scientific research and historic ‘evidence’ associated with the mermaid theory, I think that the purpose of the website and series is to promote awareness of the Animal Plant channel and the importance of protecting marine life in general.

2.    The Information Fluency Process:

The information fluency process consists of 5 phases: Ask, acquire, analyse, apply and assess.

Ask:

This entails asking meaningful questions.

• What is the purpose of the website?

• Why mermaids and not another mythical creature?

• Is it really true?

Acquire:

This step of the process involves investigating the questions asked in the previous steps.

• I watched all the videos and accordingly decided what the purpose of the website was.

• I believe that Animal Planet selected mermaids as it makes it more personal. We tend to have more empathy with humans or human-like animals.

• I have not decided whether it is true or not, I need a bit more evidence before I form an opinion about this subject.

Analyse:

This step in the process compares information gathered from various sources.

• I watched other videos available on YouTube in addition to the videos available on the website and read an additional newspaper article, (Newling, 2012).

Apply:

This is the phase where the solution is implemented. As there is no problem, the application is not clear.

Assess:

In this phase the user looks at the application of the solution to the problem. As there was no problem, what needs to be assessed is not clear.

3. Public Response

Considering feedback on the Animal Planet website, I think it is a fifty-fifty response. There are individuals that are very sceptical and others that are convinced that mermaids are real. Justin Peters stated that he felt the entire project was a waste of resources and time, whereas others feel betrayed that there was no clear indication that the footage was not real, while others are convinced that mermaids are real and more conclusive proof will be found in future.

4. Veracity of the Series

It is difficult to comment on the veracity of the Animal Planet Mermaids series. At the time that it was marketed, I did not watch T.V. however it does seem that there was a lot of time and money that went into the promotion of the series. After a few general Google searches using Mermaids and Animal Planet along with other terms, resulted in a more negative outlook on the series and the channel. Words like “hoax” and “fake” appearing among the search results.

5. Was the series a success or failure?

Whether the campaign was a success or failure, is hard to say. It is not clear what the intention behind the campaign was. If the intention was to encourage people to believe in mermaids, I would say that it was not too successful. In all the videos I watched there was a hint at the ‘evidence’ being made up. If the intention was to create curiosity and to encourage people to question what they see on television, I would say that it was successful.

To decide for yourself, take a look at the website: http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/mermaids

Digital Footprint

According to a post on www.internetsociety.org, a digital footprint is your online history on any form of social media. Common sense media states that your digital footprint can be searched, copied, shared, broadcasted and is more importantly it is permanent. Consider what kind of footprint you want to leave.

(www.commonsensemedia.org)