• ⏰ Welcome, Guest! You are viewing only 2 out of 27 total forums. Register today to view more, then Subscribe to view all forums, submit posts, reply to posts, create new threads, view photos, access private messages, change your avatar, create a photo album, customize your profile, and possibly be selected as our next Feature of the Month.

Why Aren’t There As Many People Trying To Grow Their Hair Long?

⏳ Limited Access:

Register today to view all forum posts.

Register Log in
well I think people still are into growing hair. I can't speak for length checks...but messageboards aren't poppin' like that anymore lol. I mean we're all on here, but so many other social media platforms have popped up within the last couple of years that people have gravitated to to discuss. That's why the hair forum isn't as active as it used to be
 
Dposh167 said:
well I think people still are into growing hair. I can't speak for length checks...but messageboards aren't poppin' like that anymore lol. I mean we're all on here, but so many other social media platforms have popped up within the last couple of years that people have gravitated to to discuss. That's why the hair forum isn't as active as it used to be
Click to expand...
Things have definitely changed. With the uptake of Social Media sites, like Youtube, IG... The serious, consistent ones go these for reveals... They may post a link here and get like 4 looks, :perplexed: #doubleDuty.. "Im just gonna try my luck on the tube and see if I can garner some coins, samples", Lol! IMO #tipsytalk
 
I flit between 'trying' to grow my hair long, and just seeing what it does. Although I want long hair, I'm a little scared of the maintenance it will need and I'll probably have to switch up my regimen to get there.

I was more active with length checks in my first 2 years but I haven't done one for a good few months. Due to life, forgetfulness and the inconvenience of these things when you live alone.
 
Dposh167 said:
well I think people still are into growing hair. I can't speak for length checks...but messageboards aren't poppin' like that anymore lol. I mean we're all on here, but so many other social media platforms have popped up within the last couple of years that people have gravitated to to discuss. That's why the hair forum isn't as active as it used to be
Click to expand...
Good point but we have had socia media all along. MySpace, Facebook groups, the yahoo groups. People still managed to make their way to the forums where we could specifically discuss hair. I know there’s stuff on instagram but it’s so all over the place.
 
I joined LHCF in Dec 2006 and I’ve seen a lot.

I would say once Fotki started ‘charging’ for their service....A LOT of people left. People lost their accounts and years and years worth of progress photos, hair, product etc. photos.


I know when Macheriamor left LHCF, many people left w/ her. I know I did.
 
TamaraShaniece said:
I joined LHCF in Dec 2006 and I’ve seen a lot.

I would say once Fotki started ‘charging’ for their service....A LOT of people left. People lost their accounts and years and years worth of progress photos, hair, product etc. photos.


I know when Macheriamor left LHCF, many people left w/ her. I know I did.
Click to expand...
Another good point. Also, I wonder what her hair is looking like these days.
 
Bunnyhaslonghair said:
Good point but we have had socia media all along. MySpace, Facebook groups, the yahoo groups. People still managed to make their way to the forums where we could specifically discuss hair. I know there’s stuff on instagram but it’s so all over the place.
Click to expand...

But during those myspace times, people in general didn't have much of an interest in growing hair or the science behind healthier hair. We gravitated back to messageboards because this was a topic that we cared about and there wasn't much information out there. These messageboards were the hub of info to grow black long hair. It took time for the general public to really care the way we do...and now that they do... they are using the other platforms to discuss it. Those people don't care to join a messageboard when they have facebook groups, instagram, youtube, snapchat to talk about this stuff. And lets not forget....it costs money to post on this board. You think people are going to pay 6.50 to ask questions pertaining to hair when all those other platforms are free and you can get all the info you can get here? It's just how it is now. A LOT has changed within our hair care industry in the last 8-10 years. A LOT. And it reflects on this board. It's still weird to see the term co-wash show up on products on the shelves. Our secrets are out and this isn't necessarily the "go to" place to post hair updates anymore
 
I can only speak for myself and my circle of friends but I know in addition to a lot of the reasons posted upthread, we had a vested interest in dispelling a lot of the hair myths about Black women.
For a long time, around my way at least, having thick hair past your shoulders that was all growing from your scalp put you in unicorn status. Most everybody had a track or two here or there, various phony ponys, wigs, terrible crochets, extensions etc. Relaxed hair was mostly chewed up on the ends and natural hair was some kind of perm a la Jherri Curl or a really boyish fade or short fro.
So myself and a lot of my friends got some strange urge to “prove” we could grow our hair to incredible lengths if we wanted to, if we really tried. I know in the early 2000s I would FREQUENTLY be approached by someone who told me they’d never seen a Black girl with hair long and healthy like mine. I would regularly get asked if I was some kind of mix. I’d get weave checked by strangers...
But with the increasing popularity of video and photo sites, errrrbody know (most everybody?) Black women can grow their hair, in whatever state, just about as long as they care to. And a lot of these hair transgressions are increasingly rare.
Plus, a lot of the fake hair is coming in a greater variety. So if you want a natural look, but long, you can get it, without years of consistency and patience. Whereas before, your choices were kinda limited to terrible looking curly perm wigs and that awful yak yaki.
I’d say for myself, my hair needs to be at least WL for it to start passing my shoulders in its curly state. And with that level of shrinkage, it just feels kinda pointless to be declaring “But really, it’s down my back” when 90%+ of the time it’s above my shoulders.
If I ever get on top of becoming a straight natural, I think length checks will become a major thing for me again.

The other big thing is a lot of people are over super long hair. The maintenance, the scheduling, the products... golly. They’d rather just get a sew in or wig for the few occasions they want their hair to look nice. Plus living vicariously through bloggers and vloggers lets them know exactly what baggage goes with long, healthy hair. And it’s more than what most people are honestly willing to deal with.
 
@Dposh167 I always tell my friends that when they ask me if I use a co-wash..."Girl, co-washing is a METHOD not a product! I'v been cowashing since 2008 when I was relaxed WAAAAY before they made a cowashing product!"

I still prefer the old school way of co washng, I get better results. I'm kind of back to being interested in growing my hair longer, though.

Remember back in the day when we used to talk straight hair science on here? Like, when your hair feels too stretchy or mushy, it's over moisturized, but if the strand snaps immediately it means you have too much protein?

Now I see all these ppl using protein in these youtube videos for dry/damaged hair...when they actually need to focus on straight moisture. I still live by a lot of the old remedies of the LHCF vault. :yep:
 
Additionally I am not so caught up on length as much as I used to be. I've become a little disenchanted with the pursuit of long hair in just this last year or so. I just like having healthy hair, period! Whether short or long. I much prefer thickness though but that's because I'm a relatively fine-haired girl. If it was thick, I would be craving more length.

I have noticed that many hair boards are non-existent these days but hey, there are too many things grabbing our attention and spiraling them into so many different directions now, like the other social medias out there, like family, like other self interests and hobbies, like the pursuit of our Almighty God with complete and total abandonment of all else. I think life just happens and you have to roll with the punches, in whichever direction it takes you.
 
Last edited:
PeaceLover said:
I think it was a huge deal learning how to grow hair when the natural hair movement began. Now BW who want long hair know how to obtain it so boards are not as popular as they use to be. I rarely visit them hair threads because I’ve learned a lot through friends.
Click to expand...

I was thinking this exact same thing. It might be this, added on top of all of the other things mentioned so far.
 
Bunnyhaslonghair said:
What happened to all the length checks, updates, reveals, length oriented videos, and so on? It’s lessened on here and youtube lot the past few years. The other hair forums are virtually non existent now. Why aren’t people growing their hair as much anymore?
Click to expand...

I think wigs and weaves are very popular now, at least in my neck of the woods. I'm still interested in growing long, natural hair, though.
 
TamaraShaniece said:
I joined LHCF in Dec 2006 and I’ve seen a lot.

I would say once Fotki started ‘charging’ for their service....A LOT of people left. People lost their accounts and years and years worth of progress photos, hair, product etc. photos.


I know when Macheriamor left LHCF, many people left w/ her. I know I did.
Click to expand...
She charged for her site too! Lol Tracey’s site was popping, Hairlista , and NJoy had a following that left. I think wigs and weaves have taken over.
 
PeaceLover said:
I think it was a huge deal learning how to grow hair when the natural hair movement began. Now BW who want long hair know how to obtain it so boards are not as popular as they use to be. I rarely visit them hair threads because I’ve learned a lot through friends.
Click to expand...
Youtube has taken over. Hair vitamins, length check videos, all of these interesting growth oils, rice water, onion juice, Vick’s vapor rub, etc.. the youngins are more visual and they aren’t coming here for that. I came to this forum in my 20’s. I will be 40 this year! I have seen a lot come and go! Lol
 
Bunnyhaslonghair said:
What happened to all the length checks, updates, reveals, length oriented videos, and so on? It’s lessened on here and youtube lot the past few years. The other hair forums are virtually non existent now. Why aren’t people growing their hair as much anymore?
Click to expand...
I think because the myth that black people can't grow their hair long has been broken. There is no longer pressure to prove a point and now there is more of a choice to grow hair to SL, CL or even a TWA if we wish.

Well, that's what I think anyway.
 
I've only been on this site for a year and find myself looking at really old hair threads way more than the current ones, because they're more interesting. After a while people will tire of the same old thing and most of the activity on the hair boards is dedicated to saying what you did or bought today, this week or whatever. It's boring. I don't feel like getting on here everyday to say I deep conditioned or something. If nothing amazing or horrible happened, how is that helping anyone or myself?


I don't think everything has already been discussed. There are so many things that can be talked about, polls, pic heavy threads where we try to pinpoint some hair characteristic, and more importantly, we can resurrect some of the 10 year old threads, where people said the craziest stuff about natural hair and see how much we've changed (or not). Even things that have been discussed before can be discussed again, now that we know more, or if more people participated and got to the root of things better than they did 5 or 8 years ago.

Eta:
I don't think we've accomplished our overall black girl long hair goal. I don't think it's about proving anything anymore. A huge chunk of us, despite having this goal, still aren't reaching it or give up, so there's more work to be done so the next generation can have an easy care free time growing long hair. (Not that I'm much help in that dept., lol)
 
Last edited:
I think the major thing is that most, if not all, the information about growing hair that used to be just concentrated on hair boards, is now out, and all over the interwebs.

We found this board in 2005. My mom had a specific question about relaxers. When googled, no relevant results were generated other than a thread on this message board. This was the only place she could find the answer to that question and many others. Nowadays, you can google any black/kinky hair question and get blog posts, YouTube videos, Instagram and Facebook posts for days. Obviously, this is going to reduce the amount of people who will feel the need to join a hair board, especially one that costs.

Most of us that are here, have been here a long time. We know a great deal about hair care and don't need to camp out on the hair side of the board anymore. Really, it was always old members teaching new members the ropes (at least from my join date on). Old members making awesome posts, new members asking questions, old members answering, newbies learning and repeating the cycle. NOW? This is a board full of old members and no newbies. When was the last time we've seen a "Hi, new here!" post. We have no one to inspire.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

memee1978
you can grow long hair!!!!!!!
2 3
Replies
62
Views
14K
CurlyMommie
CurlyMommie
Neith
Why is it that we don't grow our hair to termininal length as much?
2 3 4
Replies
109
Views
19K
Mis007
Mis007
DDHair
Long Hair Is In!!
Replies
8
Views
1K
DDHair
DDHair
S
Conversation About Current Natural Hair Trends
Replies
6
Views
2K
TamaraShaniece
TamaraShaniece
Crystalicequeen123
Is anyone else *afraid* to grow their hair longer?
2
Replies
50
Views
7K
tricie
tricie
Back
Top