Who Has the Longest Hair on TLHC [Archive] - The Long Hair Community Discussion Boards

Áine

October 17th, 2008, 03:26 PM

Hi Bunnygirl! :)

I think people here tend not to ever think competitively when it comes to our hair, especially due to the fact that we are all at different stages of our journeys. And with the number of people out there on the internet who ask for general hair pictures of length and cutting, it would mostly creep members out. I just thought I would share that in case you were wondering why more folks weren't jumping aboard. :o

Bunnygirl

October 17th, 2008, 03:38 PM

Well I've been here for a little while, why would it creep people out? I never see anyone in real life with hair longer than bsl, so I was just curious. :confused:

Euphony

October 17th, 2008, 03:42 PM

Well I've been here for a little while, why would it creep people out? I never see anyone in real life with hair longer than bsl, so I was just curious. :confused:
It seems a tad creepy to me as well. If you want to peruse through some pictures why don't you check out the albums? The albums can be set to private (to only allow 'friends') or they are set to public. But even them being set to public is far less public than the Mane Forum that this thread is on, since you need to be a member here and something like 25 quality posts.

burns_erin

October 17th, 2008, 03:43 PM

If you are curious like I am, an easier way is to go to member list so you can look for people who have really long hair and see if they have pics, or go under member list search. That is how i found my hair twin, even though her hair is about 4 feet longer than mine, but still, very much an inspiration.

Áine

October 17th, 2008, 03:49 PM

One word. F*tishist. LHC doesn't take kindly to those, and that is a common request of a f*tishist (I am not calling you one). There is always the public album to browse through. :bluesmile

why would it creep people out? I never see anyone in real life with hair longer than bsl, so I was just curious. :confused:

lizzyjo

October 17th, 2008, 04:00 PM

I'm going to agree with BunnyGirl on this one. Here is a great opportunity for those with incredibly long hair to show off their hard work

Kleis

October 17th, 2008, 04:09 PM

I'm going to agree with BunnyGirl on this one. Here is a great opportunity for those with incredibly long hair to show off their hard work

Actually, the place where we do that is often on the meet threads, where we show off the hard work no matter the length of hair. It's inclusive and not exclusive the way "longest hair only" threads can seem. It's just not a competition. :shrug:

xrosiex

October 17th, 2008, 04:11 PM

One word. F*tishist. LHC doesn't take kindly to those, and that is a common request of a f*tishist (I am not calling you one). There is always the public album to browse through. :bluesmile

I tend to agree with Aine on this one. Take your time and look through the public albums. There is beautiful hair and some other great photo albums.

PseudoScot

October 17th, 2008, 04:13 PM

Well I've been here for a little while, why would it creep people out? I never see anyone in real life with hair longer than bsl, so I was just curious. :confused:

You may be a well intentioned newer kid on the block, but we've members here who've been here for years, and generally flat-out demands from the newer members are often regarded as suspicious. It's not an individual thing, just from long experience here, that's how a lot of oddballs try to get their kicks.

There are a lot of threads where you can view hair, techniques, updos - in general, when first here it's a good idea to talk about yourself, too, so we can get to know you instead and your hair journey, rather than you asking others to reveal themselves to someone they've just met. Community here is a two-way street. :)

longhairedfairy

October 17th, 2008, 04:24 PM

I didn't take the original post as competition or creepy. I just thought it was a question out of interest.

Xanthippe

October 17th, 2008, 04:32 PM

Well I've been here for a little while, why would it creep people out? I never see anyone in real life with hair longer than bsl, so I was just curious. :confused:

You can find many pictures of hair longer than bsl with a search engine. :)

Carolyn

October 17th, 2008, 04:36 PM

There are some of us who grew our hair for personal reasons, not to show it off to strangers. I don't mind posting a few pictures in my blog but I am not going to post many pictures on the public forums. The title of this thread alone could be drawing in the creepo's shudder: It's understandable that new people would like to see some really long lengths but those of us who have been here a while know all too well the kind of people who are out there. Pictures we post on a public forum can be clicked on and saved to any computer. I, for one, do not like the idea of my pictures being saved to some perv's computer for later viewing. If you spend some time and search the style threads and the public photo albums you'll find quite a few pictures.

wintersun99

October 17th, 2008, 05:11 PM

Post pics!

You probably won't find many of these pictures appearing on the Main forum which is open to anyone, member or not, who just happens to be searching on the Internet... people arent' very comfortable with this which is why there are "Meet" forums as well as "Albums" both are a bit more secure and can be viewed by members only.

I'm going to agree with BunnyGirl on this one. Here is a great opportunity for those with incredibly long hair to show off their hard work

Again, that does happen but not on the Main forum, generally.

Koala Kim

October 17th, 2008, 05:27 PM

You may be a well intentioned newer kid on the block, but we've members here who've been here for years, and generally flat-out demands from the newer members are often regarded as suspicious. It's not an individual thing, just from long experience here, that's how a lot of oddballs try to get their kicks.

There are a lot of threads where you can view hair, techniques, updos - in general, when first here it's a good idea to talk about yourself, too, so we can get to know you instead and your hair journey, rather than you asking others to reveal themselves to someone they've just met. Community here is a two-way street. :)
Well said PseudoScot. :)

Kittee

October 17th, 2008, 05:33 PM

Felt the same way when I read the topic and thread.

We are not in a competition here.

Welcome to the forums though.

melikai

October 17th, 2008, 05:33 PM

I see people's point about f*tishes and such, but I honestly thought it sounded like a fun, innocent idea - not like a competition nor creepy. :\

blue_nant

October 17th, 2008, 05:46 PM

I think that many folks with long hair don't really think of it as incredibly long, even though if you have shorter or somewhat shorter hair, it may seem so. ... I don't really think of mine as incredibly long, but someone else might. ... Another reason you might not get a lot of bites.

But do go have fun in the albums! They are wayyy fun!

Kleis

October 17th, 2008, 05:47 PM

I see people's point about f*tishes and such, but I honestly thought it sounded like a fun, innocent idea - not like a competition nor creepy. :\

Oh, I'm sure everyone understands that this was meant in all fun. And it would be fun, totally. It's just more likely to happen on a more secure part of the site, due to incidents that have happened in the past. That's really all we're trying to express.

I don't think the word "competition" is anything to get unhappy about either. When I brought it up, I was acknowledging more that the "hard work" part of growing hair is something we all have to go through.

lora410

October 17th, 2008, 05:50 PM

I thought it was a really neat idea. Not as a competition but just for fun. I can understand though with this being the public forum where some people may get the heebie jeebies.

Nat242

October 17th, 2008, 06:46 PM

On the old LHC, this sort of thread might've happened on the photo boards, where you had to be a member for a certain length of time, have enough quality posts, and get mod approval before you could see them. Demanding photos generally only happens on the community meet reports board these days ;)

I wouldn't even be in the running, but I wouldn't be comfortable posting in a thread like this on a google-able section of this board - just my personal feelings.

jojo

October 17th, 2008, 07:24 PM

I can see it from both angles to be perfectly honest. As i have only been a member for just over a year, I consider myself to still be pretty new when compared to those who have been on the board for years, however i feel the OP was just showing a genuine curiosity to seeing long hair in its extreme.

Nonetheless, no matter how much we all 'know' each other and can get wrapped up in the great community we are a part of we do sometimes need to be reminded that there are oddballs (Bunnygirl i am not saying you are one) who get there kicks out of perving over long hair, so although a differing of opinions is evident within this thread, its good to be reminded from time to time that not all what glistens is gold, again this is in no way directed at Bunnygirl, just to merely remind people.

Bunnygirl I do understand your excitement on finding the LHC it is the best and I hope you decide to become an active part of it, with time when you have enough posts you will be able to have access to peoples albums, i do understand how frustrating this can be, just hang in there and welcome xxx

Darkhorse1

October 17th, 2008, 07:36 PM

I love looking at the albums for style tips! So many creative people here!!

As for f e t i s h e s---I mean, there is so much available online, I think this BB is very tame and wouldn't really attract people for very long. Good mods! :) And peeps too.

Cinnamon Hair

October 17th, 2008, 08:51 PM

This question has been asked on the Mane board before, on the archived forum. Here are some links to the answer
http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=36430&highlight=longest
http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=21527&highlight=longest
http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=19647&highlight=longest

lyria

October 22nd, 2008, 12:26 AM

:flowers: i really appreciated jojo's response.

as a newbie myself i didn't see anything other than curiosity in your post, bunnygirl, and was frankly a little surprized at and confused by some of the reactions.

i can understand some hesitation now that someone has explained a little, but I definitely didn't think "f e t i s h i s t" when i read your thread topic.

(going off to have some cheese)

joyfulmom4

October 22nd, 2008, 07:55 AM

I'm new and I just wanted to add that I wouldn't have thought about the f*tishist thing either. But I definitely understand now that someone has pointed it out. I have an online business selling cloth diapers and patterns and until I started that business, I never realized what weirdos were out there on the net. In a million years I would not have guessed that there were people who got off on diapers. Eeew. Hair f*tishes seem really benign to me now, compared to the creepy adults who are into cloth diapers... SHUDDER!

pdy2kn6

October 22nd, 2008, 08:01 AM

That's a short message :flower:

short and sweet!!

Bunnygirl

January 11th, 2009, 11:00 PM

chloeishere

January 11th, 2009, 11:08 PM

WOW, I don't think my feelings have ever been so hurt on the internet before. I came to this board, posted photos of my hair and shared my hair journey with you all, and made an effort to post. I asked for some hair inspiration, and I get called a creep with a f*tish. How is it acceptable to gang up on a new member like that? I am a nice young lady who wanted to see long hair to inspire me in my growing, as stalling at 19 inches can be very frustrating. I never implied that it was a competition, and I have never even heard of a long hair f*tish before. Perhaps you should all stop and think before posting such harsh words. Thank you very much to those who saw my nice intentions and stuck up for me.

Bunnygirl, I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding, but I have read every post in this thread, and every single person who tried to explain why you are not going to get responses on this thread was very careful NOT to infer that you were a f*tishist.

Please re-read the responses-- no one is implying that YOU are a long hair f*tishist, but for our own safety, most members will not post a picture of their hair in a thread titled like this, in a forum which is searchable on google.

I never had heard of a long hair f*tish before I was on this site, either, but if you look around, there are other sites that are set up for that sort of thing. This is not this sort of site, and due to past problems, people here are very cautious about attracting attention from those other sites.

Perhaps you could re-read the responses in this thread, as they were all worded as politely as possible, in this situation. :flowers:

Welcome to LHC!

saoriiroas

January 11th, 2009, 11:31 PM

I think it is interesting how the community reacts to possible f*tishists. Everyone was quick to call *this* topic creepy, but there was another topic, posted by a person with only 3 posts, asking what people did with their hair during "cuddle time" and it came off as super-creepy to me, and not many people seemed to call that a duck. Not at first, at least.

Bunnygirl- I lurked on this site for years, years, before joing. And I can assure you that it is a strange place with strange ways of going about things and doing other things. I have been a member for over a year, and I still don't know a lot about this site. (Forgot my password to my other account and talked to the mods and set this one up) I am not really a forum person, this is the only one I belong to and sometimes I feel like I do not belong. But at the end of the day, if you are trying to grow your hair long, and are fascinated by haircare, and genuinely want to meet people with interests that are similar to yours, you have come to the right place. It just takes a while to figure out, welcome to the LHC.

Flaxen

January 12th, 2009, 12:03 AM

WOW, I don't think my feelings have ever been so hurt on the internet before. I came to this board, posted photos of my hair and shared my hair journey with you all, and made an effort to post. I asked for some hair inspiration, and I get called a creep with a ******. How is it acceptable to gang up on a new member like that? I am a nice young lady who wanted to see long hair to inspire me in my growing, as stalling at 19 inches can be very frustrating. I never implied that it was a competition, and I have never even heard of a long hair f e t i s h before. Perhaps you should all stop and think before posting such harsh words. Thank you very much to those who saw my nice intentions and stuck up for me.
Bunny, please reread the responses to you. I am sorry you've been hurt, but I can tell you with full confidence that people were genuinely trying to give you a feel for how the boards work. Requests for pictures from strangers are considered impolite at best, and well, they *can* be suspect, at worst. World Wide Web really does mean world wide, even though it feels like a cozy little community here, and there are parts of it that aren't very nice.

You said you didn't know there was such a thing as a hair f e t i s h. The responses that mentioned that were telling you there is such a thing. They were not calling you a creep. I don't know if you can read the responses and *hear* the meaning behind them like I do, but I hope you will try. I can assure you, knowing the people who posted, that they were guiding and teaching you, not ganging up on you.

saoriiroas, I am honestly surprised at your post. Strange? Really? Yes, there is talk here on all kinds of subjects, but it is a world apart from posting pictures. Nobody posted pictures (or asked for them) in the thread you mentioned, but long hair pictures from here have been stolen and posted on f*tish sites for self gratification. Now that's creepy to me. Threads could be used for the same purpose, so we do try to keep the site PG 13. If you see anything that you think violates that guideline, please use the Report Button. :smile:

saoriiroas

January 12th, 2009, 01:22 AM

I love strange things, I actually looked up the definition of strange and found that it was exactly what I meant, and I see it as a complement really. And there are a lot of strange things going on in these forums...monistat, oil pulling, washing your hair with listerine (j/k). I understand what you mean by the focus on pictures, but sometimes those creeps don't need them you know?
This forum is not exactly the easiest for new people/computer illiterates to handle, I do not know anything about forum etiquette or HTML, or how to do a lot of things with the actual format/layout , let alone the traditions and such that go along with this place. I was simply trying to sympathize with the feeling of being daunted by the LHC. I had the same question as the OP in my mind back when this was the LHL? and have still not had it answered. Nowadays I consider it part of the mysterious allure of the LHC, and I enjoy "finding" the ones with knee+ hair. Good night everybody!

SafoByMengin

January 12th, 2009, 01:43 AM

Wow, I didn't know that I have to have enough posts to see albums. I thought only friends can see each other pics. Am I able to make my own photo album now?

Elphie

January 12th, 2009, 03:13 AM

Safobymengin, being able to create a photo album happens generally at 25 posts.
You can read more about user permissions, here.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=1658

SafoByMengin

January 12th, 2009, 06:03 AM

Thank you very much:)

Bene

January 12th, 2009, 08:23 AM

i sort of understand the fuss about hiding the goodies from the perverts. are there sick ppl out there? sure thing. do i throw a hissy fit about it? nope.

if i don't want some creep "enjoying themselves" with images of me, my hair, my body, my dog, my vacuum cleaner, whatever, i simply don't post it. i post images that i consider relatively innocuous, and if i find out that some perv is getting his jollies from them, then i can only blame myself for putting them out there in the first place, no? it's the internet, i've been around long enough to know that's how things work. i'm an admin at a site, and i mod at another, at places where there aren't strict rules about behavior (language, hostility, etc), and all i can tell people who get photoshopped and ridiculed is "well, unless they HACKED into your computer or your photobucket, the image was a sitting duck. take it as a learning experience". i said the same thing who to a girl who posted provocative images of herself only to find them at another site...

the internet is kind of like walking down a street with lots of buildings. behind a curtain or two there may be a dude sitting there with binoculars getting all excited by strangers walking by his window. a lot of us simply don't care who's watching as long as they don't come up and grope. what they do behind their own window, well, it's a free country can't control the beasts out there. the best i can do is give less material to work with :D

bunnygirl, i'm sorry your beginning at a forum was such a crappy experience. i saw this thread and didn't think you were a creep if that's any consolation. i just don't have long hair which is why i didn't post anything for you to see. and hey, at least you made an entrance that got noticed. tons of other noobs simply get ignored, their posts and threads go totally overlooked. you're ahead of the game :)

JamieLeigh

January 12th, 2009, 09:03 AM

MusingFrog

January 12th, 2009, 09:55 AM

I understand the curiosity, and I too am a bit curious as to who does have the longest hair on here, but it should not be made to sound like a competition. Feelings can get hurt, and that's never ok. :(

If you wanted a username as to has the longest hair that really shouldn't be that hard to find. Just do a search here - or even better on the old board - and it shouldn't take to long. Finding pictures is a completely different matter though.

(is kind of wondering why this thread was resurrected after three months...)

SHELIAANN1969

January 12th, 2009, 10:27 AM

If you wanted a username as to has the longest hair that really shouldn't be that hard to find. Just do a search here - or even better on the old board - and it shouldn't take to long. Finding pictures is a completely different matter though.

(is kind of wondering why this thread was resurrected after three months...)

It seems as if the original post wasn't all that important to the OP after all, I looked back and that was the first reply the OP made. :shrug:
I think people come here, get excited about hair then go away for awhile and then something that has been forgotten gets resurrected and it's hard feelings over nothing.

Hue

January 12th, 2009, 11:51 AM

As a personal aside, and no more than that:

I'm delighted that the general focus at LHC has remained more on

- long rather than longest
- shiny rather than shiniest
- healthy rather than healthiest
- curly rather than curliest
etc.

There's nothing wrong with curiosity, and I think questions about the "-est" are natural to come to mind. Yet one of the things I like about this place is that ranking is generally avoided in favor of an emphasis on inclusiveness to progress, wherever anyone might be and whatever individual goal anyone might have. I really like that.

I haven't a quibble with individual posts or questions, just a general warm feeling towards the board's overall tone of a slightly different area of interest. Go, y'all. :)

Darkhorse1

January 12th, 2009, 01:22 PM

I love this BB. I love the fact that people are friendly and mods keep things focused.

Also, the question of who's hair is the longest is a hard one to answer because what might be long for me would be short for someone taller/longer in their torso. :D

jessie58

January 12th, 2009, 01:55 PM

As a personal aside, and no more than that:

I'm delighted that the general focus at LHC has remained more on

- long rather than longest
- shiny rather than shiniest
- healthy rather than healthiest
- curly rather than curliest
etc.

Pssst, I secretly wish I could see who the curliest is. I used to have curls and now I have waves and would die for curly curls once again. I would love to line up all the curlies photos here to compare and see who has the most perfect ones. :o

Hypnotica

January 12th, 2009, 02:10 PM

No need to fight - I have the prettiest hair! :P

*this message was brought to you by Tongue in Cheek Corporation*

eadwine

January 12th, 2009, 02:14 PM

*snort*

No you don't

(even more tongue in cheek ;))

Hypnotica

January 12th, 2009, 02:23 PM

*snort*

No you don't

(even more tongue in cheek ;))

You are just jealous. Talk to the hand! *hand-flip a la Jerry Springer*

:D

SHELIAANN1969

January 12th, 2009, 02:47 PM

Now now ladiezzzz....You both have equally beautiful hair! :blossom:

That made me giggle, you two are funny! :flower:

No need to fight - I have the prettiest hair! :P

*this message was brought to you by Tongue in Cheek Corporation*

*snort*

No you don't

(even more tongue in cheek ;))

You are just jealous. Talk to the hand! *hand-flip a la Jerry Springer*

:D

jessie58

January 12th, 2009, 03:09 PM

I always want to know who has the curliest and also want to know who has the thickest. I'm not competitive, just curious. :whistle:

Aisha25

January 12th, 2009, 03:11 PM

Well I have the blackestest:wink:

Beatnik Guy

January 12th, 2009, 03:12 PM

joyfulmom4

January 12th, 2009, 03:16 PM

Well I have the blackestest:wink:

And quite possibly the most gorgeous bun. Love the new sig photo. Very beautiful Aisha.

ImperfectBrat

January 12th, 2009, 03:59 PM

wintersun99

January 12th, 2009, 04:03 PM

If a f*tish minded person wanted to see pics all they would have to do is join anyway. Why can't we just run a script so the whole issue of people saving pics is moot ?

Threads like this just remind me why I don't have enough posts to "do things" on this site after a year. There are too many rules and while I want to stay here and get to know you all it is way too restrictive on the "non established" member. It's more like a club than a forum.

I know, I know - if I don't like it I can leave but maybe somebody on here (like some of those in this thread) have valid ideas and its time to look at them a bit closer.

Hmm, it seems that almost everything opens up at 25 quality posts, which is really not that hard to do. :rolleyes:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=1657

ImperfectBrat

January 12th, 2009, 04:06 PM

Thanks, that rolling eye icon really just made me feel even more welcome here.

Beatnik Guy

January 12th, 2009, 04:10 PM

If a f*tish minded person wanted to see pics all they would have to do is join anyway.
Umm, no. Members control their own privacy settings on their blogs and photo albums (through friends lists), although members with less than 25 posts are not able to access those features anyway (as well as profiles and PMs). Otherwise, we ask for 100 quality posts for access to the community meets board -- and I think it's fairly obvious why that board has the additional level of 'protection'.

25 quality posts (and some actual participation) is really not that much to ask. :shrug:

wintersun99

January 12th, 2009, 04:12 PM

Thanks, that rolling eye icon really just made me feel even more welcome here.

You're right, the "shrugs" icon would have worked too. No offense meant.

*by the way, your tatts are great!

serious

January 12th, 2009, 04:20 PM

I don t feel like an "established" member but I have never had any problem with the rules here. I find the 25 posts rule quite correct.
My DD and her boyfriend run the website and they don t have this kind of rules on their forum, and I know how much time they spend dealing with weird people ( and the website is not about hair,it is about travelling!)

Aries_jb

January 12th, 2009, 05:08 PM

I had similar thoughts, ImperfectBrat, before I decided to join, but I ended up getting 25 posts in no time. Jumping in a few good discussions and contributing bumps up your post count quickly. As for it being restrictive, I've actually come to appreciate it. I know I can post my input without being put down and that makes me more comfortable than I've been on other forums. It genuinely feels like people want to help here, which I like. I'm kind of shy, so I like the idea of posting knowing that people will mostly be nice and give me good advice.

ETA: And this is my 100th post! :)

Anje

January 12th, 2009, 09:02 PM

In terms of inches (she's kinda tall) I think it is Lady Godiva who takes the :cheese:.
Does she have Lady Grace beaten?

darkwaves

January 12th, 2009, 09:23 PM

Pssst, I secretly wish I could see who the curliest is. Ah, that's the fun of searching the members' list by hairtype! (As for me, I'd be happy to be Sofoulee!)

25 quality posts (and some actual participation) is really not that much to ask. :shrug: I agree -- after watching new members for more than three years, even shy people make this pretty quickly here.

Hue

January 12th, 2009, 09:37 PM

If a f*tish minded person wanted to see pics all they would have to do is join anyway. Why can't we just run a script so the whole issue of people saving pics is moot ?

I don't think any script prevents a viewer from [edited so as not to give anyone ideas, not that it's necessarily that big a secret] to capture the full image on the monitor, then paste it into Photoshop or Paint as their own copy.

SafoByMengin

January 12th, 2009, 11:07 PM

I don't feel unwelcome, because of some restriction. I didn't know about hair f*tishism before I came here.
I'm not sure is this site really the best for f*tishist? There is youtube and many other sites where girls put their photo and films without problems. You have to sit here a little bit to find some photos - I know, because me and my friend were looking for motivation photos here many times and believe me -it's not that easy.

For me the main barrier is language. But I have read so many sites about hair in english (I'm from east europe) that now I can understand you all well. Only thing is my mistakes when I'm writing;)

Btw. I remember when I found forum with topic opened by a man, who wrote he is a hairdresser. He was really interested in why woman cut their long hair short? He wanted stories from every girl that did it. He even put photos of girls that hair he cut off...He was crazy about seeing girl's NECK and all of the topic wrote that long hair is unfashionable, woman looks beter in short, sexy style and only this kind of short cut make them feminine...Hopefully he was banned.

Hypnotica

January 13th, 2009, 12:51 AM

If a f*tish minded person wanted to see pics all they would have to do is join anyway. Why can't we just run a script so the whole issue of people saving pics is moot ?

Threads like this just remind me why I don't have enough posts to "do things" on this site after a year. There are too many rules and while I want to stay here and get to know you all it is way too restrictive on the "non established" member. It's more like a club than a forum.

I know, I know - if I don't like it I can leave but maybe somebody on here (like some of those in this thread) have valid ideas and its time to look at them a bit closer.

I really don't get what you mean. None of the rules inhibits people to get to know each other on this site. Most of the rules are more "common sense" and it's not hard to remember them (like don't troll, don't flame, don't post pr0n).

Not all people in here is good friends with everybody, that would be impossible.

jessie58

January 13th, 2009, 03:34 AM

You could read ever day here for a month and still not have learned all the great hair care stuff.

Chrissy

January 13th, 2009, 04:59 AM

I LOVE this place and I have been a member for a very long time. This is a great place. No place is perfect but this is the next best thing.

Aries_jb

January 13th, 2009, 09:56 AM

You could read ever day here for a month and still not have learned all the great hair care stuff.

I agree. I think I lurked here a good long year and a half before I decided to join. Actually, I was able to see quite a few style pictures without signing up. I didn't really join so I could see other people's pictures, though. I wanted to get tips and have a place to document my progress.

Ursula

January 13th, 2009, 10:53 AM

Threads like this just remind me why I don't have enough posts to "do things" on this site after a year. There are too many rules and while I want to stay here and get to know you all it is way too restrictive on the "non established" member. It's more like a club than a forum.

Online forums, particularly forums that require registration, are clubs.

They're established for a particular purpose, and dedicated to a particular type of discussion, and filled with people who care about that purpose and that type of discussion.

LHC isn't a "forum" in the historic sense of being a public square. It is a community of people who are interested in the technicalities of growing long hair. There is plenty of off-topic discussion, as well, but the purpose of LHC remains the on-topic stuff, and off-topic that is neutral or positive toward that community goal is encouraged, while if it undermines the community goal it isn't appropriate.

If one is genuinely interested in LHC's community purpose, there are lots and lots of ways to participate even at the most limited levels of membership.

But, if one isn't interested in LHC's purpose, but wants to use LHC for contrary purposes, then the rules will feel restrictive and exclusionary, because they're designed to make the place very comfortable for people who are interested in LHC for what it is, and very inconvenient for people who are trying to take advantage of what LHC is for non-LHC purposes.

There are discussion areas on the internet where there are no restrictions on new members. Unfortunately, they tend to sink to the lowest common denominator, as one or two people out to cause trouble can break down an established community quite quickly. Just look at what happened to many formerly vibrant Usenet communities.

If someone can't manage 25 good quality posts, my assumption is not that there is a problem with LHC, but that LHC probably isn't a community that is a good fit for what that person wants.

And remaking a community of hundreds of members who are content with what it is, for the convenience of one person who wanders in and starts wanting changes without taking the time to get to know what it is, doesn't make sense in terms of the work involved making changes.