Just for fun, I did some investigating.

I was wondering how most of the people who search for dreadlocks get their information, and who puts this information out. So, I went to google and pulled out the URLs off the frontpage results (excluding youtube or wikipedia). I did a WHOIS search on them.

This is what I found:
dreadlocks.com
howtodread.com
perfectdreadlocks.com
dreadheadhq.com

All source back to Domains by Proxy, Inc.
Domains by Proxy, Inc. is a company that specializes in protecting the identity of the owner of a website - basically, they'll register a domain under their name and give you access to it without your identity being shown (great to hide yourself from WHOIS searches). However, when you register all your domains through this service... a pattern develops. Thank you Johnny Clean - you own the first page of google search results for dreadlocks.

knottyboy.com
dreadlocks.org

These go back to a guy named Josh. I can only assume this is the owner of knotty boy. It looks like he tried to grab some dreadlock domain real estate, but either fell short or doesn't get linked to enough with whatever other domains he owns. Still playing the same game though.

A lot of these sites will link to each other and recommend the products from the dreadhead hq and knotty boy companies. My understanding, especially about dreadhead hq, is that they sell... inexpensive/unnecessary products at ridiculous prices with little or bad customer service/dreading help.

What does everyone else think about these companies owning the front page of a google search for dreadlocks?

If it means millions of misguided people because of capitalist misinformation (ie wax your heads - you'll get dreads!), I think it's kinda lame.

 

yea read that perfectdreadlocks page besides suggesting u use wax it alspo suggests peanutbutter toothpaste honey (and i think even motor oil') can all be used to get dreads, then goes on to say that wax is just a better alternative

if u look at dreadheadhq they have an affiliate network thing meanning if you advertise theyre crap, you get discounts , that means that hundreds of waxy headed dread wannabees make hundreds of dread sites linking to dreadhewadhq
add ijn thousands of blogs and stuff and its any wonder that anyone can find anyt trutrh out there
they most likely have tens of thousands of pages out there all linking to them as the official sourse of all dread info..
the only way to stop it would have to be a class action lawsuite against them, wed have to find lots of ppl whoo lost theyre dreads cfause of wax and put together a case against them forcing them to pull those sites or discontinue the products or at very least post a disclamer that although wax will give the illusion of dreads quicker ultimately it will lead to dreads only being temporary and a premature end to the journey for most

 

well, it's going to depend on what they search for as well.
of course a bunch of companies capitalizing on people's ignorance and desire for something is a bad thing, but this happens all over western society these days. not much to do about that, and I'm sure if you care enough you'll know what little you can do to avoid supporting such companies.

at the end of the day, I feel that if someone is happy to go to one of these websites and buy a bunch of crap they don't really need, then they were simply too lazy to do a little more research and opted for the easy (and inferior) solution. sucks for them, but we all have to learn somehow. bet you they'll do more research the second time around, not to mention clicking past the first page of google results.

 

What's great though, is if you google, "dreadlock forums," "dread forums," or any combination of "dread" and "forum" you'll come up with this site! That's how I found all this information that kept me from waxing my head up.

So, google's not a total loss.

 

That's so interesting pboyle00, really fascinating to see how the rumours get started. I second that about the forum, that's how I found this place. I guess it's just a rite of passage some need to go through, maybe makiing the mistakes, believing the first thing they read, buying loads of shit, is just a way for them to learn from their mistakes and either get sick and stop w/ the dread lark, or carry on and start again and have it remain part of their own journey. MOst people make mistakes anyway at the beginning, not least because there's always someone saying something different to what you were told originally....

 

hey, i'm new here, i was just going through the forum a little and i found your post, i mostly look at pics at knottylocks forum, they're more for the natural way of getting dreads, but i haven't seen as many pics anywhere else as i've seen there, anyways, here's the link

http://com3.runboard.com/bknottydreadlockforum

my locks are over a year old, they're crocheted, i should be posting some pics soon i hope

 

Interesting how most (if not all?) of those sites are trying to sell products, rather than actually giving the history of dreads and good advice as well.

 

I also found this site by searching "dreadlock forums" after already visiting knottyboy and dreadheadhq. I'm glad I did some extra looking around, because or else I may have waxed them. And that would have sucked.

Honestly, if people want to wax their dreads that's their own prerogative. They'll be the ones complaining about them, and if they're serious about their dreads they'll find "us" eventually and fix them. Otherwise, I think wax is a way to sort out the people who just want dreads to be rebellious, and those who are actually serious about dreadlocks. It doesn't bother me that there are people out there picking the easiest way rather than the right way; that's their own mistake.

 

I actually found this site by searching "dreadheadhq scam".
If I'm ever unsure of a product or a company, I search for it with "scam" on the end. You'll usually get reviews from people saying how crappy the product is or how it never showed up or how thousands of dollars were taken from bank accounts.

But in this case, I found the hipforums. I'm happy with the results.

 

whack.

whack.

whack.

whack.

whack.

aaaaaaand, whack.



good job on the researching.

 

lol i love that ya found us by searching dreadheadhq scam..lol