Background: Natural Hair Care Blogs demonstrate that Black women are using the Internet to promote cultural, individual, and communal expression. The Black female natural hair online community was formed due to the lack of information about maintaining natural hair both online and offline. Blogging is an especially useful platform for creativity and community engagement because the author of a blog represents both herself and the community to which she belongs.

Methods: The researcher conducted a snowball sample, seeded from an analysis of blogs linked to Curlynikki.com. The researcher then collected a set of linked blogs to the third degree to establish a baseline definition of the digital community. From there the blogs were categorized into the axes of Age, Texture, Styling, Race, Ideology, Education, Corporate Aesthetics, and Do-It-Yourself. After identifying these axes, the researcher did a content analysis of each of the 18 blogs and a visual analysis of the themes and images found on those blogs.

Results/Conclusion: From the topics of the blog posts and the Afrocentric imagery, it was determined that natural hair care blogs are based in Black culture. Specifically, the Black beauty salon, which is a site for community activity and the exchange of cosmetic knowledge, has been replicated through natural hair care blogs. By analyzing the blogs privileging of specific naturals and types of natural hair, an understanding of the author’s, and therefore the community’s, views on the Black feminine aesthetic were identified. This aesthetic combines Afrocentric and Eurocentric views on Beauty and Femininity.