Redheads Facing Extinction
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Reports appeared in both 2005 and 2007 stating that unless redheads start to breed, they could be extinct in 100 years.
Following these reports, in May of 2007, a red-haired computer programmer in Michigan named Steve Warrington launched the site redhedd.com. The website is a dating agency for red-heads where they can chat and flirt and hopefully get together and reproduce!
Today we have Steve Warrington on satellite link up/ on the phone to tell us more about this new social networking site that he set up.
In studio, we will talk to a geneticist Prof Dan Bradley to find out, are redheads a dying breed?
Only 2% of the world's population has red hair and 4% have the gene. Stories in both 2005 and 2007 have claimed that the red-haired people of the world are dying out.
They claim that increased mobility in the world today has broadened the choice of companions which has reduced the chances of redheads meeting and then producing ginger off-spring. (Although it takes only one red-haired parent to produce a red headed child, two ginger parents increase the chances greatly)
What is www.redhedd.com?
A social network website modeled on the myspace.com network that is aimed specifically at redheads and those who love them. Members can create and customize a personal profile, upload pictures, chat with members and add them as friends.
What inspired you to create it?
Steve is a computer engineer with Spring Street Media and he set up the site after learning that redheads who currently make up 2% of the world's population are an endangered species. They are endangered because of globalization, migration and population explosions among the dark-haired.
Last spring he was at the bank and the teller was a redhead. "Redhead?"
she said. "ayuh" I said and doffed my cap. "We're going extinct you know."
That got my attention. "Well that would be a shame wouldn't it?" I went
home and did a little research, and got mixed results, but figured
something as important as this there was no sense risking it. I don't
remember what exactly inspired me to think the response was to start a
social network, but it sounded like fun.
How many users does it have?
Close to 3000 (2, 860 exactly) and they hope to have 10, 000 by the end of the year.
Approximately how many are based in Ireland that you know of?
He would say about 10%.
Are all of your members redheads?
No, a large section of the membership is made up of blondes and brunettes who just can't get enough of the redheaded folk! "It's a celebration of redheads and everyones invited".
What features does the site have?
Like myspace or facebook etc. First and foremost, members can post a profile letting others know a little bit about themselves. This can be personalized with colour themes, music, video, as well as a personal bio. There are
also blogging, picture gallery, and chatting functions. There's a forum
where members can discuss various topics. Members can join and form
groups, post events, take quizzes and polls, & of course shop for redhedd
merchandise! The site also has links to other dating agencies that cater specifically to redheads.
What sets it apart from these other sites, ginger specific and non specific?
It's the only free community for gingers on the web and it aims to be the biggest. With the amount of media speculation it is getting, they are well on their way.
Also, sites like myspace, have been losing a lot of members because of the spam problem. They log onto their page and there are a load of fake friend requests and spam messages. Redhedd prides itself on being and staying spam free and plan to hopefully pick up some of these disillusioned ex myspace members.
At the moment they are focusing on making it the best community ever.
What kind of feedback have you gotten from people about it?
To be honest, Steve is quite surprised in the interest that people have shown in the site. He has had a great reception. Creative, beautiful and intelligent people have been signing up and creating profiles, writing blogs and chatting. They seem to really love the site. He gets quite a few really nice messages from members that say how much they love the site, how friendly an environment it is, how they have made real friends outside the site, perhaps even found love, etc. One member has told him that the site saved her life (though perhaps she is speaking more metaphorically?).
Have many people hooked up through the site?
One member recently mentioned that she had found love, but it was too
early to tell if it was going to work. But overall they are still quite new
at this. He might be able to tell us more after they've been open for 9
months.
What do you hope to achieve with redhedd.com in the future?
His mission is to "save the redheads" by getting them to chat online, and therefore met in person and therefore encourage them to procreate! He hopes that the percentage of ginger people in the world could be increased threefold by 2080. Because the production of red hair involves a recessive gene, Steve feels it's important that they propagate with each other.
He would like to see a few redheaded celebrities (I'd love
to see Neko Case put a profile up, Julianne Moore and Conan O'Brien too if
they can be bothered). He's exploring sponsorship opportunities with
redhead-related companies. Or perhaps something really completely
different, like Redhedd brand sunscreen. SPF 105! Everybody on the planet
will be needing that in a few more years, not just us.
How do people end up with red hair in the first place?
The gene responsible for red hair was only discovered in the late 1990s. People have a good chance of being born with red hair if they have a mutation of that gene. Red hair is caused by a mutation in the MC1R gene. It's also a recessive trait, so it takes both parents passing on a mutated version of the MC1R gene to produce a redheaded child. Because it's a recessive trait, red hair can easily skip a generation. It can then reappear after skipping one or more generations if both parents, no matter their hair color, carry the red hair gene.
What country has the most amounts of redheads?
An estimated 40 %of Scots carry the red hair gene and 13 % have red hair. (In Ireland, 10 % of the population has red hair.)
Why do people think that the red-haired breed is dying out?
Well just 4 % of the world's population carries the red-hair gene. The gene is recessive and therefore diluted when carriers produce children with people who have the dominant brown-hair gene. Increased mobility in the world today has broadened the choice of companions which has reduced the chances of redheads meeting and then producing ginger off-spring.
Is there any truth in the statement that red-heads are dying out?
People, who believe this, work on the mistaken assumption that recessive genes -- like the one for red hair -- can "die out." Recessive genes can become rare but don't disappear completely unless everyone carrying that gene dies or fails to reproduce. So while red hair may remain rare, enough people carry the gene so that redheads should continue to appear for some time.