Hobbies make us unique. They are the things we do for fun, whether we get paid or not. More often than not, we’ll even pay to do them with our hard-earned cash or our time.
However, not all hobbies are created equally. Some of the fun things we engage in earn questionable side glances from others, while others have seedy reputations.
These ten hobbies may be fun, but they also offer glaring red flags concerning the people participating. When scrolling through Reddit, I found a fun question on my favorite sub, R/Askreddit asking users to dish: what hobby is an immediate red flag?
Although the red flags are often just stereotypes, some folks may give you the side eye if you admit to engaging in any of these hobbies.
Reddit Mods
Of course, Reddit would ban together to disparage the sea of volunteers that make the website useful.
Reddit mods are unpaid users who moderate specific subreddits. Unfortunately, some let the slight taste of power get to their heads. They set arbitrary rules for subs and delete comments seemingly at a whim.
“Mods are the same guys who become mall cops and abuse their mall cop status,” said one user. “Imagine banning people forever from communities as a hobby, they added.
Collecting Nail Clippings
What started as a joke about an anime character quickly turned south when we realized that some people really do collect nail clippings.
“Dead serious, I knew someone who’s roommate did this. She even showed me the JAR THAT THE ROOMMATE KEPT THEM IN,” exclaimed one user.
Another told on themselves, saying, “I was in an art museum exhibition because I collected my nail clippings lol. (looks in the mirror) Yeah, you’re probably right.” they said, admitting it was a strange thing to collect.
Related: 27 Creative Hobbies that Don’t Wave Red Flags
Teeth Collections
One Redditor said collecting teeth was a weird hobby, but others jumped in to defend their collections.
“My wife has a box of teeth. Should I be concerned? They did belong to our children.” said one. “I wouldn’t say I’m a red flag, but I do have some of my old baby teeth,” admitted another.
Apparently, people like to keep teeth from pets and relatives as keepsakes.
Child Beauty Pageants
“I always find parents who partake in or force their kids to do beauty pageants as terrible,” stated one user. “Those thing are raw degeneracy, egocentrism and leave a —— time bomb inside the child’s mind.” said another.
One user thought child beauty pageants should be illegal. “The parents who make their kids go through this whole circuit and create this super high-stress environment for them, emphasizing superficial beauty and fakeness as the highest virtues, deserve to be tarred and feathered,” they said.
Gambling
“I work in a casino. I’ll go ahead and confirm that for ya,” said one Redditor. “People get addicted to pressing the button on slots, they don’t even care about winning or losing. They just wanna feel like they might win,” they added.
Others admitted that gambling is fun every once in a while but is problematic when you can’t stop. “I won a grand on slots on New Years Eve. It was exciting and fun, and then I stopped playing and took my winnings to take my family out for a nice dinner,” admitted one user.
However, they added that seeing others waste their lives at the machines was upsetting. “Nevertheless, watching some of the zombies nearby working 2 machines at once while chain smoking was a bit depressing.”
Also Read: 10 Hobbies Women Admit are Unattractive in Men
Prank Videos
“Anything involving humiliation of other (non-consenting) people or enjoying suffering of other people. Making mean prank videos, for example,” said one user. These folks go out of their way to humiliate or enrage others just for the sake of views.
Others mentioned another humiliating video trend that they referred to as “let’s see what we can get poor people to do for money,” which is also dehumanizing and not okay.
Influencers
Reddit’s misogyny is showing with this response. “Any girl that calls herself an influencer,” said one user. “Any girl who calls herself an influencer anywhere in the world is a red flag,” said another.
Funny how men trying to make a living via social media and online presence are celebrated as entrepreneurs, while women doing the same thing get labeled as “influences” and red flags.
Collecting Empty Alcohol Containers
Once you get out of the frat house, beer can collections are no longer cool. “Had a buddy who called theirs “beer mountain,” said one user.
“You mean that doesn’t count as interior design?” questioned another. We hope they’re still young.
See Next: 25 Artistic Hobbies to Explore
Horseback Riding
Another misogynist comment claimed that women who are into horses would drain your bank account. “Correct, never get involved with a horse girl,” said another.
While it’s true that horses are expensive, singling out women who enjoy horses and claiming they will take all your money is a much bigger red flag than the women who enjoy the hobby.
Excessive Social Media Use
Everyone loves social media, but it can be problematic when it morphs into your favorite hobby. “Posting everything, everything, everything on social media,” said one user. “spamming on social media,” commented another.
One user said he had a friend who posted every thought that entered their head. “I had to turn off seeing his posts,” they said.
Bonus: Semaphore
One Redditor earned gold by taking the question literally. Semaphore involves flags, using them as symbols. It’s likely semaphore enthusiasts will wave red flags at some point.
The response, although funny, didn’t get to the heart of the question.
Hobbies are Personal
Though engaging in some of these hobbies may earn you a side eye, remember that Reddit users’ opinions are often clouded by their own perspectives. A few of these hobbies are hurtful, either to yourself (gambling) or others (prank videos, child pageants), but as long as you aren’t hurting anyone with your hobby, feel free to engage in it.
What do you think of Reddit’s responses on questionable hobbies that raise red flags? Do you agree, or do you think Reddit users are overly judgemental?