The things you do for fun could turn others off.
Discover the top red flag hobbies that might be costing you social credit.
Red Flag Hobbies
Red flag hobbies aren’t necessarily bad, but they do give others pause. They might suggest that you make bad decisions, have no life, or treat others poorly.
Although the red flags are often stereotypes, potential new friends (or romantic partners) may balk if you enjoy these hobbies.
Reddit Mods
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.
There’s nothing wrong with being a Reddit mod, but since some use their tiny bit of power to make the internet worse, people may side-eye you when they find out you participate.
Morbid Collections
People are into some weird stuff, but nothing will make potential new friends run faster than a morbid collection of teeth, nail clippings, bones, or other strange items.
Let’s not sugarcoat it. Collecting morbid stuff is creepy. Sure, you may have a scientific or personal reason for it, but people who don’t know you well and find out about your collection are likely to run for the hills.
Don’t show off your strange collection right away, and when you do, make sure you make it as “not creepy” as possible.
Serial Killer Fascination
On the hit show Supernatural, Sam has a “healthy” fascination with serial killers. He knows everything about the John Wayne Gacy’s and Jeffrey Dahmer’s of the world, and it creeps his big brother Dean out.
If you can list the names and birthdates of all the victims, know exactly how each committed their crime, and obsess about potential new killers that might be out there, people are going to run. Potential partners might fear you have secret killer tendencies and avoid you like the plague.
At least we can understand why someone like Sam, who hunts monsters for a living, would develop an obsession with killers.
Sports
We all love our favorite sports team, but fanatics are a different breed. Nobody wants to date someone who can’t miss a game in a season with over 100 games.
Loving sports is only a red flag hobby when you take it too far. If you don’t break stuff when your team loses and are okay with missing a few games, nobody cares if you love your team.
Philosophy
You’d think philosophy would be a green flag hobby, as it promotes free exchange of ideas and open debate about the world we live in.
Unfortunately, the horrible, better-than-thou attitude stereotypical of philosophy lovers ruins it for everyone. We’ve all met Brad, the pretentious “scholar” who takes every opportunity to wax poetic about Sartre’s theories.
It’s tedious.
You can enjoy philosophy as a hobby, but don’t act like you’re better than everyone else because of it.
Gaming
Women say that gaming is one of the biggest red flag hobbies men enjoy. They don’t want to date gamers.
Gaming on its own isn’t bad. It’s a fun way to wind down after a tough week. It encourages teamwork and builds problem-solving skills. When treated as an actual hobby, it’s fine.
The problem is that a lot of men let gaming consume their entire lives. They don’t want to spend time with their partner, do chores, or even work, because they’d rather game. Women would rather avoid the risk and avoid dating gamers altogether.
Celebrity Worship
No other hobby showcases that you have no life of your own better than celebrity worship. Forming a parasocial relationship with someone who doesn’t even know you exist makes others question your decision-making skills.
It’s fine to have a casual interest in celebrities. Go ahead and follow them on social media, buy their latest album, or see their new movie. Just don’t take it too far.
You don’t need to buy every product they promote, dress like them, talk like them, or act like you know them in real life. That’s a red flag that will turn everyone off.
Podcast Bros
If your favorite pastime is listening to misogynistic influencers online, you’re going to have a bad time dating.
Women do not want to date men who follow advice from the likes of Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, and Andrew Tate.
The fact that you give these terrible men the time of day (and in many cases, your money!) is a massive turn-off to everyone else.
Chronically Online
I get it. The world is online. There’s Discord, social media, Wikipedia, and Reddit. Each website tries its hardest to suck you in and keep you engaged.
But there’s a life outside the online world. If you never enjoy it, how will you even meet potential friends to turn off?
Gambling
Gambling as something you do every blue moon for a thrill is fine. Gambling as your favorite hobby is a massive red flag.
People get addicted to that tiny dopamine boost and can’t break away. It’s a red flag hobby for friends who want to do something other than visit a casino, and for potential partners who worry you will gamble away the money you need to pay the bills.
Finance Trading
Everyone should be investing in stocks to grow wealth and achieve financial security. But there’s a massive difference between investing for the long term and day trading.
If you aren’t a financial professional, day trading is a red flag hobby. Sure, you may win on occasion, but your impulsivity and risk-taking behavior may turn people off.
Work
Chay_Tee via Shutterstock.com.
Work is something we have to do, not something we want to spend all our time doing. If you live to work, others might think you’ve got misplaced priorities.
When work is your entire life, you don’t have time to build relationships. People who wanted to spend time with you for you will be turned off when you have no time for them.
The only people who will stay are the ones who think they can gain from your work obsession.
Collecting Empty Alcohol Containers
Beer can collections stop being cool the second you leave the frat house. Okay, they weren’t cool when you were in the frat house either, but at least nobody there saw what a massive red flag it was.
Leave your alcohol container collection in your college days, or people will think you either have Peter Pan syndrome or are an alcoholic. Both are red flags.
Excessive Social Media Use
Using social media like a normal person is one thing, but obsessively posting your entire life online is a massive red flag.
Your potential friends or partners may fear they’ll have no privacy when they hang out with you. If you post everything about yourself online, why wouldn’t you post about them?
It’s also difficult to engage with someone who can’t put down their phone. People will eventually stop trying.
Astrology
Astrology is a valid belief system based on the position of the stars, but some people take it way too far. It’s fun to read the cards and see what your birth position says about your personality, but it becomes a red flag when you let it impact your decision-making.
Nobody wants to spend time with someone who can’t do anything without consulting the books. You may also hinder potential relationships, refusing to date someone because the stars aren’t aligned.
Horse Culture
A lot of people love animals, but people who love horses can take it too far – especially if they own a horse.
Horses are expensive and time-consuming. They consume a lot of time and energy. When a non-horse person dates a horse person, they’re always going to come in second fiddle.
It’s not a red flag to own a horse or love horses, but a lot of people don’t want to limit their lives by dating a horse person. Try dating another horse lover instead.
Anime
Anime is a well-respected and beautiful art form originating in Japan, but creeps just had to make it weird. A small subset of perverted anime lovers destroyed the hobby for everyone by drawing scantily clad mentally-but-not-physically legal girls, using it to fetishize Japanese women, and being all-around disgusting.
Now it’s a top red flag hobby, even though most people who love anime don’t fit the stereotype.
Anything Obsessive
A lot of the red flag hobbies on this list are only red flags when they become obsessive, and that’s true for any hobby.
You could enjoy the biggest green-flag hobby in the world (like volunteering or animal rescue), but the second it takes over your life, it transforms into a red flag.
People want well-rounded friends with many interests. They want to engage with people they can relate to and have good times with. If one hobby is taking up your entire life, you won’t have room for that.
No Hobbies at All
At the opposite end of the spectrum, having no hobbies at all is also a massive red flag. Do you not have any interests or personality?
How do you spend your free time?
Of course, some of us don’t have time for hobbies because work and life take up so much energy, but if you do have free time and aren’t filling it with something interesting, why would people want to hang out with you?
We can help you find a new hobby. Check out or list of creative hobbies that spark your imagination, social hobbies that help you make friends, and unique hobbies that nobody else is doing.
You’ll find a great new pastime and have something different to talk about.
Enjoy Your Hobbies
Though engaging in these red flag hobbies may earn you a side eye from some folks, remember that everyone’s opinion is clouded by their own perspective.
As long as you aren’t harming yourself or others with your hobby, and as long as it doesn’t become your entire life, enjoy it.
Have fun with it. If they’re turned off, they’re not your people.