15 Bizarre Stories About People and Their Hobbies That Scream “Red Flag”

People have all sorts of hobbies, right? From collecting to building, hunting to fishing, and travelling to vlogging. But what happens when some hobbies go awry, enough to pop up like red flags for others? Here are some Redditors who shared stories of people who took creative pursuits a little too far, enough to turn into a sore point.

• Posting everything, every single thing on social media. NalinHosmelkar / Reddit
• My sister-in-law talks about influencers as if they are her friends IRL. I can't have a conversation with her without her taking out her phone and showing me someone she "followed before they got famous." It's exhausting and honestly awful to talk with her. Her husband (my brother) has suggested she see a counselor about it, and believes she genuinely thinks in her head she knows these people.
  Edit: Guys, she's in her late 40s. CityoftheMoon17 / Reddit
• Speaking as a history nerd myself, I get put off by anyone who's overly obsessed by one particular empire or spends too much time praising it and calling it a perfect society. I find the Incas to be a really fascinating civilization, but I don't pretend that they were a perfect society. Unknown author / Reddit
• Doing anything to a degree that it turns into an addiction is a big red flag, period.
• [Edited] Having a shrine dedicated to someone. When I started dating my now-late SO, my son wanted to be sure I was safe. We were neighbors, so one day my son just walked into his house and asked, “Do you have any pictures of my Mom with x's on them?”
  He thought my son meant exes, but nope, my kid wanted to make sure he did not have a shrine dedicated to me somewhere with my face crossed out by sharpie markers. AmbitiousStretch5743 / Reddit

• My old roommate used to go out driving on rainy days specifically to splash pedestrians. That seems pretty red flaggy to me. Samhamwitch / Reddit
• Not having a hobby at all is probably up there. Having a hobby or something productive to do in your spare time is pretty important to living a healthy life. If you've met a person with no hobbies, you'll know exactly what I mean; they tend to loose-talk when they're bored, can't fully contribute to many types of conversations, and can be boring to talk to because they don't have a whole heck of a lot to talk about.
  I have a terrible habit of dropping hobbies I pick up, so I go through these motions a lot whenever I don't keep myself busy outside of work. Consuming media can be a great conversation starter, but it's harder to build deeper connections with other people if you don't have any passions of your own to share or relate to. It isn't necessarily a red flag, but it is notable when someone doesn't have a hobby. Crestego / Reddit
• There was a post of a guy who was angry at his mother because her hobby was to find random people on the net, find everything about them and message them about it.
  cadrina / Reddit
• Celebrity-worship related ones. I really don't get it. Spending all this energy on a random person. Sure, people can be talented, and I might enjoy their art, but I don't give a hoot about what brands of food they're eating or what they do in their spare time. mochikos / Reddit
• I'm not sure if this counts as a hobby per se, but I can't stand people who get really into astrology. Like, won't date somebody because Leo and Aquarius signs conflict or whatever. Or judges a person based on their star sign. They're insinuating that there are only 12 different kinds of people/personalities based on when they were born within the year.
  It doesn't make sense. At least with crystals, they make for a nice decoration. steamoven / Reddit

• My ex used to absolutely hate when I would watch Forensic Files. Hated it, thought it was creepy, thought the entire “True Crime” genre was creepy just in general. But then she’d go watch multiple hours of Crime Patrol (basically the Indian version of Law & Order) with her parents whenever we were at her house.
  Apparently, that’s “different”, since Forensic Files episodes are true stories with actual details about real crimes, unlike Crime Patrol, which is only based on real crimes. I quit arguing about that one. Unknown author / Reddit
• As a person who plays video games at least once a day, a red flag is when gaming is the ONLY hobby a person can come up with when pressed. It’s not necessarily a huge red flag, but the person definitely is less interesting as a person if literally their only hobby is gaming.
  Volsung843 / Reddit
• No joke, my college professor used to be close to this gorgeous girl he met, and suddenly she’s gone, and he never mentions her again. During a chitchat, he reveals that she likes to snap pics of animal poo for fun and shows them to her friends, including him. 1Anto / Reddit
• Dunno if this is a red flag, but I’m a permanent hobby seeker. I’ll join groups, buy equipment, spend thousands but then find the next thing I’m interested in. I’m in a constant state of hobby acquisition with a limited lifespan.
  I’m talking pianos, guitars, motorbikes, boats, go-karts, bows, huge fish tanks, table saws, welders, car hoists, broken excavators, and I’m just getting started. I do love my dogs though, they are the only constant rewarding hobby. I guess this is a red flag if you don’t have the storage capacity. sirc***ingham / Reddit
• I had a boyfriend in school who was a bit odd. But he was older, and I felt cool, so we hung around. Mostly we were together in a group, but one day he asked if I wanted to come to his house. Nervous, I agreed, thinking he wanted to kiss me.
  As we went to his room, he only wanted to show me his hobby. Or should I say collection. He collected nail clippings in boxes. I think Mom had a salon or something. I noped right out of there, and we broke up soon after.

Choosing hobbies with care might be one way of making sure you’re not socially ostracized, just like these people who lost everything over one poor decision.