Warning! Red Flags Up Ahead

”A ‘red flag’ is a term used to describe when somebody has a feeling that they are potentially dealing with a manipulative and/or possibly psychotic or sociopathic individual. It’s usually used to explain a feeling after the fact,” said Urban Dictionary.  

They are small warning signs that reflect negatively on someone’s true personality. If you know someone with a huge amount of red flags, RUN AWAY! 

Recently, the topic of red flags has been trending on social media and light has been shed on them through various trends. 

On TikTok, people discuss red flags of their previous or current friendships, same with relationships, while using a sound effects filter that adds a comedic effect. 

Another trend is using a red flag filter that chooses your red flag at random. These types of trends have made many people acknowledge these flags and help them determine what type of people they should get rid of. 

A red flag is something that really doesn’t suit your standards of the way you see a relationship,” Sophomore Lilly Beltran said. “I see them as the baseline of a relationship.”

When talking to someone new, you obviously don’t know much about them. While talking to this new person, over time their red flags will start to appear and you will learn their true colors.  

This is especially true with relationships. At the beginning of most relationships, people are so caught up in the excitement of the newfound relationship that they don’t notice red flags. Over time, the excitement diminishes and you will see a person’s true personality. You have to determine for yourself if the person is good or bad for you. 

“[Red flags are] important because if you find a red flag [in] someone, it could ruin the relationship and make it worse,” Junior Julissa Maga said. 

If you ignore a person’s red flags, you will suffer the consequences and inevitably regret it. It is better to acknowledge the signs a person is showing and leave them. 

It doesn’t matter if it’s a relationship or just a friendship, there are red flags in both, some not as bad as others. One of the many that exist is when the person you are talking to mentions their ex-relationship(s) a lot. This tells us that they still think about that person, and they might still have feelings for them.

“[When] they treat other people [outside of the relationship] better than you,” Freshman Daniel Henry said. 

If you’re in a relationship with someone, you’re supposed to be one of the most important people in their life, but if they treat other people outside of it better than you, not counting family members, that is a big warning demonstrating that they don’t care much about you. It is for your own good to drop this person and find somebody who does value you. 

Not all red flags are deal-breakers though. Some are petty but should still be acknowledged. 

“I’ve dealt with situations of socks in the shower,” Beltran said. These types of red flags aren’t that bad, but they catch people off guard because they aren’t normal human behavior. 

With red flags, there are also green flags.

Green flags are traits that reflect positively on someone’s persona. A person with these traits will make a relationship positive, not full of negativity. 

“Being kind, caring about someone,” Maga said. Why would you want to be with someone who doesn’t care about you and is rude for no reason? Doesn’t make sense. 

Relationships should be filled with positive, not negative things. 

“If [a person’s] red flags are bright enough, hopefully you’ll see them and run away,” Beltran said.