Popular Hobbies and interests change over time

IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Popular Hobbies and interests change over time and are more a reflection of trends and fashions than an indication of what individuals really want to do in their spare time.

To what extent do you agree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer.

Write at least 250 words.


Sample Answer:
Hobby refers to what individuals love to do on their spare time. However, popular hobbies change as the time goes by. That is why, people think that popular hobbies are more a reflection of the vogue of the time rather than the individuals’ predilections. To my way of thinking, there is a reciprocal relation between time and individuals’ predilection. So, popular hobbies are the reflection of trend and fashion as well as individuals’ preferences.

To commence with, no man can remain aloof from the era he lives in. Consequently, an epoch has a strong influence on the people. That is to say, a particular time moulds people’s psychic pattern based on the particular aspects of the time, which in turn change everything around him and hobbies are no exception. Which is why, popular hobbies change with the course of time. For instance, once women had interest in knitting or sewing and they loved to do it on their free time. But women nowadays spend their spare time playing sports.  This is because,   sports has become popular more than ever before.

However, hobbies are the acts what essentially are something done with obvious pleasure. Hobbies cannot solely depend on the trend and fashion of a time. Although the current trend influences popular hobbies to a great extent, individuals’ likes and dislikes play a vital role in hobby. To put it another way, we all have our own predilection when it comes to hobby. Take our case for example. People of the twenty first century spend their free time making new friends through social sites. The Internet indeed influences the act, but at the same time we really love to do it. So, although current vogue influences popular hobbies, personal preferences remain constant beyond the trend of the time.

All things considered, it seems reasonable to assume that the trend and popular hobbies are interrelated in such a way that one can be influenced by the other.