The Problem With JetPunk Users and Pop Culture

Hello everybody, hope you're all having a truly wonderful day today! Welcome to my first (and likely only) blog post.

I discovered JetPunk at the ripe age of 10 (ten long years ago) when desperately trying to outlearn my brother in all manners of geographical knowledge. If you somehow haven't realised, the people here LOVE geography. I sometimes think of this place as a geography quiz site despite all our wonderful users posting quizzes on a range of diverse topics. And I will say, having interacted with a large amount of the users myself through frequenting comment sections and engaging in the discord that people here know their geography! They also know their science, their maths, their history, their languages. We got a whooooole lot of genius on this site.

Now, I love geography as much as the next guy. Sure, I learned all the countries and capitals before I made my first friends in secondary school. But the thing is, yeah, I love geography, but I ADORE video games and I am absolutely CAPTIVATED by music. So imagine going on such quizzes that cater to my passions (namely Taylor Swift and Pokémon-related ones) and discovering that, instead of the usual comments from my fellow quiz-takers ("Great quiz! I got them all with XX:XX amount of time left!" or "Damn I missed out on xyz, nice quiz!), there's a new kind of comment in the mix:

"I am ashamed to have known even one of these songs."

"Why is this even featured?"

"This topic is a waste of time."

Well, to that I say, everything is a waste of time. You're literally typing words into a text box. You could be studying for further education, doing homework, learning a hobby, or meeting people who could change your life. Just because YOUR knowledge might appear on a quiz show or a radio call or a pub quiz, or YOUR hobby has been enjoyed primarily by men for centuries (SPORTS), or YOUR favourite artist is now heralded as one of the defining music acts of all time because they were active in the 70s, doesn't make the information any more valuable than knowing all of Taylor Swifts discography or all 1025 Pokémon.

I've seen some really negative comments trying to blatantly shame anyone who knows a lot about these topics which cater to the newer generation, and frankly, it's very disappointing!! The point of this website is for everyone to have fun learning things, or testing themselves on subjects they're passionate about or find interesting. Knowledge is knowledge. Everyone should be able to say they're proud they aced a quiz regardless of the subject matter!

Well folks, I hope it's obvious what I'm getting at.

If you think a quiz is stupid or a waste of time, keep it to yourself. Yeah, nothing's stopping you voicing your opinions but when given the choice between putting someone down for something they enjoy or respecting that not everyone likes the same things as you, you should always choose the latter. Imagine if you got bullied for liking geography or history or just knowing a whole load of facts!

I know some of you will see this and think "damn people are sensitive these days" but just know, I literally could not give less of a expletive what any of y'all think, I am a shameless swifty and pokémon lover. I'm just really trying to make sure you know how much of a fool you look like and how someone who isn't brimming with confidence like I am could feel really hurt by these jaded remarks.

Thanks for reading, have a nice rest of your day, and please be kind to people :)