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...or, rather, one thing I do get but don't like about vtubers (or vtubing companies, more accurately) is the use of the term "graduated" when what it really means is either "quit" or "got fired." I've been seeing this popping up more and more often in Google News (probably because I recently made the mistake of looking at a few articles about vtubers on there, and now Google News seems to think that all I want to see is vtuber/anime/jpop/kpop articles), and it's kind of a little grating, honestly. Usually, it's stories about how some vtuber or other "went quiet and stopped streaming for a month or two" before "abruptly graduating" from their company, typically for reasons unknown (or, at least, unsaid).
Some people seem to want to make the distinction that "graduation" means "left on good terms" and "terminated" actually means "fired," but there's two things about this. First, "quit" can also mean "left on good terms," so why not just say that? When I quit my job at Walmart in Greensboro back in 2004 because I was moving to Redmond, WA a few days after, I did not "graduate" from Walmart, even though I did leave on good terms. Second, as I said above, most of the stories I've seen about vtubers "graduating" have almost invariably been under suspicious circumstances, and calling it "graduating" just makes it seem even more creepy and weird and suspect. And, really, I've never once seen an article about a vtuber having been "terminated." It has always been "graduated," at least that I've seen so far, no matter the dubious reasons behind it.
Apparently, the use of "graduation" got its start in the Japanese idol industry, and since vtubing apparently shares a lot with that, it just kind of carried over. Still doesn't make it not a dumb term to use, though.
Some people seem to want to make the distinction that "graduation" means "left on good terms" and "terminated" actually means "fired," but there's two things about this. First, "quit" can also mean "left on good terms," so why not just say that? When I quit my job at Walmart in Greensboro back in 2004 because I was moving to Redmond, WA a few days after, I did not "graduate" from Walmart, even though I did leave on good terms. Second, as I said above, most of the stories I've seen about vtubers "graduating" have almost invariably been under suspicious circumstances, and calling it "graduating" just makes it seem even more creepy and weird and suspect. And, really, I've never once seen an article about a vtuber having been "terminated." It has always been "graduated," at least that I've seen so far, no matter the dubious reasons behind it.
Apparently, the use of "graduation" got its start in the Japanese idol industry, and since vtubing apparently shares a lot with that, it just kind of carried over. Still doesn't make it not a dumb term to use, though.
