I’m a user and I’m proud of it. I’m not “people”, nor do I want to be. If you’re reading this post there is a 100% chance that you’re a user as well.
— Duncan Riley, Long Live The User
Considering the term “user” offensive is a little off. Even more so, likening dishwasher users to their more savvy counterparts.
Moreover, the dreaded term cannot be offensive because it’s almost invariably used in proper context: The standpoint of software developers. You wouldn’t say “people” when you’re talking specifically about dishwasher users; dishwasher-using people happen to be users in this context.
Context plays a role in defining terms. Those who download software such as WordPress, and use it to write daily, short articles, about some weird trend or niche, then display them in a chronologically-reversed order are essentially writers, who write articles. But put in context—on a public website—we know them as bloggers, who write posts.
When WordPress developers talk about bloggers using their software, they talk about users, meaning those who use WordPress. They can’t just call them bloggers, because not only bloggers use WordPress, but also system administrators, plugin developers, copy editors, and designers; collectively known, for WordPress developers, as users.
“People” is an absurd replacement for the term. I firmly believe that monkeys are yet to evolve until they deserve to be called users. So here’s a list of terms that could complement, rather than replace “user”, together with the context they should be used in:
- People: Refers to the general population of homo sapiens, e.g. People love to dance.
- Member: Use with restricted sites that require login, e.g. Members login to Facebook.
- Visitors: Used with not-for-profit sites, e.g. My blog’s visitors feel bored now.
- Readers: Refers to visitors of news sites, online magazines and blogs, e.g. My blog’s readers should subscribe to my feed. I’d love to see them turn to regular visitors.
- Customers: Refers to those who buy products, e.g. 37signals visitors, and Signal vs. Noise readers, can turn into customers.
- Clients: Refers to those who buy services, e.g. Iconfactory is proud of its clients.
- Consumers: Probably can’t be used on the Web unless when referring to food, e.g. A BigMac can kill its consumers.
- Users: Refers to the hypothetical persona who uses a piece of software, e.g. Usability tests are done on users, who can also be people (see above).
Use whichever term you find suitable in context, be sensible, and don’t waste your time worrying about people vs. users.
P.S.
All people are users now! (With nearly 80% Net penetration in the US this is pretty close to true.) Users put up with computers. People just do stuff.
— Josh Bernoff, I’m sick of users
I’d like to see this argument revised, it’s a little faulty. Consider these:
- The world is not US-centric. 80% in the US is not a justification.
- People put up with computers too.
- Monkeys do stuff too.