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User is a prime example of one I appreciate being on this list. Lists like this do a good job of making people think, and causing discussion. Some of that dis
by basch 4y ago
User is a prime example of one I appreciate being on this list. Lists like this do a good job of making people think, and causing discussion. Some of that discussion might be posts like yours.
So to discuss user. User is quite often used in a slightly pejorative way, by power user, sys admin, programmer, support crowds. You can almost always replace it with the word person or someone. I take it more as a challenge, when I am about to say it, to try and find a better way to say what I was going to say. Most often than not, I can avoid the word user.
The same goes for lame. I just try not to use it, because I do use it, and I take it as a challenge to erase it from my vocabulary and use better words.
- cipheredStones 4y agoWell, first, their explanation for why "user" might be problematic has nothing to do with that pejorative use. It's > While often associated with one who uses (software, systems, services), it can also negatively be associated with those who suffer from substance abuse issues or those who exploit others for their own gain. which seems to bizarrely ignore the fact that common words have many different meanings that are distinguished by context. Second, I would actually argue that the techie pejorative usage of "user" is a good example of the shortcomings of this "words to watch out for" approach. "User" has an extremely common neutral meaning, and also some people who design or operate systems use it contemptuously - without even really changing what it means, just with the implication that most users aren't very smart! The problem there is not with the word at all, it's the attitude with which it's used.
- basch 4y agoI know this crowd leans anti censorship and anti pc, but all I'm saying is that I appreciate being made to think by opposing viewpoints, hence I find value in lists like this. I personally have made effort to not use the word user. I decided I don't like it. For me. I'm not lecturing other people not to use it. In my experience, user has become a fill in word, when better words exist. And its pejorative use is, in my opinion, closer to the substance abuse meaning than it appears at first glance. Both basically describe someone who uses and takes advantage of something, without either mastery or self control. "Passive use" if you will. When I think of it in that context, I dont like the word.
- Xelynega 4y agoWell yea, but this is an "opposing viewpoints that makes you think" in the same way asking an 8 year old their opinion on geopolitics is "an opposing viewpoints that makes you think". I think your attitude around the word "user" is putting the cart before the horse, which is what the user above was getting at. The problem isn't that we use language that infantilizes users, the problem is that infantilizing users is how you get the largest market share. Google isn't going to shift their design philosophy away from "ease-of-use" because of language use, the language use would shift with the design philosophy.
- chrisandchris 4y agoBy your logic, no computer can be a user of your service. Then you'll use consumer, but the user also consumes...