Comments on: People are people; users aren’t what they used to be http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/ AboutUs.org is creating an editable guide to websites Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:32:32 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Pete Forsyth http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/comment-page-1/#comment-542 Pete Forsyth Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:12:04 +0000 http://blog.aboutus.org/?p=1267#comment-542 Man, I've been singing this song for years. Glad to hear some voices harmonizing. In the IT meetings I used to sit through, the word "user" was like nails on a chalkboard to me -- and it was usually accompanied by some story about how dumb a "user" was for not knowing that My Documents lived on their own computer instead of the network, or something like that. As if it was their <i>job</i> to know that. Man, I’ve been singing this song for years. Glad to hear some voices harmonizing. In the IT meetings I used to sit through, the word “user” was like nails on a chalkboard to me — and it was usually accompanied by some story about how dumb a “user” was for not knowing that My Documents lived on their own computer instead of the network, or something like that. As if it was their job to know that.

]]> By: Scott Schnaars http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/comment-page-1/#comment-280 Scott Schnaars Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:30:12 +0000 http://blog.aboutus.org/?p=1267#comment-280 Hey guys, first off, congratulations on the recent round of funding. Especially in this market, that is really exciting. Second, thanks for the link to my ZDNet post and validation of the ideas around people not users. I still find that, when I'm talking with my customers, that I periodically use 'users', but I'm trying to break out of the bad habits. Finally, I find in my role selling Enterprise 2.0 technologies, that IT managers still consider their employees users. Users of virus scan, users of Office suites, users of laptops. When you get them to start to see their users at people, you really change their vision for E2.0 projects and it's perceived value. Hey guys, first off, congratulations on the recent round of funding. Especially in this market, that is really exciting.

Second, thanks for the link to my ZDNet post and validation of the ideas around people not users. I still find that, when I’m talking with my customers, that I periodically use ‘users’, but I’m trying to break out of the bad habits.

Finally, I find in my role selling Enterprise 2.0 technologies, that IT managers still consider their employees users. Users of virus scan, users of Office suites, users of laptops. When you get them to start to see their users at people, you really change their vision for E2.0 projects and it’s perceived value.

]]> By: “Users” Aren’t What They Used to Be. http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/comment-page-1/#comment-279 “Users” Aren’t What They Used to Be. Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:42:35 +0000 http://blog.aboutus.org/?p=1267#comment-279 [...] Kendrick’s People are people; users aren’t what they used to be is an excellent continuation of the theme Scott Schnaars started with his ZDNet guest article. [...] [...] Kendrick’s People are people; users aren’t what they used to be is an excellent continuation of the theme Scott Schnaars started with his ZDNet guest article. [...]

]]> By: Chris Logan http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/comment-page-1/#comment-278 Chris Logan Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:39:54 +0000 http://blog.aboutus.org/?p=1267#comment-278 I couldn’t agree more with the "people" not "user" sentiment. We at cc:Sync are rolling a new coordination and communications service into beta and have gone to great lengths to ensure that our customers are referred to as members and subscribers and never users. It is amazing how engrained the “user” terminology is in each of the constituencies we deal with-developers, marketing, investors, partners. Making the shift to members has caused a subtle but important shift in the way we conceive or our service and how we treat those utilizing it. A user is a metric but a member is someone we need to serve, delight and satisfy. I couldn’t agree more with the “people” not “user” sentiment. We at cc:Sync are rolling a new coordination and communications service into beta and have gone to great lengths to ensure that our customers are referred to as members and subscribers and never users. It is amazing how engrained the “user” terminology is in each of the constituencies we deal with-developers, marketing, investors, partners. Making the shift to members has caused a subtle but important shift in the way we conceive or our service and how we treat those utilizing it. A user is a metric but a member is someone we need to serve, delight and satisfy.

]]> By: Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for January 06 : Oregon Startup Blog http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/comment-page-1/#comment-277 Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for January 06 : Oregon Startup Blog Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:26:20 +0000 http://blog.aboutus.org/?p=1267#comment-277 [...] People are people; users aren’t what they used to be Via the AboutUs blog “Yesterday wiki enthusiast Stewart Mader commented on his weblog about a guest editorial on zdnet.com by SocialText’s Scott Schnaars which highlights an idea gaining groundswell in online communities as well as the AboutUs office – referring to those utilizing social networking tools (including wikis, blogs, etc) as people instead of users. The idea is more than a shift in terminology, but reflects the ever-changing nature of the web, from single “users” to vast communities sharing and building things together.” [...] [...] People are people; users aren’t what they used to be Via the AboutUs blog “Yesterday wiki enthusiast Stewart Mader commented on his weblog about a guest editorial on zdnet.com by SocialText’s Scott Schnaars which highlights an idea gaining groundswell in online communities as well as the AboutUs office – referring to those utilizing social networking tools (including wikis, blogs, etc) as people instead of users. The idea is more than a shift in terminology, but reflects the ever-changing nature of the web, from single “users” to vast communities sharing and building things together.” [...]

]]> By: Ted Ernst http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/comment-page-1/#comment-276 Ted Ernst Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:33:22 +0000 http://blog.aboutus.org/?p=1267#comment-276 We only use Customer for paying customers, fyi. We only use Customer for paying customers, fyi.

]]> By: Andrew Miller http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/comment-page-1/#comment-273 Andrew Miller Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:11:04 +0000 http://blog.aboutus.org/?p=1267#comment-273 I like the humanistic touch. Someday I might get around to doing this on my MediaWiki installation, but since it's just a side project and doesn't pay the bills I have to put clients first. Do you know of any lists of all the places "User" is used in the MediaWiki presentation layer? I might create one if/when I tackle this. I like the humanistic touch. Someday I might get around to doing this on my MediaWiki installation, but since it’s just a side project and doesn’t pay the bills I have to put clients first.

Do you know of any lists of all the places “User” is used in the MediaWiki presentation layer? I might create one if/when I tackle this.

]]> By: pfctdayelise http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/comment-page-1/#comment-275 pfctdayelise Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:45:54 +0000 http://blog.aboutus.org/?p=1267#comment-275 I like "Editor" a lot for wikis. It seems quite respectful. "Citizen" is also respectful although a bit naff. "Customer", though? Unless I am using your shopping cart -- ugh. I like “Editor” a lot for wikis. It seems quite respectful.

“Citizen” is also respectful although a bit naff.

“Customer”, though? Unless I am using your shopping cart — ugh.

]]> By: Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for January 06 » Silicon Florist http://blog.aboutus.org/2009/01/06/people-are-people-users-arent-what-they-used-to-be/comment-page-1/#comment-274 Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for January 06 » Silicon Florist Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:02:54 +0000 http://blog.aboutus.org/?p=1267#comment-274 [...] People are people; users aren’t what they used to be Via the AboutUs blog “Yesterday wiki enthusiast Stewart Mader commented on his weblog about a guest editorial on zdnet.com by SocialText’s Scott Schnaars which highlights an idea gaining groundswell in online communities as well as the AboutUs office – referring to those utilizing social networking tools (including wikis, blogs, etc) as people instead of users. The idea is more than a shift in terminology, but reflects the ever-changing nature of the web, from single “users” to vast communities sharing and building things together.” [...] [...] People are people; users aren’t what they used to be Via the AboutUs blog “Yesterday wiki enthusiast Stewart Mader commented on his weblog about a guest editorial on zdnet.com by SocialText’s Scott Schnaars which highlights an idea gaining groundswell in online communities as well as the AboutUs office – referring to those utilizing social networking tools (including wikis, blogs, etc) as people instead of users. The idea is more than a shift in terminology, but reflects the ever-changing nature of the web, from single “users” to vast communities sharing and building things together.” [...]

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