I was listening to the presentation at this month's TIMA meeting—interesting stuff from this Internet company, Google—and I was struck by the labels we attach to the people we interact with. I kept hearing users, which has a very IT sound to it, and it took me back to my own IT days. But it got me thinking: what are the words we use to label the people we encounter in business, and how would it change our actions if we were to substitute person for, say, customer every once in a while?
So instead of doodling, I started a list of labels organizations use for outsiders with whom they have contact.
| citizen civilian client constituent consumer customer employee |
investor listener passenger patient parent student |
taxpayer user victim voter viewer visitor |
I realize that labels are useful, and these reflect the roles we play when we interact with various organizations. But does the use of labels like these in our business discussions tell us more about those people—or ourselves?
Nathan, this issue is central to my distaste over the term 'consumer generated media' which positions the major actor (the creator of the content) in something of an exploited position.
Matt, I totally agree. Consumer is the one that most makes me want to hear person, instead. Even amateur vs. professional isn't necessarily useful, as the tools evolve to make that a more arbitrary distinction in so many fields.