@aral@mastodon.ar.al i do not agree. there are more users than people, and users vs developers doesnt seem like that much of a problem to begin with, especially in a place where admins and developers are users too. "stupid user" is something that should be purged from every developers (etc) vocabulary anyways, but "stupid people" doesnt exactly seem better.

however, 'people' implies that they should be treated like people in the physical world. and while i assume that thats kinda what you are referring to as well, it will not keep bad actors from being bad actors. it will, however keep well-meaning and often vulnerable-to-begin-with people from simply blocking or ignoring others. because you wouldnt ignore someone in the physical world, right? (unless theyre homeless or drunk or old or disabled but lets leave that aside) if it is a user youre blocking or not replying to, it creates a barrier, a distance, from our actions in the physical world. i wouldnt block a person but i would totally block a user. language matters, but the prerequisites are different online than offline. there is a justification to be entitled to some form of attention in the physical world, but non (exceptions apply) on social media.