how do you a call a person who is interacting with digital media ?

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New media theory and software studies needs basic terms.

For example, how do we call a person who is interacting with digital media?
User? No good.. "interactor"?

In 20rh century cultural theory dealt with viewers, readers, listeners, participants. In 21st century we don't know who to call people we study. (game studies have "players" so at least they have this figured out


Thinking more about it, I realized that we can't have a single good term to describe what we do with digital media for a reason.

In the 1960s-1970s digital media pioneers like Alan Kay systematically simulated most existing mediums in a computer. Computers, and various computing devices which followed (such as "smart" phones)came to support reading, viewing, participating, playing, remixing, collaborating.. and also many new functions.

This is why 20th century term s- reader, viewer, participant, publisher, player, user - all apply.

This multiplicity of media experiences is one of the defining characteristics of digital media - or, as Alan Kay called it, "the computer metamedium."