16

The words "profile" and "account" have been used interchangeably in multiple places across the network, but I am not sure if it is the right thing to do. Also, I could not find any official definition of "profile" and "account" given by SE.

Let's take a look at places where the words have been used interchangeably:

Can you please use consistent wording to avoid confusion?

I would like to quote something related from Stacks:

Naming

Pick names early and implement them consistently. Consistent language reduces the number of things your users have to learn or remember. If multiple names already exist, identify and eliminate them.

enter image description here

Improve this question
6
  • Feel free to edit the post to add more places where the words are used interchangeably.
    – Random Person
    Commented Sep 11, 2022 at 16:41
  • "Profile" is in the glossary, but "account" isn't.
    – This_is_NOT_a_forum
    Commented Sep 11, 2022 at 23:38
  • 5
    Internally, profile is supposed to refer to a per-site profile (e.g. a Stack Overflow profile) whereas account is the behind-the-scenes network account that links everything together. It is not possible to delete an account - you can only delete all the profiles attached to it. But trying to get consistency in those terms has been an uphill battle. They both exist as two separate things that need to be identified separately and it is confusing when they are used interchangeably - they shouldn't be.
    – animuson StaffMod
    Commented Sep 12, 2022 at 7:24
  • 3
    @animuson we can't fix the world, and agree it's nearly impossible to explain to everyone the actual meaning of "account" and "profile" in Stack Exchange. But that is not the point here. At least make it consistent in the Help Center where you control the content. For example, since we can't delete our account, title here should be "How do I delete my user profile".
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Sep 12, 2022 at 7:54
  • 3
    @This_is_NOT_a_forum so now that we know for sure what each means, we should edit the glossary.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Sep 12, 2022 at 7:55
  • 3
    @This_is_NOT_a_forum done, but you might spot things to fix.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Sep 12, 2022 at 8:20

0

Reset to default

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .