Wow that was reactive and heavy handed. The answer isn't to stop using the word user. The word user has it place. Certian conversations need a generic term for the people who "Use" your software where other conversations need a more specific word for the people who use your software such as "Cupcake business owner", "Deli Cashier", etc.
User is not a bad word. However, its not the right word to use to describe some one who uses your software at times (Sometimes you want a more detailed word), and sometimes "user" is the right word (You are talking big idea, vision, less detail). eg. "How many users are hitting our server right now?" "We have 20,000 people submitting tweets, and 1,200,000 people reading tweets."
User is not a bad word. However, its not the right word to use to describe some one who uses your software at times (Sometimes you want a more detailed word), and sometimes "user" is the right word (You are talking big idea, vision, less detail). eg. "How many users are hitting our server right now?" "We have 20,000 people submitting tweets, and 1,200,000 people reading tweets."