Reinking and Colwell

The origin of the current terms wreadact and wreadactor has a relevant etymology. It is an epigram composed of common terms used in this period [at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st]: reader, writer, and redactor (or editor) and actor. These terms previously were separated because they typically referred to distinct and separate roles. Producing, refining, and consuming information was generally performed by different individuals who had different tasks at different times. The role of actor, in this case one who chooses to act or be active, was a connotation added shortly after the historical period considered here as it became clearer that personal agency was central to engaging with information presented in the newer forms.

Reinking, D., & Colwell, J. (2015). A brief history of information sources in the late 20th and early 21st centuries (a simulation). In R. Spiro, M. DeSchryver, M. Hagerman, P. Morsink, & P. Thompson (Eds.), Reading at a crossroads? Disjunctures and continuities in current conceptions and practices (pp. 3-20). New York: Routledge.

Also see:

reading-writing connections