Hey, @hamishcampbell . Thanks for opening up the conversation here. As you probably know, I’m one of the founders of the Social Web Foundation, and I’m happy to address some of your questions here.
Describing people as “users” who follow “influencers and brands” is a social mess
This has come up before; I use “users” if I’m specifically talking about people in their role of using social network software. I think it’s clearer than saying “people who follow people on the platforms people make”, even though users and developers are all technically people.
That said, I appreciate the note. Social networks are about people, and I’ll try to use that in future writings.
On the topic of influencers and brands: people follow influencers and brands on social networks. That is a thing that happens.
this is not the kind of project to engage with or be a part of building
That’s fine; the SWF is not mandatory. People who want to do other things for the Fediverse should definitely do so. But I do want to extend the invitation for people who are interested to reach out.
when this manifests as “entrepreneurship” we see the #deathcult path
I think you are talking about Tom’s bio, where he describes himself as a “technologist, product designer and entrepreneur”? That’s the only mention of entrepreneurship.