(3/?)
That's just the tip of the iceberg. It would be remiss of me not to mention Mike MacGirvin, creator of Friendica, Hubzilla, Zap, Forte, etc. Pushing the boundaries of what decentralised social media can do, both outside the fediverse and within, since the early days.
Also the Diaspora team, who pioneered non-public posting. Also Lain and the Pleroma team, whose experiments like LitePub and Object Capabilities have also driven innovation in the space.
(4/?)
I could mention so many other developers, including the creators and maintainers of all the news and support sites. Which help people find the fediverse, and figure out how to use it. If I was going to make an exhaustive list we'd be here all day.
My point is, let's not fall into the Great Man mythos that's so common in the history of science and technology. Especially in digital tech. Creating a network like the fediverse - like raising a child - takes a whole village.