I wasn't familiar with @suppoman. I'll have to check them out.

As a programmer, I'm often at odds with marketers. I also once ran a small team of marketing developers and learned a lot about how we can and should work together. Last last year I did a post on how we can use these 5 keys to not piss each other off. Often programmers feel they do the "real work" while the marketers just lie or make shit up to get attention. At the same time, the reality is, if marketers don't promote what we build it's useless because it will never impact another human being.

My concern with these early "influencers" is whether or not they are the right influencers. I know many think numbers are all that matter, but to me the culture of a platform matters more for long-term, sustainable growth. If we attract a lot of flashy, get-rich-quick-by-following-my-simple-program personalities, we'll attract people who aren't really influencers themselves, they are just followers who want to be told what to do.

I don't know @grantcardone but when he joined I asked around a bit and someone I respect who is a legitimate influencer didn't have the nicest things to say about him. His reputation, in the view of my friend, wasn't one which commanded respect. That's just one person's opinion. I'm trying to form my own, but some things I've seen so far keep me skeptical.

As to @jerrybanfield, I've had some interactions with him where I've been impressed with his honesty, humility, and willingness to admit his mistakes. I think he is putting in some hard work here to bring value to the network. In the beginning, I didn't think that at all. Where it goes from here, well, time will tell.

There's a concept I like to talk about because it resonates with me: wannapreneur. Some people talk a big game about being entrepreneurs, but often they are just online personalities. Either they are actually financially broke (based on some insight from friends of mine who know their real story) or they are only making money by telling other people how to make money (not by actually building something of value such as a real business). Follower count and "internet celebrity" status don't pay the bills. Working every day to improve the lives of others through what you create can. I've been doing that for over ten years with my business, FoxyCart.com.

I'd love to see more influencers who don't have to self-describe as "influencers". I'd like to see people join Steemit who we already know and respect because of what they've done, not just how many people listen to them.

All that said, I'm just bringing one person's perspective. You are right that we do need more influencers here of all kinds to really grow the numbers. Beggars can't be choosers and compared to the other social media networks out there, our hat is still in hand.