Yes, I much prefer following topics over people. Every time I glance at microblogging, there is just so much noise. At least lemmy-style forums have upvotes to surface quality content rather than the jumbled mess that microblogs are. No matter how much I like someone (even IRL friends/family), I won’t be interested in their every passing thought, it’s just exhausting.
Independence from Google’s financial control. I’ve been using Firefox since before it was called Firefox (20+ years), and it’s pretty scary that it only survives because Google wants to avoid browser monopoly allegations.