I don't want to follow someone somewhere so I can press the like button once in a blue moon and say 'wow this looks great!'

I want to get to know people and find friends.

I miss the times when you had your guest book on your forum of choice, and people would leave nice messages like 'hope you got home safely after the event!'

And then maybe you ended up writing and building a friendship.

But then I can essentially forget meeting new people with the same interests. I would love to make new friends, but at cons or other places, everyone just asks for your insta to follow.

I'm glad you and your friend didn't fall for it! It's super wild how fast these things can happen nowadays.

He's currently busy being a zooming homeoffice ceo (cat executive officer)

Ofc the person could be telling the truth, but it reminds me too much of the scam not to say anything.
Whatever it is, hope it blows over soon and you don't have to deal with annoying drama!

Be careful - this sounds a bit like a discord scam that went around a while ago where someone claims to have reported the owners account in a similair vein and then needs their help to sort it out- and they try to get you to deactivate you 2fa and steal your account.