This is a very basic understanding of the terms that are thrown around.

Q is the single person dropping the information in one location.

Anons are people who follow the drops and try to figure out what they mean.

Qanon is a term lazy journalists use for what they consider a conspiracy movement. There is no Qanon and when someone uses that term it immediately identifies him as someone who hasn’t done the most basic due diligence.

(Update 6-12-23: Qanon is also used to discredit the movement. It is a deliberately created term that goes beyond lazy journalism.)