Salafism has branched out to many strands.
There's madkhalis who think saudi is the khalifa

. They love the saudi monarch and listen to rabe al madkhali tapes. They're not violent but are the most active salafis and are supported financially by Saudis. Some of their sheekh in the west are abu khadiijah, or troid masjid in toronto
There's jihaadi salafis who make takfir of everyone including the Big 3 aka bin baz, Albani & al uthaymeen. They only read ibn taymiyya and ibn abdul wahaab books.
There's the confused salafi who doesn't know anything and was kuwaled into believing this is the normal islam everyone practices. They just wanna be good ppl and are sincere.
One thing that makes someone a salafi. They read books like usul al thalaatha, kitaab at tawheed. They only take from 8 scholars in the history of Islam when it comes to aqeedah, and fiqh to a certain extent. These scholars are Ibn taymiyya, ibn qayim, ibn abdul wahab, ibn baz, ibn uthaymeen, Albaani. All forms of salafis believe these are the go to sheekh for guidance, although in reality scholars like ibn taymiyya spent most his time in jail for going against the scholars of ahlul sunnah on issues of creed.