JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<span class="name">SOMEUSERNAME<span class="meta">20 friends</span></span>
<span class="name">SOMEUSERNAME2<span class="meta">20 friends</span></span>
<span class="name">SOMEUSERNAME3<span class="meta">20 friends</span></span>

JavaScript

var elems = document.querySelectorAll('.name');
    users = [];

for (var i=elems.length; i--;) {
    users.push(elems[i].firstChild.nodeValue);
}

console.log(users)