Feature request: Natural chronological timeline order

[politas]

Corporate media has gotten us accustomed to algorithm-driven feeds where what's important is the latest trending things. We see the end of a conversation first, without the background, and tend to react, increasing drama and "engagement", rather than understanding and reasoned vision.

On the other hand, when reading a history book, we tend to start at the early points of a timeline and track the changing situation as it unfolds over time, so we have an understanding of how we got to where we are.

Depending on screen/window size, individual posts can take up more than the available vertical space, so to read the feed, we need to scroll up to the start of a post, then scroll down as we read it, then scroll all the way back up past it to get to the next post.

We should have an option to put the timelines in forward chronological order, to enhance understanding, reduce unnecessary drama, and reduce annoying back and forth scrolling.

This is a bit of a bugbear of mine; I've been requesting it everywhere!

[weex]

I think it would be interesting to see forward chronological implemented but never noticed the dynamic of reverse chron with respect to drama and engagement. I agree that engagement-chasing is problematic but of course there are many tactics in use toward that end. I'm neutral on whether this is a valid problem per C4.

[politas]

I think having the timeline backwards is a problem by itself. Why is it like that? Is there a justification other than copying Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/etc? Forwards should be the default, not the option.

[weex]

Was thinking about this and I wonder if it's forward, how far back should it go for the top toot? I think it might just be an orientation toward real-time.

[politas]

The same as is currently loaded below the active tweet, with additional entries added above as it scrolls up.