@Angle The mere mention of "reverse-chron" informs me on where this thought came from, and unfortunately it isn't a good place. Feed algorithms were built for one and one goal only, to maximize engagement and make numbers go up. That's it.

And in this regard they've been wildly successful. Social media network designers saw the numbers go up, deduced that was what users wanted even though it also magically aligned with their business model, and doubled down.

Unfortunately you can't measure community, you can't measure interpersonal bond, you can't measure culture. As the engagement numbers went up, it also shaped how the people interacted with the platforms. Talking about yourself didn't get much engagement and so wasn't shown to many of your followers, but any witty sarcasm would do numbers. This favored celebrities, ideological provocateurs (mostly right-wing) and quirky jokesters (mostly left-wing).

As soon as people learn that some of their content may not be shown to their followers because of any algorithm, no matter how transparent it is for the users that can choose them, they will change the way they write from what felt natural to them. They will adapt to the platform like they've done for commercial platforms before.

Keeping a strict "reverse-chron" timeline order isn't about what's feasible, it's about what kind of community and culture you want on the #Fediverse, and that's why I'm fiercely defending it.