I know this has been covered in great length in previous meta topics so I wil not rehash.
TL;DR Discourse is a hybrid but primarily flat discussion system. The expanding context below and above posts is like a sneak preview system, not a substitute for reading the topic by scrolling and following the natural pull of gravity down, down, down.
Our current thinking is that there are two types of readers:
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traditional scroll down readers
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click to expand and collapse every conversation readers
So rather than the sneak preview function we have now, we will eventually offer a system that constantly filters to the current viewed conversation, but it will require clicking constantly ala reading Reddit. I don’t see any other way to do it, and I think those types of readers are used to this (IMO excessive work, but hey, MO) interaction model.
