Extending the Chronological Timeline in Sngine

A structural proposal for humane content discovery

From a Linear Feed to Living Content

The limitation of a purely chronological timeline

A chronological timeline displays content strictly by publication time: newest first, older posts continuously pushed downward.

While this approach is transparent and simple, it has a fundamental structural limitation:

Visibility is entirely tied to the moment of posting.

This leads to several structural issues:

• Valuable content has a very short visibility window
• Attention concentrates on "what's new" rather than "what matters"
• Older discussions disappear regardless of quality
• Long-term engagement naturally declines

Content does not lose relevance — it loses visibility.

The Core Idea: Content Lives in Phases, Not Rankings

Instead of replacing chronological order, this concept extends it by introducing parallel content views that reflect how content actually lives over time.

Only explicit, human-driven signals.

1. Chronological View — Now

• Default view
• Fully unchanged
• No filtering or prioritization

This remains the neutral source of truth within Sngine.

2. Resonance View — Alive

An optional view that surfaces content which regains relevance through meaningful interaction, rather than popularity metrics.

A post enters Resonance only when:

• A new comment is added
• After at least 48 hours of inactivity

Explicitly not triggered by:

• Likes (too easily gamed)
• Shares (can be automated)
• Author self-promotion
• Any automated or passive actions

Transparency (mandatory)

Each resurfaced post clearly displays the reason it appears:

"Conversation resumed after 6 days by [username]"

This reason is stored explicitly in the database, not inferred or calculated:

Intentional constraints

• Maximum of 5 items visible — no infinite scroll, no filler
• Temporary visibility: 24 hours OR until displaced by newer qualifying content
• Re-entry cooldown: Minimum 7 days between appearances prevents spam
• No artificial filling: If only 2 items qualify, show 2. Silence is acceptable.

3. Archive View — Past

Not a list of old posts, but a space for intentional discovery.

Features

• Filter by time period, topic, or author
• Thematic timelines: "This topic was actively discussed in September 2023"
• Visual connections: Related posts within the same theme

The archive preserves context, not just stored data.

The Role of the Author: Human Curation

Authors may optionally:

• Mark one older post per week as contextually relevant
• Add a required explanation (minimum 50 characters) why it matters now

This is:

• Not a boost (no algorithmic advantage)
• Not a ranking (appears in Resonance with distinct visual indicator)
• Explicit human interpretation, not system inference

Why not a "bump" button? A bump is intentional manipulation by the author. Resonance responds to genuine community interest — someone else must reignite the conversation. This prevents gaming while preserving agency.

Why This Improves Engagement (Without Manipulation)

This approach does not aim to maximize:

• Clicks
• Scrolling time
• Daily active users through notifications

Instead, it enables:

• Longer and resumed conversations
• Higher-quality interaction
• Content with multiple life cycles
• Sustained attention over time

Alternative Success Metrics

Rather than focusing on traditional engagement metrics, this model evaluates:

• Conversation continuity: Average time between first and last comment
• Resonance rate: Percentage of posts that re-enter active discussion
• Attention distribution: Views spread across content age, not concentration on "now"
• Author retention: Motivation to post quality over quantity

Technical Implementation Notes

// On new comment submission
if ($post->last_comment_time < strtotime('-48 hours')) {
    $post->last_resonance_at = now();
    $post->resonance_count++;
    $post->resonance_reason = sprintf(
        "Conversation resumed after %d days by %s",
        daysSince($post->last_comment_time),
        $current_user->username
    );
    
    // Maintain max 5 items: remove oldest if needed
    if (Resonance::count() > 5) {
        Resonance::oldest()->remove();
    }
    
    // Cooldown check for re-entry
    if ($post->resonance_count > 1) {
        $post->resonance_locked_until = now()->addDays(7);
    }
}