It took me until today to realize that Tumblr's threading is the opposite of Reddit's.
I guess that's what happens, though, when you haven't really updated your format in 20 years and have always had the reputation of being the social media site for people who hate social media.
Props to the original CEO, though, for making a site that did exactly what he wanted: not be Facebook in any way, and allow him to post photos that people who followed him could see and allow him to follow people so he could see photos that they posted. Mission accomplished on that end.
I suppose some programs might have done that? The way it starts with the oldest center-right and more narrow is unusual, plus the names of the authors being separated by long distances from what they wrote. I’m more familiar with a hierarchy that starts with the oldest on top left and narrows and expands towards the right, like essentially every web forum does.
It became more common when they started getting most orders from the web page, but even before that, over the phone you could order whatever toppings you want. (They just didn't advertise all the options back then.) They also gave the option of different toppings on left and right to keep a family happy when they have different tastes. And since it's now on a web page, they don't have to spend time on the phone while you explain it to them.
But even back in the 90's, my dad ordered a pizza with half no cheese. (He still had the sauce though.)
We have that too. At some pizza places they're called "speciality pizzas." But almost every pizza restaurant also lets you make your own by choosing ingredients individually; they're priced by number of toppings, with one sauce and cheese being included in the base price.
My wife actually discovered that this is pretty much just a North American thing a while back, incidentally. She lived with some Europeans and a Japanese person for a little while during college, and they were all shocked at the North American pizza ordering process.