Another idea that I'm thinking out loud as I write this down :
What if I could get a notification if/when someone directly replies to me, either using websub or perhaps an external notification provider (ie: ntfy.sh)
Not sure about this one. I understand the need for it, but how to fit it in, not sure.
We're going to move slowly here and hopefully there will be products that offer special features like this, highly customizable, using a variety of different approaches.
Remember, this is an attempt at a bootstrap -- not a silo. We're just here now to help get a bit of a fire burning. It's not like other systems where it can't happen unless the platform vendor does it. This is open and cloneable, and open source.