Now this is interesting, If I make a toot, and reply to it, I get a show thread message.
I don't get this if I reply to messages from other people.
Is anyone able to confirm this.
yes. i confirm you're right.
[show thread] shows when the poster had post something earlier and continue to post at same timeline. have nothing to do with follow this person or not.
and it doesn't show up after you replied other people.
@Sphinx @design_RG @globcoco @freemo
So is that the 'expected' behaviour or should that happen to any reply so it is easier to follow conversations.
I noticed that using Pinafore made me feel easier to follow conversations. 
@design_RG @globcoco @freemo
@zleap @design_RG @globcoco @freemo
QOTO differs from vanilla Mastodon in its post length limit. While we enjoy 64kchar of space, users on the flagship instance get only five hundred. So to post a longer message, a vanilla user will break it into chunks ≤500 characters each and post each chunk as a reply to the previous one. That "show thread" link pops up to make it clear the post is possibly dependent on another for context.
If you reply to a message from someone else, your reply isn't published to the local timeline (although it may show up in your followers' home timelines). Self-replies, however, do show up in the local timeline unless prevented by privacy settings. So the need to warn about hidden context is much less for cross-replies than for self-replies).
@zleap You could also use Privacy : Unlisted for testing , so people don't see it on the Feeds.
Or better yet -- a DM to yourself, in another instance.
That's what I use for all kids of testing.
This is a reply to my test toot, for testing something out.