Structurally this seems reminiscent to how we used to view friend statuses in AOL instant messenger back in the day. Which I believe was @jack‘s original inspiration for twitter.
Though I guess with NIP-38 defining statuses separate from notes, the circle can’t quite close up here. Still, the compulsive scanning of the regularly changing statuses across your friends list was a delight. It had a very different feel than the firehouse.