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I believe the time that is displayed is Eastern time.
You may be seeing replies to replies which can happen at any time & would not look "linear" if you just read straight down the page.
Notice the pale grey lines on the left. No line means a direct response to the original post. One line means a reply to a reply. Two lines means a reply to a reply to a reply. And so on.
Hope this answers your questions. At least this is what I interpreted as your queries.
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