What works very well is making comparisons to the offline world. Here we are a 'single-threaded' individual that walks their own timeline, who enters a global square when there is a need and just as seamlessly weaves into different social contexts where other social networking use cases play out, for different audiences.
This approach is what Social experience design or #SX explores for patterns & practices of its design method.
See also: https://social.coop/@smallcircles/114481995392093396