That seems an important set of concerns, but also I’m not sure how much people are letting lack of canonicity bother them in choosing what to cite and reply to, and popular content will become canon through other mechanisms than the front page, and the more canon there exists, the harder it will be to take it as common knowledge. User-picked content is to some extent also compatible with canon, e.g. through social pressure to read a general “best of” feed. (Just to be clear, though, I don’t think this is probably the way we should go / the best use of resources.)
That seems an important set of concerns, but also I’m not sure how much people are letting lack of canonicity bother them in choosing what to cite and reply to, and popular content will become canon through other mechanisms than the front page, and the more canon there exists, the harder it will be to take it as common knowledge. User-picked content is to some extent also compatible with canon, e.g. through social pressure to read a general “best of” feed. (Just to be clear, though, I don’t think this is probably the way we should go / the best use of resources.)