This is miserable.  Please (1)  immediately go back to the old functionality. Then you can fiddle in the background, based on the learning from this test.

(2) if desired, look into a sort feature for the minority wanting new at top, but test it versus the orange arrow, DON'T make it the default, make it possible to update globally, permanently as a user setting.  And don't launch it until you know it works.

Uggh.  Sort to newest is miserable.  You can't follow the discussion.  Did you do any research what people prefer?

Also it seems to clash with the orange new post arrow (no longer working).

I (just now, a minute ago)went into my account and turned off all email alerts so hopefully this problem is sorted.  (This was turned off before, but something turned it on.)

Note it has gotten harder to turn off emails.  Here was the footer from a previous email on 24DEC when it was easy to unsubscribe (notice the "unsubscribe from all" button): 

Seeking Alpha, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, 13th floor, New York, NY 10017

Update your email preferences | Unsubscribe from CDEV | Unsubscribe from all emails

Here is the footer from the 26DEC WS Breakfast email:

Why are you receiving this great newsletter? You subscribed to Wall Street Breakfast at Seeking Alpha.
Unsubscribe from this email or manage all your Seeking Alpha email choices here.

[Note that I had to go "manage my email choices" and navigate some menus to unsubscribe all emails, when before there was a helpful button.]

At 06:51 EST, I got an un-requested email for Wall Street Breakfast.  (I am not following Wall Street Breakfast and I definitely wouldn't follow with email enabled.)

The David Jackson message (sent 3+ times!) along with the auto signup said we could give feedback here.  This is user feedback. You don't have to change your practices.  But don't debate user feedback, especially when you requested it.

P.s.  Not one person has started a thread to say how great this idea was...

These 4 push content sources are in my people article feed and it is impossible to get rid of them.  Shows up even though I am not following them.  And can't get rid of them as option within my list of followers even though it says not following.  Just want it gone.  

And don't want email notification of s someone responding in this forum.  Too much push content.  

I never asked for this sa content to be pushed at me.  I only want to follow who I signed up for.  You are clogging my feed with content i did not ask for and dont value.  Makes it harder to use the feed for who I do follow. 

I got it several times as well.  Have been replying, deleting, labeling it spam, etc.

And it is a very bad idea that you would sign us up to follow people.  And require us to manually opt out one by one.  Just bad, bad, bad. And poetic justice that the notification message itself is spammed time after time.