Agree with the OP, whether it's more civilised or not, it's pretty pointless. Not only do you find yourself on a packed bus on many occasions, even when you deplane via an airbridge passengers invariably end up standing up and congregating with those around them/ in front/ behind. I'm not against it. It doesn't slow me down or bother me. But from a Covid prevention perspective it really seems like fake news.

It was great getting off the plane (in LIN) but not so great that the little bus to the airport was then packed full with less than social distance among us.

A culture that passively accepts and follows pointless rules is a culture that is destined to dissolution

Deplaneing by row number.
 

Just did a multi part europe trip, first flight with BA in some time. New to me was the disembarking by set row numbers. (1-5 then 6-10 etc). As someone that typicaly sits in the middle of the plane (exit row) on short haul. What a pleasant difference it made having everyone seated until actually ready to leave the aircraft. Long may this continue. All together very civilised.

From a few days back... it's not always as good :)

Please remain seated until your row number is called when...... - FlyerTalk Forums

I wouldn't get too excited about this lasting. On the first of my two long haul sectors last week, deplaning by row number was announced initially (by which point 30% of Pax were already in the aisle), with no subsequent announcement to reinforce the policy or for specific rows to exit (i.e. it was a complete free for all, and worse than pre-COVID for any regular flyers who were waiting patiently in their seats). Rows 1-27 (on a 788 - so J, W and 50% of Y) announced on the second...

It's only good if passengers follow along and the crew is willing to call out offenders.
Was flying LIN-LHR yesterday and they made the announcement in English but not Italian, so there were a number of people who went about their usual business and started pulling out overhead baggage.
YMMV.

It’s only good if they are de-planing from the front and I get off first! It’s also a complete joke to imagine that it does anything at all to reduce covid transmission or whatever it is supposed to do.

It is pointless. First and Business deplanes first regardless. On all of my long haul flights we had people at the back of the plane telling the crew that they have 30-45 minutes for connection. In two of those flights, FA allowed the passengers in the back to grab their belongings and go to the front.

Go on, explain that one…

Allegedly it’s here to stay as passenger feedback has been positive.

Even though, I have came from this thread, I would write some points that I hate this application. Anyone who wants an orderly disembarkation process could wait until everyone de-boards.

1- At some airports, I prefer to walk fast or sprint to immigration because I would leave the airport faster or if I'm connecting, I would have more time at the lounge rather than waiting at a line. Especially in crowded US airports, even a single person in front of you in line at immigration could make a difference as it takes 2-4 minutes for an officer to process an average person. Let's say that you're seated in the exit row of a 777/787 behind 3 or 4 L/R. You could stand up, advance forward as soon as the seatbelt signs have been switched off and skip waiting 15-20 minutes for those people to be processed at immigration.

2- Same things go with connections. When making a connection, the door opening times are considered as the arrival time. If someone is seated at row 30 on a narrow-body with a tight connection and asked to remain seated by the crew for 10-15 minutes until everyone in the front leaves the aircraft, what would happen? The passenger would have missed a legitimate ( doable by rules ) connection and probably the airline would blame him for being slow.

Things might be good on one side but the consequences on the other side should also be seen.

Pointless they may be, but kicking and screaming with dissent is futile. The reality is that by not following the current rules of travel, you ain't going anywhere,

Can't see it working really once all and sundry start flying again. So whatever row they start with, what happens if a pax or group of pax are not ready to disembark? It can take some longer than others to "get ready". So does that mean everyone will have to wait?

The more I read about flying at the moment, the more I cant be bothered...and somehow the future don't look that enticing either....just my humble opinion. Gosh I long for the past days of tier point runs and just general fun flying one world. I think it's all gone ....🙁

Disembarking by rows is fine, but not being able to stand is silly. This just delays things as it can take some minutes for some passengers to get their belongings from the overhead locker