People like going and being with like-minded people, and I really think if we were to approach tags from a different angle that it could provide some of what you're requesting, @stellabelle .
The first thing I wanted to do when I first got here was to look at the photography "section" to see what people were already posting. Personally, what I really want on this site is an index page of any and all tags which continually grows whenever people create new tags when they post, and maybe even a number next to each tag indicating how many posts are associated with it. Right now the most easily accessible thing we have is the list of tags that make it onto the right side of the home/feed page, and only when they get popular enough. That's a pretty short list, though.
I would much rather have a dedicated index page that shows all tags in whatever order I want. Give me filters to sort tags alphabetically, by most popular, most recently posted in, and creation date.
If Steemit were to really lean on the tag aspect of the site - perhaps by having it as the main page - people will gravitate to the tags they associate with the most, naturally congealing into subgroups.
me too. it's really hard to find old posts!