(As I've stated elsewhere in prior comments) I know that RIA management in general and Mag particularly are excited about the new tag features; however, I'm not sold on them yet. I can see the advantages if the system works as envisioned (at least as I understand it), but the biggest problem I see is non-uniformity. I can also reasonably anticipate members using excessive numbers of tags in an attempt to get more hits on their profiles (akin to useless hits on Google). Perhaps my concerns are unjustified or will be ultimately resolved, but at this point the jury is still out in my book. Nevertheless, I will say that the tags are an improvement over the old system of just listing interests since the tags link to everyone else with the same interests. (It was news to me, after perusing the prior comments, that this feature was originally designed to flag ourselves as experts on certain matters.) The end result is four stars since I understand why the feature was added and since it is a clear improvement over the prior profile design.

I think this is a good idea because it is like getting to know a person at a glance. The new RIA design seems to be more people friendly. But honestly, I dont think it is going to work not unless you have an interest similar to everyone else eg sport or RIA.

I made fun of this feature on my user-page when it was still called "expert tagging" but I'll give this a five because this has a lot of potential for those who want to network with other users with shared interests, or for those goofballs who just want to have a little fun with a "play on words". Everybody comes out a winner whether you use this feature, or not. A change for the better.

Good idea but it seems a little useless.

This part is a good idea.

What's supa-fly about this is people can group up to keep each other in the know. Say the "Refresh Phoenix" people wanted to be aware of each other, just tag yourself "refreshphoenix" and everyone looking for that can find you.

This may be abusing the idea of "expertise" but it will help people of like minds find each other...

My original rating was a 2 but I'll upgrade to 3. Having read some of the other comments I realize now that this feature has great potential for humor.

i'm an opinionated know it all or so i think but i wouldn't consider myself an expert on anything because there is always room for improvement.

I really like the concept of establishing interest based communities here on RIA. However, I and maybe many other people on the site wouldn't call themselves an "experts" in any given subject, many of us simply have interests in a wide array of subjects that we like to rate, expertise need not apply.

I'll give it a "4" for its incredible potential. But, honestly, I can't honestly give myself an "expert" tag at anything. Though it will be interesting to see what others may claim expertise in.

I'm not sure about this yet; it can be ok as long as it is used appropriately. Of course it is all subjective.

Anything that lets me brag about myself is great.

I do think I will like this feature...

I like the idea of this. It will make it that much easier to find people who share your interests. Magellan, do you have a est. date that this feature will be working?

This one isn't fully baked yet, but it will be cool. Soon you'll be able to click on any Expert Tag and be shown a list of others who have also tagged themself with the same word. There will also be one page that pulls together all of the Expert Tags of everyone on the site.