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Do tags actually serve a function?

Before anyone jumps on me about not looking up tags, I did a search on "tags" an aalso looked in the faq. The search just brought up everything that has tags, I guess because the word "tag" in in every post. - not very helpful. The FAQ states "What are tags?
Tags are key words. They are used to help people search for a certain topic. You add them to your discussions in the place provided. Words may be separated by a comma, and whole phrases may be "grouped in quotes."

My question is do the tags really help with a search? Or are they just a little ritual that we do to make ourselves feel virtuous?

Tags: spiffy search term, tagarama, tags

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Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 11, 2010 at 6:54pm

They would if people would use them, and use them properly. Thanks for bringing this up, Daniel.

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on September 11, 2010 at 7:03pm

maybe it just takes a while for them to appear. I added the tag "spiffy search term" to this post, then did a search with this result: "Your search - "spiffy search term" - did not match any documents." I'll try again later. I suspect that google just pulls the term out of the text, so now even if I search on that term, I won't know if it's the tag or the fact that it's now in the text.

p.s. that was a FAST response oh omnpresent omniscient one!

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Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 12, 2010 at 11:14am

Heh. I wish I was omnipresent and omniscient. I am just sick and ouchy today. Had a tooth pulled last week, etc... etc...

It could well be that it takes some time for them to appear.

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on September 12, 2010 at 11:26am

It does appear now, but appears to be from the text content in this post, not the tag. Search result copied below.

Do tags actually serve a function? - Atheist Nexus - www ...
Sep 11, 2010 ... I added the tag "spiffy search term" to this post, then did a search with this result: "Your search - "spiffy search term" - did not match ...
www.atheistnexus.org/xn/detail/2182797:Comment:972724?xg_source."

I will add another tag and see what happens, without quoting it in the text.

Sorry your tooth hurts. That's real pain.

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Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 14, 2010 at 9:46am

If I'd had access to dental insurance years ago, I'd have a lot more more of my teeth left. Thanks for the concern, Daniel.

I'll have to play with your tags.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Healy on September 11, 2010 at 7:23pm

I try to use a mixture of general and word specific tags in the hopes that what I contribute might turn up in someone's searches.

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Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 12, 2010 at 11:15am

Rock!

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Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 14, 2010 at 9:47am

Heh. Was this on Nexus?

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on September 14, 2010 at 9:58am

This is the first that I've heard of a Rick Roll. Had to wikipedia it. Now that I've looked it up, I realize I've fallen for it.

I have a perverse liking for some disco, but that one sucks.

By the way, the I searched on the made-up tag term that I added. IT did work, so I guess tags work. Im still not sure they are needed, the google terms search on content of the post as well.