It doesn't make me feel bad to read blunt critiques (especially when they're obviously thought out). I sincerely appreciate it (but then again, I just putz around here; I'm not the one who designed or codes the site).If it would make you feel any better...
Agreed, in no way does what kleinbl00 wrote upset me, this is what we need, more feedback. Your ideal version of the site has some great ideas, some of which I think are actionable and you're are spot on that NOW is when these things need to be done -20 years ago would have been great. We have some new changes in the pipe line that I think you'll appreciate KB. I definitely agree that if you build a site around following people and immediately expect that someone should know who to follow, well… That just isn't the way the world works. People meet around topics, we should allow people to do the same here easily. Your 3-D printing example of Ronnie is a good one. We have our team call tonight, and we will definitely be discussing this. Thank you for the suggestions and the honest feedback.
Perhaps there could be an option to see who the most active posters in certain tags are. Sure you could scan through all the posts in a tag to see who is an active poster but new users aren't usually that dedicated. There could be a space at the end of the "tag page" or something that would tell users who is the most active in that tag. That would help people figure out who to follow based on what they post.