Note that when you vote, you upvote the tag itself. The vote within the tag determines its order when browsing the tag itself. So if something is tagged with #formula1 and has 483 upvotes for the tag, it will appear high in the #formula1 list view. If it's also tagged with #funny with 1 upvote, it will appear low in the #funny list despite the high votes on #formula1.
The single conversation is still a big problem for me. I really like being able to have conversations within a specific community and get specific angles on a topic. I also like to look at a conversation on the same topic in different subreddits to see how different communities react. It's not to say that one way is inhertly better but more of a personal preference.
It’s not how anyone would actively choose to create a network now, knowing what we know about how often people abuse power online.