Social networks aren’t about Web sites. They’re about experiences.

Mike DiLorenzo, NHL social media marketing director

It is almost certain that when the phrase “social network”, or “social media”, is used people’s minds invariably think of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter et al. In truth, social networks are much, much more ingrained in our Web 3.0 experience. Even traditional news media websites encourage the fostering of social networks of a sort, by having registered users creating profiles and commenting on stories and opinion pieces one sees that over time a community is born, almost organically, by the user base – people who regularly comment get “known” by others, and conversations (and in some cases full-blown arguments) between users flow as naturally as those across the tables in dinner parties from the 1980s, just in their virtual setting.