[incompatible]

Usenet seemed more social than HN, as I remember it from the 1990s. You'd go back to the same groups, and see the same people posting. On HN, I don't usually see any name I remember.

[the_af]

I regularly see names I remember on HN: tptacek, pron, dragonwriter, lmm, coldtea, etc.

It's not exactly the same as contacts on Facebook, though it's closer to Reddit. Definitely social media.