Abstract: A system and method provide an interest based social network defined by a community of users who share the same topic interests. The methods and systems provide a collection of webpages based on a category of topics. Users may generate notes and ratings for each topic, which are then displayed on and integrated into the topic webpage. Users may also relate different topics, such that related topics will be provided in user searches of the topics. The method and system includes a category of topics hierarchy, with each topic being associated with a plurality of categories and sub-topics. The method and system additionally allow mapping of user comments and notes into the interest based social network from external social networks, and mapping of user comments and notes from the interest based social network to external social networks.