Returns render array to be printed out whereever

gistfile1.txt

function mglaman_social_links() {
  $social_links = array(
    'twitter' => array(
      'title' => t('Twitter'),
      'href' => 'https://twitter.com/nmdmatt'
    ),
    'linkedin' => array(
      'title' => t('LinkedIn'),
      'href' => 'http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattglaman',
    ),
    'github' => array(
      'title' => t('GitHub'),
      'href' => 'https://github.com/mglaman',
    ),
    'drupal' => array(
      'title' => t('Drupal'),
      'href' => 'http://drupal.org/u/mglaman',
    ),
  );

  $menu_output = array();
  $menu_output['#sorted'] = TRUE;
  $menu_output['#theme_wrappers'][] = 'menu_tree';

  foreach ($social_links as $key => $item) {
    // Create render array for the menu link.
    $element = array();
    $element['#theme'] = 'menu_link';
    $element['#attributes']['class'] = array(
      'social--links',
    );
    $element['#network'] = $key;
    $element['#title'] = '<i class="fa fa-' . $key . '">&nbsp;</i><span class="helper-text">' .$item['title'] . '</span>';
    $element['#href'] = $item['href'];
    $element['#localized_options']  = array('html' => TRUE, 'external' => true, 'target' => '_blank', 'absolute' => true);

    // Add the menu_link item into the render array for the menu_tree.
    $menu_output[$key] = $element;
  }

  return $menu_output;
}