PvE from elsewhere

There's a post up at techcrunch talking about social networking, and how it sucks if you don't have friends. It's kind of interesting to think about social networking sites realizing the same things that MMOs know, and are already working on. It's a variation on the PvE question. And the issue, from the business perspective, is the same as well - how do you keep people paying for a service that isn't very fun (because they don't have friends). Maybe you make your social site a game?