Got asked about this in the mini qustionnaire at the end of playing yesterday. I felt I needed some space to explain my thinking so am posting here. I would prefer go it alone. For me my social network space is more about people I already know through one reason or another. I might be considered a bit odd in that I keep two profiles one for work and one for personal contacts.
For me the ideal would be that Glitch had a good social network. As there are to be group quests I think this will be quite important. Through this I might make new friends who I could also have contact in other social spaces.
However one reason I joined the alpha was that I am looking for a game that my children could play cooperatively in. For me the no fight is an attraction. If there is to be a developed social network system in game and it is intended to be attractive to children then that raises the issue of moderation/reporting of behaviour of various sorts.