I haven't had any trouble finding little social groups to join up with in FFXIV. It's actually been the best social experience of every MMO I've played thanks to linkshells and a generally friendly community. Most of my friends were made just goofing around Limsa streets. Others I made through the novice network while I was in it.

That being said, I could see room for improvement. The novice network is great, but restricted to mentors and novices, which leaves a huge gap when you're booted out after finishing ARR MSQ. It would be great if the game had an optional social network you could join after graduating from novice network. I guess the problem would be moderation. The novice network seems to work well because it is moderated by mentors, who also self police somewhat. Without a little moderator, a large open social network would be pretty bad. I expect some 'good enough' solution could be found though.