I think you're onto something. Google won't "win at social" by setting up something that looks like Facebook and being a "better Facebook." And neither will anybody else, most likely. But they can "win at social" by simply continuing to link their various services together more and more and more, and gradually introducing more "social" features.
When you look at what Google have with GMail, Google Calendar, Reader, Buzz, Docs, and their other properties, they have a great foundation to build useful "social" stuff. But remember, "social" doesn't necessarily mean "just like Facebook" (or Twitter, or whoever.)
And I still think that a few fairly minor (IMO) tweaks to Buzz would make it an awesome product that could gain a lot more traction.
When you look at what Google have with GMail, Google Calendar, Reader, Buzz, Docs, and their other properties, they have a great foundation to build useful "social" stuff. But remember, "social" doesn't necessarily mean "just like Facebook" (or Twitter, or whoever.)
And I still think that a few fairly minor (IMO) tweaks to Buzz would make it an awesome product that could gain a lot more traction.