Socializing working great for me as well. I've been taking my kids outside our neighborhood and to local parks and have met several parents of similarly aged kids I never met previously who are also in my neighborhood. My youngest daughter has already gotten a playdate set up with someone new (and they won't be playing Pokemon either).
Then there's the fact you need to actually do some exercise (even if it's just walking) in order to progress through the game. The way my kids (and others we've met) do this is by making laps around a park. They walk from Pokestop to Pokestop and before they know it they've walked a couple miles.
This also means you can't play this game indoors (except maybe for some minor housecleaning after you've been out collecting stuff). So much better than sitting around spending countless hours in front of a TV/PC playing games and chatting with people over Skype that you'll never meet in person.
Hilarious that something popular and well done has to be nitpicked apart by people full of piss & vinegar.
