Yes, you've read right SOL and its sister sites have build in social networking functions.
No it's not as bad as you think.
We've had this on the site for a long time for premier members/authors, and now this function is open to every registered member.
You can now follow authors. On the home page, you have a new link 'My Stream' which shows you the same info as the home page, but only entries from authors you follow.
The premier features are still more extensive as this new functionality is only a subset of the premier one.
You can follow an author by going to their page and clicking the 'Follow' link.