Lycos has thrown in the towel, almost. It will phase out its generic media portal business and focus instead on subscription offerings such as online dating services and Web site publishing.

Later this month, the Lycos.com homepage will be relaunched to become a hub for personal connections, the company said in a statement. It hopes an overhaul will make it a major player in the trendy Internet field of “social networking, according to another AP story. Lycos already has several properties that fit under the “social networking” umbrella, including the dating site matchmaker.com, financial sites and services to help members publish blogs.

The changes announced Wednesday at Lycos also include a deal to outsource advertising sales to another company, 24/7 Real Media.

Expect it to emulate what is has done in UK and Europe, where it is already stonrg in the community/connection space..for instance, check out its UK website.