Ever wondered if AOL is turning its back on search for social networking? Well, you might not be too far of the mark.

AOL has just confirmed that it has acquired Socialthing!, a lifestreaming service that competes with FriendFeed.

Socialthing! joins the social platforms stable in the AOL People Networks division, which already includes social network Bebo, chat service AIM, ICQ, Goowy and Yedda.

This purchase could be seen as a little risky for AOL, as Socialthing has only existed for 5 months and is still in private beta. However, AOL must have seen something in the company in order to go ahead with the acquisition.

It seems that AOL has come to the realization that they are never going to be able to compete with Google in search, so they have changed tactics. It would appear that they are going to try to become a key player in the social networking space and attempt to capitalize on some of the current online social trends.

So is this a good strategy for AOL? Well, considering that AOL registers less than 5% share of the total searches in the US, you would think that they really need to go down another online path. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.