Cisco Systems, traditionally known for its networking infrastructure products, is starting to make waves in the social networking space, with its launch of Eos, a hosted software platform targeted at big media companies who want to be active in the social media space without having to resort to YouTube and the like to create, manage and grow online communities. CNET and the Wall Street Journal carry reports of the launch; the latter reports that the Warner Music Group will be Eos’ first user.

Jeremiah Owyang has posted his views on the launch, with these top takeaways:

• Great move for Cisco as it puts more ‘bits in the pipe’, as online video increases demand for their networking gear.
• Cisco EOS team will need to demonstrate they offer more than just technology to be successful, media companies need solution vendors –not technology vendors.
• Competitors now have to compete against infrastructure play and big brand backing.
• Cisco could drive down prices by offering Eos at bargain prices as a loss leader for other offerings.
• Social Networking software is a cheap commodity and market is oversaturated, expect a shakeout during this recession.
• Other large infrastructure players like Sun, IBM, Microsoft, EMC, and CMS vendors will eye the community platform space for buyout –yet startups will resist during periods of low valuation.

Elsewhere on the web:

LiveJournal on the rocks?
Owen Thomas at ValleyWag says the social networking bubble has burst, with news that LiveJournal has cut 12 of 28 San Francisco-based employees, with no offer of severance. The blogging network is a subsidiary of Russian Internet startup, Sup, which bought it from Six Apart (which bought it from founder Brad Fitzpatrick).

Seamus McCauley isn’t surprised that “there’s not a lot of money in running mass-market brand ads over an unmoderated [...] virulently anti-censorship social net“. Nevertheless, he reckons it’d be easy for Sup to monetise LJ before it closes the site down (if that’s the way it’s going);  he’d pay to save his five years’ worth of LJ musings, and no doubt other LJ users feel the same.

Yelp launches a UK service
TechCrunch UK reports that US local reviews service Yelp has launched in the UK, taking on competitors such as Qype, Trusted Places and Rummble. Mike Butcher says:
“As usual, the question is, will the plucky local players be able to hold their own? Here’s my prediction: Trusted Places will try to sell to Yelp, as hinted before Christmas. Qype will fight it out. The rest will either re-focus and get out of the way or die. The market simply will not sustain all the current players.”

Semantic web apps for 2009
ReadWriteWeb has created a semantic web wishlist for 2009 – a collection of commercial web apps which its writers and audience would like to see grow or emerge in the year ahead.