Contributed by Paul Seaburn, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

Ever since the day Adam and Eve got together under a tree to discuss their mutual interest in apples, people have been meeting socially.

What once took place face-to-face has now moved to Internet social sites where we can look up old friends, meet new ones, have conversations and exchange photos, music, jokes and other things of mutual interest, all without leaving home or getting dressed.

If you’re new to social sites or looking for some different ones to hang out in, here’s my list of the top ten social sites – you might even find me on a few of them.

10. MeetUp

MeetUp.com combines online meetings with actual face-to-face get-togethers by setting groups for users with common interest and then helping to arrange places and times for the members to meet up for real. It’s a popular site for facilitating politically-oriented meetings as well as linking people interested in the usual things like books, movies, health and careers.

9. CafeMom

CafeMom.com is similar to other social site except that it’s restricted to moms and moms-to-be – no dads, dads-to-be or men in general are allowed. Besides the usual messaging, photo-sharing and games, CafeMom publishes an online journal called The Stir and promotes environmental issues.

8. Tagged

Tagged.com is a social site for users looking to play games, upload photos and videos and share virtual gifts with other users. The virtual gifts can be bought with actual money or by completing tasks or responding to special offers. “Tagging” allows users to send messages like “Luv” and “Meet Me” laong with rating photos for attractiveness.

7. LiveJournal

Livejournal.com is a combination blogging platform and social site where users can keep a blog or journal, self-syndicate their writings to other users and join communities of other journal writers. The most popular community is “Oh No They Didn’t” with posts focused on celebrity gossip. LiveJournal also allows users to earn money from their journals using Google AdSense.

6. deviantART

Deviantart.com is a social site for artists to display and discuss their artworks, such as photography, digital art, literature, Flash videos, films, cartoons and more. Users can comment on art, designate “favorites” and participate in polls. Artists can also sell their works on the site.

5. Google +

Google + (pronounced Google Plus and located at plus.google.com) is Google’s social site. Once you sign up for a Google account, you get access to video sharing, messaging and other services from Google Profiles and Google Buzz, plus features like “Circles” (friends and groups with common interests), “Hangouts” places for group video chats) and “Sparks” (for searching and sharing topics with others).

4. MySpace

Myspace.com was the top social site from 2005 to 2008 when it was passed by Facebook. Users post messages on their “bulletin boards” for those on their MySpace friends list to see. Besides the usual personal info and interest, MySpace profiles have “mood” emoticons to share your current mood. MySpace is popular with musicians, bands and music lovers because it allows users to upload MP3 songs, create playlists and suggest songs of similar styles.

3. LinkedIn

LinkedIn.com is sometimes called the business Facebook because of its orientation towards business networking. Once registered, LinkedIn users post resume info and employment history, then invite other users to “connect” with them. Direct, second- and third-level connections are visible and users can follow companies, look for job openings and read profiles of potential bosses and co-workers.

2. Twitter

Twitter.com is a microblog service where users post and read text messages of up to 140 characters (including spaces) called “tweets.” You can follow the tweets of other users by their Twiiter names or by hashtags – words beginning with ‘#’ that allow them to be grouped. While sometimes criticized for the vast amount of trivial info posted, Twitter has become a worldwide source of instantaneous updates on major news events.

1. Facebook

Facebook.com is the reigning king of social sites with over 800 million active users as of this writing. Once you register with your real name and an email address, you can create a personal profile, add other users as friends, post info about yourself and exchange messages. Your friends can be grouped into areas of common interest like work or school. Facebook is constantly being updated and does a certain amount of policing of photos.