You may have heard by now, but did you know, social media isn’t just for your children and grandchildren? Though its primary purpose is to offer networking abilities with friends, family and colleagues, there are dozens of other benefits to social media, especially for us Active Adults!

1. Keep in Touch:

This may seem obvious, but social media is a great way to keep in touch. Not only with family, grandchildren, and good friends, but also with former colleagues, especially if you’ve retired since moving to your new active adult community, or soon to be new community.

2. Find New Businesses & Activities:

Companies and brands that advertise on social media, especially Facebook, do so by very specifically targeting their ideal audience. This isn’t all bad, especially when it helps you discover a new activity to enjoy that’s designed with you in mind! A proactive way to discover new businesses yourself is to follow the business page of a local company you support, or in our case, the official Villages at Two Rivers Facebook page. Many businesses, such as Two Rivers, also like to share news about other businesses to check out or activities to partake in with friends and neighbors, so following the pages of companies you support can help you discover new activities to enjoy.

3. Discover Local Events:

Similar to how you can discover new local companies you’d like to visit or activities to partake in, Facebook and other social media outlets provide a great way for discovering local events. Again, follow the pages of businesses you support and any favorite local news stations. If you live in the Annapolis area, the Eye on Annapolis Facebook page offers many great listings for upcoming events and festivals.

4. Tailor Your Newsfeed:

Facebook in particular allows you to edit the friends, businesses, and colleagues you follow. Because of this, you can easily hide the posts of those you are less interested in staying in touch with, so you can follow the ones you care about the most. Not only friends and family, but you can also follow health blogs and news sites. For instance, if you are a subscriber to the Washington Post you can easily alter your Facebook newsfeed so that many of the headline stories appear first when you login to Facebook. This is also great if you follow such popular health sites as Dr. Oz, Mayo Clinic or even AARP.