What do you DO on Eons?

My own teenagers can hardly believe their mother is the CommunityGal for Eons! I know more about social networking these days than they do! Building a community for my generation is not only my work, it is my passion. I love seeing the groups that are forming every day on Eons. I learn so much from our members' experiences and expertise, which they share in their group postings and their blogs. And I have made new friends on Eons. People who have joined the Eons mission to build the largest social network of people 50+ ever! What are you waiting for? Jump in with us!

As the "social butterfly" wherever I live, work or play, I love making new friends and getting together with people. I went to the cast-off party for the 50+ Singles Cruise Group and later in the summer met up with an Eons member in Minnesota for lots of laughs and Eons talk. Born in northern Minnesota, I had to join Eons in Minnesota; as an avid reader, Bookoholics is a must; and I always check out the chatter on Eons Advisors where members tell us what they want on Eons. I read my horoscope every day; I go through the Editor's picks in Body, Money & Careers, Love and Fun, as well as the Top Rated articles on Eons. I visit the profiles of people that seem interesting (sometimes from the Home page, sometimes from a post that catches my eye). That's pretty much my daily list. Occasionally, I go to LifePath and Obits. My favorite activity, though, is blogging — can't shut me up!!! Boom. Boom. Boom.

My primary objective on Eons is to do research to improve the design of the site. I spend a lot of time in Eons Advisors, discussing possible new features or design changes. I also read nearly every post in Getting Around on Eons and the HTML Workshop Group, to get a feel for the technical issues that are on people's minds. The singular desire to build an intelligent social networking platform consumes about 99% of my time. During the remaining 1%, it's fun to see what my friends are doing on Eons by reading my Friend Updates. It's amazing how many interesting groups or blogs I've found that way. A few months back, I spent some time "pimping out" my profile. (I think it's about time to re-decorate.)

The first place that I go to when I log on to Eons is the Horoscopes. I love to get an idea of what my day is supposed to turn out to be and how accurate the horoscopes really are. Then, when I have the time, I try to check out a couple of my groups: Weight Loss and Nutrition, where I wrote a blog about my recent weight loss of over 30 pounds; 50+ Singles; Motorcycles and Fibromyalgia. Although my job doesn't allow me a lot of time to be on the site, I do wish I could interact more with other members. Looking forward to getting to know you - send me an email.

Since I"m a writer and editor, it's no surprise that my favorite Eons features are those that let me tell stories. I try to make my Profile reflect who I am. I've charted my life on LifePath with photos and brief accounts of some key events. I've learned to love blogging (see "My First Blog") My groups are about hiking, writing, and being active with arthritis. Thanks to my hip replacement surgery in April, I'm a card-carrying member of an Eons group with the very cool name Totally Hip. But if I were just starting out on Eons, the first thing I'd do is take the Eons Longevity Calculator. Doing that will give you a good idea of how much more life you have ahead of you.

Susan Reynolds (Susan7)

As you can see from my Profile, family and travel are dear to me. I've created a Tribute for my mom on Eons, and am working on my LifePath to get my life story written for my sons and grandchildren. I love being able to include photos! When I can't be traveling, I follow my wanderlust with savvy travel tips from Rudy Maxa, members' lively discussions in groups like Independent Travelers and engaging travel tales. I rely on our great search engine cRANKy to research topics both on Eons and the web at large. And I keep my mind agile with Brain Builders, playing Trivia, Text Twist and the L.A. Times Crossword puzzle.

I've got a pretty good start on my LifePath; but there's a lot more that I plan to enter. My No. 1 goal "Looking Forward" is to visit all of the wine regions of the world, so it's not a surprise that I'm a member of the Wine and Independent Travelers groups. I've added a few of my photos to my profile and my LifePath, and I uploaded some photos to the wine group as well. I've received some great suggestions from our members for wineries to visit in the Finger Lakes region of New York, wines to try and places to go to and places to avoid when traveling. I've also had members contact me who used to live in my hometown and who grew up in the town I live in now; and after I posted a Tribute for my aunt I heard from one of her former students - so I know first hand how easily connections can be made on the site. I've tried a lot of the , and I put together the rock album cover trivia game - so I'm pretty sure that I have the highest score on that one; but there are still dozens of trivia games that I plan to play. There are some great music groups on the site, including Blues Music, where I've enjoyed watching a lot of music videos. Finally, I'd like to thank all of our members in the Eons Advisors group who take the time to post their suggestions and respond to our questions on how to improve the site.

What can YOU do on Eons?

Explore your passion. Tell your story. Play games. Sharpen your mind. Discover resources. Make new friends. Express your opinion. Give advice; receive support. Calculate your lifespan. Set goals and dreams for your future.

All of these activities are available on Eons, and each member will be drawn to different features.

Explore your passion.
When you're not working or sleeping, what occupies your time and energy? Chances are it's a passion, or at least a hobby or interest, like books, spirituality, fitness, photography, pets, cooking, politics and much, much more. You're certain to find members and groups who share your interest.

Tell your story.
Many of our members want to write their life stories, and we have the perfect platform for them: LifePath. You can plot the events of your past - births, graduations, jobs, weddings and more - add photos and even write an account of each event. Sounds like the start of a book!

Make new friends.
Many of our members are looking to meet like-minded people. Our three largest groups are all for singles, and the fifth largest group, Six Degrees of Separation was created by a member who wanted to meet 1,000 new online friends. Soon, she will hit the 2,000 member mark. Search the groups for "meet" people.

Express your opinion.
If you've reached the age of 50, you have a lot of experience and knowledge to draw on. Maybe it's time to pass along that wisdom. On Eons you have several ways to express your thoughts and opinions: By posting a message to a group or write a blog, which is an online journal.

Give advice; find support.
Some of us face obstacles that make "lovin' life on the flip side of 50" a challenge. And that's where Eons members can make a difference. We have groups for people living with chronic illness, facing an empty nest, searching for a job - just about every situation common to people over 50. You may have the words of encouragement someone needs to hear. Search groups by topic.

Play games.
Sometimes you need to set your thinking cap aside and engage in a little mindless activity, like playing games. You'll find more than 100 games and puzzles in our Fun section, such as matchup, jigsaw, Sudoku, trivia and more.

Discover resources.
Besides the knowledge and experience of our members and groups, you can search Eons - and the entire Web -- for articles, blogs, and more. We have our own search engine called cRANKy, which not only gives you results but also provides thousands of reviews written with a 50+ lens to highlight what boomers and seniors would find most useful. You'll find Eons information on retirement, careers, caring for elderly parents, bringing up grandchildren, stretching your retirement dollars, and more.

Honor the memory of a loved one.
Memories of good people are precious, and Eons gives you a way to hold on to them. Through our Tributes and Obituaries, you can document the memory of family and friends with pictures and stories that show what made them so special.

Calculate your lifespan.
How long are you going to live? Take the Eons Longevity Calculator and find out. And, if you're like most of us who have taken it, you're in for a surpise. Time magazine said the Eons calculator has gotten across a message that no one has been able to get us boomers to hear: that we are going to live much longer than we think and we need to prepare for it.  The best part is, the Longevity Calculator results include lifestyle changes you can make to add healthy time to your lifespan.

Set goals and dreams.
What are you living for? That's up to you, but our founder, Jeff Taylor, created Eons as a way to inspire members of our generation to "Live to be a hundred or die trying." That's the spirited attitude we're looking for. And one way to make that happen is to create your list of LifeDreams - a want-to-do list of "100 things to do before you turn 100." The place for your list is waiting for you in LifePath.