Staying connected while feeling isolated is often difficult. Many living with multiple sclerosis (MS) venture to a local support group or in-person education program to seek out those who are also living with MS, but due to a lack of time, geography and other limitations, these options are not always available.

Luckily, in this new digital age, there are other options that exist through social media. These wonderful tools can help to keep you connected to your local community, and the rest of the world at large.

The easiest and most widely used tool for most is Facebook (www.facebook.com). Everyone is on Facebook – children, parents, grandparents, everyone you went to school with, and beyond! The most relevant part of this tool is that a number of great MS resources have pages including MSAA, local support groups, and even MS treatment facilities.

Another option is Twitter (www.twitter.com). Twitter is known for being the go-to social media outlet for celebrities, politicians, and others in the media. The idea behind Twitter is to push out information in very small bites (140 characters max). Try searching #multiplesclerosis using Twitter’s search function and you will be amazed at the conversations you’ll be able to strike up.

Are you looking for a venue to share your viewpoints or creativity with the world? Or simply seeking a sounding board? Consider Tumblr at www.tumblr.com or WordPress at www.wordpress.com. Both sites allow its users to create and customize blogs to share their feelings and thoughts on a variety of topics that can then in turn be shared with friends via email, or other social media tools like those above.

While these are just a few of a multitude of the new social media tools available, they are four widely used options allowing you to stay connected to the world without ever leaving your home.

You can connect with MSAA on Facebook: www.facebook.com/msassociation and Twitter: www.twitter.com/msassociation

Please also check out MSAA’s YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/msaalink and Pinterest page http://pinterest.com/msassociation/link.