Does green symbol actually mean "online now"?

AFAustin

AFAustin

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(If this has been answered elsewhere, apologies, but I didn't see it.) I've always assumed that when the little green symbol appears by a member's name it means they're online at that moment. But if you hover over their name, it will often say "Last seen 30 minutes ago..." or some such.

So does the green symbol really mean they're online right now? If so, what's the meaning of the "Last seen..." language?

Thanks,

Andrew
 
AFAustin said:
(If this has been answered elsewhere, apologies, but I didn't see it.) I've always assumed that when the little green symbol appears by a member's name it means they're online at that moment. But if you hover over their name, it will often say "Last seen 30 minutes ago..." or some such.

So does the green symbol really mean they're online right now? If so, what's the meaning of the "Last seen..." language?

Thanks,

Andrew
Click to expand...
My guess (someone please correct me if I'm mistaken) the green symbol means they are currently logged on. The "Last seen..." might mean that's the last time they posted, or even just navigated to read a page. If they got up from the computer to make a sandwich and take a nap, the system doesn't know they aren't still reading.
 
I think a lot of members leave this forum open in the background, either in a tab on their desktop or on their phones. I do that too.

I'm not sure if just minimizing the browser on your phone will show you here as "offline", but if it doesn't then that would explain it.
 
I don’t know how it works honestly but I suspect that the green symbol remains active for 60 minutes after the member logs off.

It will display the last thread or forum that they were viewing until those 60 minutes expire. Then the green symbol goes away.

I’m probably wrong but that’s my assumption.

EDIT: I’ll log off after this edit and make sure not to return for at least 60 minutes. Can someone let me know if my green symbol stays on?
Logging off now 1:33pm Central Time.
 
Hi, Rick. Good experiment.

It's 1:45 PM CDT right now and you're still showing green.

Andrew
 
Rick, it's 2:21 now, 48 minutes after you logged off, and you're still green.
 
Rick, your green light went off somewhere between 2:28 and 2:30---just under an hour.

Andrew
 
Rick, I think we all learned something today. Thanks for testing, and proving, your theory.

Now when I'm trying to communicate with a buyer or seller who I think is logged on but ignoring me, I'll know that maybe he's actually long gone!

Andrew
 
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