Poke.
April 13, 2010 5:08 PM Subscribe
Facebook filter: Why can't I see all of my friends when they're online?
Specifically, my wife - it used to be that we could chat via FB chat when I'm at work, but a few months ago, she stopped showing up in my chat pop-up. Even when I know for a fact she's online, I can't see her there.
That led me to poke around, and it seems like FB is arbitrarily showing me no more than ~40 of my friends at any given time (out of 500) in the chat window. And it's always the same ones. But I'll see people that post to their wall just seconds ago (via the Web, not a mobile tool), so I know they're online at that moment, and they're not showing up in chat either.
I've looked in the setting and options and all of those Byzantine menus FB has, but I can't figure this out. I'm sure somewhere there's a setting that is limiting the number of friends it shows me as being online ... but any idea where? (This is not a computer-specific setting, BTW, as we've tried it from various computers at various locations, and it's a persistent problem.)
Specifically, my wife - it used to be that we could chat via FB chat when I'm at work, but a few months ago, she stopped showing up in my chat pop-up. Even when I know for a fact she's online, I can't see her there.
That led me to poke around, and it seems like FB is arbitrarily showing me no more than ~40 of my friends at any given time (out of 500) in the chat window. And it's always the same ones. But I'll see people that post to their wall just seconds ago (via the Web, not a mobile tool), so I know they're online at that moment, and they're not showing up in chat either.
I've looked in the setting and options and all of those Byzantine menus FB has, but I can't figure this out. I'm sure somewhere there's a setting that is limiting the number of friends it shows me as being online ... but any idea where? (This is not a computer-specific setting, BTW, as we've tried it from various computers at various locations, and it's a persistent problem.)
Response by poster: Nope, she can chat with other people, as can I. But when we're both online, we can't see each other.
posted by jbickers at 5:20 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by jbickers at 5:20 PM on April 13, 2010
When I've had this happen to me the trick has been to put that person into a special list of their own (from the "friends" link on the left, then "+ Create a list"), and then in chat turn off my availability to all the other lists (the green slider). When the number of available chat contacts drops down to a reasonable one, that person will appear.
posted by bonaldi at 5:26 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by bonaldi at 5:26 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
My new answer to facebook questions is the same as my answer to cat questions "you'll never understand your cat/facebook".
It sounds like you've found the answer, looks like facebook's interface limits the number you can see online. Of the one's you can see, is there a pattern (alphabetical, etc?).
posted by HuronBob at 5:26 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
It sounds like you've found the answer, looks like facebook's interface limits the number you can see online. Of the one's you can see, is there a pattern (alphabetical, etc?).
posted by HuronBob at 5:26 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
You can use Facebook chat via Jabber (so, iChat on a Mac, or Trillian/whatever it is PC users use for IM these days). It might only be the web interface that has the arbitrary restriction on chats?
posted by jaffacakerhubarb at 5:34 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by jaffacakerhubarb at 5:34 PM on April 13, 2010
I've noticed that too. I'll get a notification that someone has just left me a message, or someone has updated, but they are not showing up as being on line. (I don't understand facebook, either.)
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:36 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:36 PM on April 13, 2010
This either means:
A. Facebook is screwing up.
B. You can selectively go 'offline' for various friends lists. It's easy to click the little 'switch' widget and turn it off by accident, which is what I'm betting your wife did.
posted by dunkadunc at 6:04 PM on April 13, 2010
A. Facebook is screwing up.
B. You can selectively go 'offline' for various friends lists. It's easy to click the little 'switch' widget and turn it off by accident, which is what I'm betting your wife did.
posted by dunkadunc at 6:04 PM on April 13, 2010
jaffacakerhubarb: "You can use Facebook chat via Jabber (so, iChat on a Mac, or Trillian/whatever it is PC users use for IM these days). It might only be the web interface that has the arbitrary restriction on chats?"
Pidgin has a plugin for Facebook Chat, too
posted by rebent at 6:21 PM on April 13, 2010
Pidgin has a plugin for Facebook Chat, too
posted by rebent at 6:21 PM on April 13, 2010
You can increase the number of friends who appear on your wall, maybe increasing this to the actual number of friends you have might change this?
posted by ellieBOA at 4:24 AM on April 14, 2010
posted by ellieBOA at 4:24 AM on April 14, 2010
Response by poster: ellieBOA: Where do you go to change that setting?
posted by jbickers at 4:32 AM on April 14, 2010
posted by jbickers at 4:32 AM on April 14, 2010
On the home screen, go right to the bottom of the page, and click on edit options. This is where you can choose to see more from a particular friend, remove people altogether from the newsfeed (without unfriending them), and change the number of friends who come up in the live feed.
posted by ellieBOA at 6:42 AM on April 14, 2010
posted by ellieBOA at 6:42 AM on April 14, 2010
My answer to any Facebook question is as follows: The website, while useful to a degree, is really poorly and inconsistently coded. The current Facebook site is not designed to help you communicate with your friends. It is designed to deliver advertisements to you, bring in revenue from you, and collect personal data from you. From the perspective of the Facebook powers-that-be, how well you can see what your friends are up to is not as important as how well the other three functions work.
I use Facebook, but I don't rely on it for anything other than casual check-ins with friends and family. If I really wanted to chat with my wife I'd use the chat client built in to Gmail, which easily and transparently lets me decide who should or should not show up on my chat list.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:19 AM on April 14, 2010
I use Facebook, but I don't rely on it for anything other than casual check-ins with friends and family. If I really wanted to chat with my wife I'd use the chat client built in to Gmail, which easily and transparently lets me decide who should or should not show up on my chat list.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:19 AM on April 14, 2010
In the chat box, click "options" and select "Pop out chat". That should show you everyone who is online.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 5:21 PM on April 14, 2010
posted by Felicity Rilke at 5:21 PM on April 14, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kimdog at 5:12 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]