Basic, basic, basic stuff.
August 24, 2015 5:05 PM Subscribe
On dating sites, when someone in a profile has the little light saying they are "On Line Now," does that mean they are just literally on line anywhere, and the site is detecting their general activity (a la google) -- or does it mean they are at that moment active on the dating website itself?
Best answer: They don't know what you're doing unless your browser specifically talks to their server. A few companies (Facebook, Google, Twitter) have some ways to make this happen for a lot of sites (share buttons & widely used advertising networks), but most other websites only know that you still exist when either you are looking at their website or they are billing your credit card.
They are only telling you if the person is logged in to the dating website.
posted by aubilenon at 5:14 PM on August 24, 2015
They are only telling you if the person is logged in to the dating website.
posted by aubilenon at 5:14 PM on August 24, 2015
Best answer: Your specific question's been answered, but for just a bit more detail:
Okcupid will show that a person is "online now" starting from the moment they sign into their profile (or open the app) until 60 minutes after they sign off. So it's not exactly honest.
If you message someone and they don't message you back right away even though YOU CAN SEE THE GREEN BUBBLE, IT'S RIGHT THERE, TALK TO ME ASSHOLE, it may be because they only opened the app for a second and no, they're not actually they're anymore.
posted by phunniemee at 6:15 PM on August 24, 2015 [5 favorites]
Okcupid will show that a person is "online now" starting from the moment they sign into their profile (or open the app) until 60 minutes after they sign off. So it's not exactly honest.
If you message someone and they don't message you back right away even though YOU CAN SEE THE GREEN BUBBLE, IT'S RIGHT THERE, TALK TO ME ASSHOLE, it may be because they only opened the app for a second and no, they're not actually they're anymore.
posted by phunniemee at 6:15 PM on August 24, 2015 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Sometimes it also means "you have opened the mobile app, and it is still running". Which is why some people show online almost all the time. OKCupid's app used to do this to some extent, haven't used it in a while though.
How long "online" status persists for after using website/app depends on the site, and in some cases is a very long window. It's not very useful.
posted by thefoxgod at 6:34 PM on August 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
How long "online" status persists for after using website/app depends on the site, and in some cases is a very long window. It's not very useful.
posted by thefoxgod at 6:34 PM on August 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
Best answer: It most likely means that the user has an active session.
posted by deathpanels at 6:55 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by deathpanels at 6:55 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: It can also mean they have a tab with the site open, but not that they are active on the site. A friend of mine recently questioned a women he was seeing about why she was always online only to find out it was one of many tabs she kept open. And that she didn't like him keeping track of her. It didn't work out.
posted by lepus at 7:01 PM on August 24, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by lepus at 7:01 PM on August 24, 2015 [5 favorites]
If it's Plenty of Fish, they will indicate someone is online when that haven't actually been on the site in 6 months.
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:13 AM on August 25, 2015
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:13 AM on August 25, 2015
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posted by amro at 5:08 PM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]