### Explanation In the Web 2.0 era, which emphasizes social interaction and user-generated content, online status indicators became a fundamental feature across social media and messaging platforms. This shift from static Web 1.0 pages to dynamic, real-time social experiences made presence awareness a key component of online communication. These status indicators, which reveal when users are actively using a service, can take various forms: - "Online now" or "Active" status - Last seen/active timestamp - Custom status messages - Colored dots or icons showing availability This real-time visibility of user activity, characteristic of Web 2.0's social focus, can: - Enable tracking of daily routines and habits - Reveal communication patterns between users - Indicate timezone and geographic location - Show work/sleep schedules - Expose periods of inactivity that may indicate travel or other significant events Many platforms make this information public by default to encourage engagement and real-time interaction, though some offer controls to limit its visibility. This transparency, while fostering immediate communication, also creates potential privacy and security concerns. ### Examples - [The Fall of Prigozhin (literally) (Dieter Stroobants)](https://www.bants.be/post/the-fall-of-prigozhin-literally) - VK online status of crew members revealed their last activity was before takeoff ### Types - behavioural - business ### See also - [[SOWEL-14. Having Multiple Avatars]] - [[SOWEL-5. Exposing The Fact Of Activity]] ### Typical techniques - [[SOTL-10.1. Reveal Communications With Online Status]]