# 'Last Activity' on a User's Profile - what does that mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 17, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088 "2016-08-17T16:52:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/1 "2016-08-17T16:52:34Z")
Under a User’s name on the main profile page is that field and it has date info, and also on the Statistics tab under General Information is the same field and matching date info. What does this mean? Is it presumably to indicate when that user last visited SDMB? There is a user who hasn’t posted in over a year and yet the few times I checked his profile, the Last Activity date was always fairly recent. In case it matters the particular user I’m wondering about is **[Cunctator](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php)**. His last post was in June of 2015 and right now his last activity says “Yesterday 11:05 PM”. I’ve been concerned about him for some time and I wonder if he has been browsing here without posting in over a year - hence, recent ‘Last Activities’ but I have reason to doubt is the case. So, what is ‘Last Activity’? ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/2 "2016-08-17T17:16:47Z")
The last time the forum member visited the website while logged in. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/3 "2016-08-17T17:25:28Z")
Don’t worry about **Cunctator**. He means to post but then he keeps putting it off. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/4 "2016-08-17T23:29:58Z")
> [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](#): > > Don’t worry about **Cunctator**. He means to post but then he keeps putting it off. Do you know him? I hope he is well. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/5 "2016-08-17T23:32:19Z")
> [@waltzes with cacti](#): > > don’t worry about **cunctator**. He means to post but then he keeps putting it off. iswydt ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/6 "2016-08-17T23:43:00Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Do you know him? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/7 "2016-08-18T01:28:56Z")
I guess I got whooshed, but, I still doubt it means the user logged on. I have checked a few times,about 4-5, in the last few months and each time his Last Activity was a fairly recent date. Like, say, within a month of my checking. And still his last post was in June 2015. What gives? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/8 "2016-08-18T01:50:34Z")
It means that the user accessed a page on the SDMB while they were logged in. Many people log in automatically and some browsers (especially from portable devices) will cache web pages that it thinks you might go to so that they give the appearance of being faster than they are when they guess right. So the last activity might have been their browser automatically fetching a page or something like that. Generally though, they accessed a page here. Might have been a thread, might have been a profile, might have just been a forum index page, who knows. But they (or their browser) accessed something here. If they haven’t posted, that could be for a bizillion different reasons, one of which is that maybe they just haven’t felt like posting. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/9 "2016-08-18T01:52:06Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I guess I got whooshed, but, I still doubt it means the user logged on. I have checked a few times,about 4-5, in the last few months and each time his Last Activity was a fairly recent date. Like, say, within a month of my checking. And still his last post was in June 2015. What gives? It’s most likely he’s just been lurking without posting. If you’re concerned or would like to contact him, send him a PM. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/10 "2016-08-18T02:02:03Z")
If a person has set themselves to invisible to being online, it won’t show up on their “last online”. You can set yourself to invisible via the control panel. All it does, though, is make it so your green dot (to the right of your name) doesn’t turn green when you’re online. It will be black (looking like you’re offline) to all normal users (although to mods/admins, it will show up as red, showing them you’re set to “invisible”–can’t stay hidden to TPTB : p) So if you’re noticing a poster either has no “last on…” yet have been making recent post OR has been making recent posts but has a recent “last on…” that is earlier than their posts, it just means they have themselves set to invisible. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/11 "2016-08-18T04:38:38Z")
I too have wondered about **Cunctator** - I hope he’s alright. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/12 "2016-08-18T05:35:25Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > It’s most likely he’s just been lurking without posting. > > If you’re concerned or would like to contact him, send him a PM. I did, a month or three back. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/13 "2016-08-18T07:10:45Z")
I’m constantly invisible, but my profile says my last activity was right now. Is that just because I’m the one looking at it, would someone else see a different date? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/14 "2016-08-18T07:16:06Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I’m constantly invisible, but my profile says my last activity was right now. Is that just because I’m the one looking at it, would someone else see a different date? Nope. Everyone sees the same date. ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/15 "2016-08-18T10:42:48Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I’m constantly invisible, but my profile says my last activity was right now. Is that just because I’m the one looking at it, would someone else see a different date? I can’t see a date on your profile at all. I know I’m on invisible mode, a habit I developed when playing Mafia. I’d come visible only if I was reffing the game. So, the last activity date (to you) was the day the last game I helped run closed out. I don’t remember what that was. ECG, I’d guess that Mods see the correct last activity since we can’t hide from you. At least not on here. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-activity-on-a-users-profile-what-does-that-mean/763088/16 "2016-08-18T12:04:42Z")
Yep. No matter what we can see your activity and times.