If you surf the board in “invisible” mode then your online indicator should never be turned on.
You have a sane person in your house?
Lucky you.
According to your thingy, you’re online now, Biggirl.
But why is it there? It has that fun little geeky value, which I always appreciate, but we can’t send messages to other posters. Or, for that matter, do anything with the knowledge that a particular poster is currently online, except that it’d be a bad time to steal their computer.
So why is it there?
We take turns being sane. Yesterday was his turn. 
Thank you, Arnold. That’s what I figured.
Wikkit, I use it in situations where someone’s online, and perhaps waiting for my response. If someone’s that interested, I often make an effort to respond right away. Trading two or three messages in a short time helps to avoid some of the convoluted cross-purpose conversations that get started. Not they get started by me, of course. 