# The Green Light?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [December 2, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654 "2009-12-02T02:24:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/1 "2009-12-02T02:24:41Z")

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I suspect this may have been asked before or addressed somewhere in an FAQ but I’m too lazy to look so I’ll just ask:

What does the green light/spot next to many usernames (including my own) mean?

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**Author:** ![Discipline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/2 "2009-12-02T02:28:18Z")

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Mouseover.

“kidneyfailure is online now”

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**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/3 "2009-12-02T02:42:41Z")

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> [@Discipline](#):
>
> Mouseover.
> 
> “kidneyfailure is online now”

Ohhhh…that makes sense. I feel like a moron now.

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**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/4 "2009-12-02T02:48:03Z")

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> [@kidneyfailure](#):
>
> Ohhhh…that makes sense. I feel like a moron now.

No, no… morons get a different color light.

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**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/5 "2009-12-02T02:53:16Z")

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Grey is offline. Red is invisible (i.e. user has disabled online status display).

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**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/6 "2009-12-02T03:10:10Z")

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Do other people’s circle show red? I thought it only showed red to yourself.

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/7 "2009-12-02T03:56:53Z")

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Only Cecil/Ed could test that. It’s the only sock account. (Not intended to disparage, but merely to inform.)

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**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/8 "2009-12-02T04:09:10Z")

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> [@ZenBeam](#):
>
> Do other people’s circle show red? I thought it only showed red to yourself.

Other posters don’t see it. Staff members do. It’s a terrible burden. 😉

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/9 "2009-12-02T15:57:43Z")

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nm

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**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-green-light/519654/10 "2009-12-07T16:55:12Z")

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I think the green light is supposed to represent Gatsby’s everlasting but impossible dream of being with Daisy, the one he loves - it is all of our hopes and dreams, all of the things that we believe in even though we will never reach them.

😛