I wish they would get rid of the whole "who's online" area period.  It probably contributes a great deal to the amount of lag this site has.    

If the person is online they'll reply.  If not, they'll reply when they are. If they are busy they'll reply when they get a chance.  I see no valid reason for people being able to view who is online at this particluar moment in time.

I've had numerous messages from people I've never heard of and don't know and have never "seen" on the boards send me messages because they saw me online in the "Who's Online", and all they were looking for was someone to chat with or a "new friend".

I don't report these types of things because I don't want to get people into trouble.  But PMs like that wouldn't be an issue if the "who's online" didn't exist, or if you were able to make yourself "invisible" to the feature.

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi