Steam problem: Users appear Online in Community but not in Friends List

[Anarchemitis]

This has not been an isolated incident for me, it's happened with multiple different users over the course of the past while since around the release of the new version of Steam. It's highly annoying and I can't find help into it. The extent of assistance from Steam Support consists of "Sit Tight, we're researching it". I am annoyed by the lack of results since I asked about 5 weeks ago.
Has anyone encountered this before? I refuse to believe this is only happening to me.
Friends appear offline but indicate they either are online or were online at a different time than what the Community page says. Due to this discrepancy I don't know which to trust- the Friends list or the Community page. However I do know which annoys me more; if a user is rendered offline in the Friends list, then it is impossible to chat with them.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

Either they have their friends list set to offline, or your version of steam might be a tad buggy. Try sending them a message via Steam Community, if they respond saying "yes I am online" or something, then you might need to uninstall steam and re-install it. (Dont forget to back up the game files beforehand though)

 

[Anarchemitis]

Either they have their friends list set to offline, or your version of steam might be a tad buggy. Try sending them a message via Steam Community, if they respond saying "yes I am online" or something, then you might need to uninstall steam and re-install it. (Dont forget to back up the game files beforehand though)

This problem has been persistent on several different computers in which I have installed steam. Many of these computers have Deepfreeze, which automatically removes all Steam information at days end.

 

[zombiesinc]

You're sure none of these people blocked you or are appearing offline? I'm sure that's doubtful as they're on your friends list, but it's still a possibility, however small. I know that a blocked user cannot see a person's online status, or message them, yet will be able to see that they're online via their Steam profile.

I haven't had this issue before, or at least haven't noticed, so beyond checking that or reinstalling Steam I can't offer much advice. Good luck though.

 

[SpectralAnomaly]

I think it's just if they're appearing offline. I've had instances of friends being offline on my friends tab, but online on their community page. I didn't think too much of it, one of my friends said that's why it was.

 

[AnGeL.SLayer]

I have the same problem =/

 

[Anarchemitis]

I wrote them a letter, hopefully they'll respond.