Does Facebook lie to you about people online? or am I just crazy? it's cool if you think I am?

[Trevor]

Sometimes i see that someone is online, but then they're not, and then they are, and then they are'nt....

[Ryan]

This is because of poor connections either with your ISP or your friends ISP.
Poor connections can cause lag. Lag isn't just found in games though. It's also found in websites too. Facebook uses a utility on it's page called AJAX. AJAX allows webpages to have app like features without a download. Such as Facebook chat. This program can lag and miss-function when the host has a poor internet connection.

Don't worry though because if you want to message a friend you can, even if they are offline.

Hope this helps.
Thanks

[Daniel]

They Dont Lie About the People Online

[Angeleyes]

No, you're not crazy, it happened to me a few times, sometimes facebook works in mysterious ways.
But usually since that when people are online, they are on line, facebook didn't lie.