Call Display/VoiceMail....Online Status/PMs....all stemming originally from simply leaving the 'porch light' on or off (while peering out of a dark window) to ward off evil personal interactions and screen without obligation (also works to screw kids out of halloween candy).
Who would have known that humanity could have made it SO FAR in such a short period of time.
One of the ways humanity has advanced to where it has is by realizing that we all want to live life a little differently and that one solution doesn't fit all. You want your status constantly known. That's fine. I'm not going to complain about it. But you don't get to complain that I choose to do something different, something that does not hurt you. You have no right to that information and I have not entered into any contract, implicit or explicit, that requires it.
Turning off online status is one of the first things I do on every forum.