You can find out whether your friends are online by taking your cursor over the symbol in front of your friend in your friend's list. It will show that they are online/offline. Group memberships are kinda........I have no idea at the moment O_o.
And I think that you should really flip those images. They will be easily visible then. You are a active member now. So its your duty to let others know that Psycho is here! XD So create a thread in the New users welcome forums(located at the main PC site) now. Before creating a new thread, take a look at how others have introduced themselves(take a look at other member's threads). Others will then welcome you to PC. You will also be able to make more friends then.