There has been issue where the online profile shows OFFLINE even though you are actually online. This has been discussed in the Discord. My understanding is that this should be fixed in the next update, which will happen this Tuesday coming up, July 26, 2022. The update has a few "fixes" (no not the leaderboards) as well as the new full course, PGA NATIONAL.
As far as your friends not being able to see you, although I am not a big fan of Discord, you can use the Discord and add each other as friends. The Discord allows you to send real time direct messages ("DM's). You friends will get a "ping" and be able to respond. This way, if you, or they, get a "ping" they can text reply whether you, or they, are available.
So, like the new WGT motto, Hang in there, if it doesn't get better, it can only get worse.