Cannot communicate with my contacts.

I know since the Skype merge there has been similar issues, but mine has persisted and been with me since the launch of Windows 8 and other account issues I've had since nearly a year ago. All but one of my contacts are unable to see my online in Messenger Messages/People, both the web and the application. Any message they send me is not received, and any message I type to them is not received. I have followed related steps in other threads to fix the issue but had no luck. I believe Skype is being affected as well since now the services have merged.