MySQL 8.0

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CREATE TABLE t
    (`userID` varchar(6), `tStamp` datetime, `status` varchar(6))
;
    
INSERT INTO t
    (`userID`, `tStamp`, `status`)
VALUES
    ('Jason', '2017-10-18 03:20:00', 'idle'),
    ('Brown', '2017-10-18 03:20:28', 'idle'),
    ('Brown', '2017-10-18 03:25:28', 'idle'),
    ('Brown', '2017-10-18 04:00:28', 'active'),
    ('Brown', '2017-10-18 04:10:28', 'active'),
    ('Brown', '2017-10-18 04:35:28', 'idle'),
    ('Brown', '2017-10-18 04:45:28', 'idle')
;
SELECT 
    userID, tStamp, status,
    CASE WHEN COALESCE(LAG(status) OVER (PARTITION BY userID ORDER BY tStamp), '') = status
         THEN 0 ELSE 1 END AS rst
FROM
   t;


userID
tStamp
status
rst


Brown
2017-10-18 03:20:28
idle
1

Brown
2017-10-18 03:25:28
idle
0

Brown
2017-10-18 04:00:28
active
1

Brown
2017-10-18 04:10:28
active
0

Brown
2017-10-18 04:35:28
idle
1

Brown
2017-10-18 04:45:28
idle
0

Jason
2017-10-18 03:20:00
idle
1


WITH ct AS
(
    SELECT 
        userID, tStamp, status,
        CASE WHEN COALESCE(LAG(status) OVER (PARTITION BY userID ORDER BY tStamp), '') = status
             THEN 0 ELSE 1 END AS rst
    FROM
       t
)
SELECT
    userID, CONCAT("From ", status, " to ",
                   LEAD(status) OVER (PARTITION BY userID ORDER BY tStamp)) status, 
    timestampdiff(MINUTE, tStamp, 
                  LEAD(tStamp) OVER (PARTITION BY userID ORDER BY tStamp)) tDiff
FROM
    ct
WHERE
    rst = 1;


userID
status
tDiff


Brown
From idle to active
40

Brown
From active to idle
35

Brown
null
null

Jason
null
null

userID	tStamp	status	rst
Brown	2017-10-18 03:20:28	idle	1
Brown	2017-10-18 03:25:28	idle	0
Brown	2017-10-18 04:00:28	active	1
Brown	2017-10-18 04:10:28	active	0
Brown	2017-10-18 04:35:28	idle	1
Brown	2017-10-18 04:45:28	idle	0
Jason	2017-10-18 03:20:00	idle	1

userID	status	tDiff
Brown	From idle to active	40
Brown	From active to idle	35
Brown	null	null
Jason	null	null