Trying to Find Love on Facebook Dating and Getting Null Instead? Here's What That Means

Evidently, of the handful of people actually using Facebook Dating; some of them are getting a null message. This means those individuals are at a higher risk of not meeting their soulmate via the dating app that time forgot. We wouldn't want that, now would we? Have no fear, we are ready to dive into the intricacies of coming up against a null so you don't feel void. What does null mean on Facebook Dating? Here's what we know.

Recently, some confused users of Facebook Dating have been receiving a null message in the place of hundreds (tens?) of potential new partners. According to ErrorVault, this is simply a server issue and is in all likelihood being worked on by Facebook. Apparently the root cause is Facebook's inability to connect to their main server. Isn't that all any of us wants, the ability to connect to a main server? That's why folks are on Facebook Dating to begin with.

Facebook Dating was launched in September 2019 with little fanfare. It sought to to take the dating app world by storm but they've barely scratched the surface compared to juggernauts like Bumble, Tinder, and Hinge. That sounds unusual given the fact that Mark Zuckerberg probably knows more about us than our actual friends and bitter enemies. Why can't Zuck matchmake us into beautiful long-lasting relationships?

In May 2022, Taha Yasseri (Associate Professor, School of Sociology at the University College Dublin), wrote about his experience using the unpopular dating app. Taha is a self-described "online dating technology researcher," so we happily defer to him for the ultimate Facebook Dating breakdown. This will of course be followed by our own personal dating breakdown.

When Taha first activated his Facebook Dating account, a flood of profiles featuring attractive women showed up in his feed. As Taha pointed out on most dating apps, cishet men aren't usually inundated by pretty ladies clamoring for their attention. Despite his personal experience on other dating apps, his phone "didn’t stop buzzing for hours."

Growing suspicious of this influx of available gals, Taha decided to engage with some of them. After shooting up a couple of flares to one person, he was immediately asked to take the conversation to WhatsApp (also owned by Facebook).

"My past work has shown this usually happens after at least 20 messages and within three to four days. This was light-speed-dating – according to science," wrote Taha.

It wasn't long before Taha had several conversations going, all of which were shockingly similar. The person on the other end immediately brought up WhatsApp and tried to shift the conversation to that platform. Taha grew suspicious and thought he might be "dealing with an organized phishing campaign," one whose sole purpose was to get his phone number for WhatsApp.

He deduced that the low amount of Facebook Dating users might have something to do with what we're calling WhatsAppGate. Perhaps people were turned off by all the bots and the ease with which they existed in this corner of the Facebook universe (the Metaverse?). Regardless, never give your phone number out to a stranger before you've spoken to them and met them in a safe environment. You never know Whats could appen!