You must have noticed a green dot whenever you open your Facebook Messenger to either text someone or just browse the app.
Most users do not know what the Green Dot signifies and might think it’s a technical glitch or bug affecting Messenger servers.
In this article, you will learn what it means when you see the Green Dot whenever you open Facebook Messenger.
What Does Green Dot Mean in Messenger?
When you open Facebook Messenger and move to the chat section to text a friend, you will notice that some chats have a little Green Dot at the bottom of their circular profile photo.
That Green Dot means the individual is active on Messenger. Active here means that the user is online at the exact time you see the green dot.
They have opened the app and are probably scrolling through it or texting people.
The Green Dot then dignifies or indicates the Active Status or online activity of a user.
Now the the interesting bit is that you can only see that a user is online (Green Dot) because your Active Status, which displays the Green Dit and shows you’re online, is on.
This means that other users too can see on their device the Green Dot at the bottom corner of your profile picture when they open Facebook Messenger and navigate to the chat section.
You might feel uncomfortable knowing that your Online Status whenever you open the app is being displayed and this might be causing you paranoia. Or you may simply prefer to remain anonymous.
Well, fortunately, you can disable your Active Status and prevent the Green Dot
from showing.
On the top right corner, select the gear icon to open the Settings and Privacy menu, and Choose the third option, Active status.
Toggle the switch off Turning off your Active status means others will no longer be able to tell when you are online and this works the other way too as you will also be no longer able to see which of your Facebook Messenger friends are online.
Conclusion
Your Active status is on by default so should you want to hide your online status then you would have to turn it off manually.
The Green Dot that appears in Facebook Messenger has been explained in this article along with its significance to you as a user.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the green dot on Messenger mean they are chatting ?
To some extent yes it does since for a user to be texting, they have to be connected to the internet and on the app. But not always. The Green Dot just indicates that a user is online.
How do you know if someone is active on Messenger?
To know if someone is active on Messenger, just go to your chat section when you open the app. A Green Dot appears at the bottom right corner of their profile bubble and their profile bubble with the green dot is also displayed on the People tab.
Can you tell if someone is looking at your Messenger?
There is no definite way to tell if someone is looking at your Messenger but if they have read your message then their profile picture appears next to the sent message.